32 | Viking Explorer Society News
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A Viking
CHRISTMAS
A closer look at seasonal Scandinavian traditions,
with Paul Hervey-Brookes
A
s the crisp frosts of winter call us
with their beautiful silence and
glistening light, we think of
Christmas, yule log, cakes, strudel,
the scent of pine trees and open fires… but
where did these traditions start?
The word 'Yuletide' appears in Norse history
and is the ancient name of the pagan winter
festival of Yule, with the word 'tide' simply
meaning 'a period of time'. Yuletide has been
celebrated for centuries by the ancient
civilisations of Scandinavia and later by the
Germanic people, and is likely to have been
influenced by similar festivals that were
celebrated by the Celts across central and
northern Europe.
Yule itself was celebrated between the 20th
and 25th December, the winter solstice which
is the shortest day of the year, and—like an
opposite to Beltane the summer solstice—it
was believed that during that time of Yule,
the new sun god for the next year was born.
Yuletide is or was confusingly known as Jul,
and not surprisingly linguists debate the
origin of the word Yule. Some suggest the
word is derived from Iul—the Anglo-Saxon
word for wheel. This makes a connection to a
Clockwise from below: he
delicious Yuletide log is
symbolic of a much older
tradtion; Little straw figures
represent the Yule goat;
Illustration of Odin
