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| Yule | |
|---|---|
 Hauling a Yule log in 1832 | |
| Also called | Yuletide, Yulefest |
| Observed by | VariousNorthern Europeans,Germanic peoples,Heathens,Wiccans,Neopagans,LaVeyan Satanists |
| Type | Cultural,Germanic pagan,modern pagan |
| Significance | Winter festival |
| Date | See§ Date of observance |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Related to | Midwinter,Christmastide,Christmas |
Yule is a winter festival historically observed by theGermanic peoples that was merged withChristmas during theChristianisation of the Germanic peoples. In present times adherents of somenew religious movements (such asModern Germanic paganism) celebrate Yule independently of the Christian festival. Scholars have connected the original celebrations of Yule to theWild Hunt, the godOdin, and theheathen Anglo-SaxonMōdraniht ("Mothers' Night"). The termYule and cognates are still used in English and theScandinavian languages as well as inFinnish andEstonian to describe Christmas and other festivals occurring during thewinter holiday season. Furthermore, some present-day Christmas customs and traditions such as theYule log,Yule goat, Yule boar,Yule singing, and others may have connections to older pagan Yule traditions.
The modern English nounYule descends fromOld Englishġēol, earliergeoh(h)ol,geh(h)ol, andgeóla, sometimes plural.[1] The Old Englishġēol orġēohol andġēola orġēoli indicate the 12-day festival of "Yule" (later: "Christmastide"), the latter indicating the month of "Yule", wherebyǣrra ġēola referred to the period before the Yule festival (December) andæftera ġēola referred to the period after Yule (January). Both words are cognate withGothic𐌾𐌹𐌿𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍃 (jiuleis); Old Norse,Icelandic,Faroese and NorwegianNynorskjól,jol,ýlir;Danish,Swedish, andNorwegian Bokmåljul, and are thought to be derived fromProto-Germanic*jehwlą-.[2][3] Whether the term existed exterior to theGermanic languages remains uncertain, though numerous speculative attempts have been made to findIndo-European cognates outside the Germanic group, too.[a] The compound nounYuletide ('Yule-time') is first attested from around 1475.[4]
The word is applied in an explicitly pre-Christian context primarily in Old Norse, where it is associated with Old Norse deities. Among many others (seeList of names of Odin), the god Odin bears the nameJólnir ('the Yule one'). InÁgrip, composed in the 12th century,jól is interpreted as coming from one of Odin's names,Jólnir, closely related to Old Norsejólnar, a poetic name for the gods. In Old Norse poetry, the word is found as a term for 'feast', e.g.hugins jól (→ 'a raven's feast').[5]
It has been thought thatOld Frenchjolif (→ Frenchjoli), which was borrowed into English in the 14th century as 'jolly', is itself borrowed from Old Norsejól (with the Old French suffix-if; compare Old Frenchaisif "easy", Modern Frenchfestif =fest "feast" +-if), according to theConcise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology[6] and several other French dictionaries of etymology.[7][8]But theOxford English Dictionary sees this explanation forjolif as unlikely.[9] The French word is first attested in the Anglo-NormanEstoire des Engleis, or "History of the English People", written byGeoffrey Gaimar between 1136 and 1140.[8]
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Yule is attested early in the history of the Germanic peoples; in aGothic language calendar of the 5–6th century CE it appears in the month namefruma jiuleis, and, in the 8th century, the English historianBede wrote that theAnglo-Saxon calendar included the monthsgeola orgiuli corresponding to either modern December or December and January.[10]
While the Old Norse month nameýlir is similarly attested, the Old Norse corpus also contains numerous references to an event by the Old Norse form of the name,jól. In chapter 55 of theProse Edda bookSkáldskaparmál, different names for thegods are given; one is "Yule-beings" (Old Norse:jólnar). A work by theskaldEyvindr skáldaspillir that uses the term is then quoted: "again we have produced Yule-being's feast [mead of poetry], our rulers' eulogy, like a bridge of masonry".[11] In addition, one of the numerousnames of Odin isJólnir, referring to the event.[12]
BothHelgakviða Hjörvarðssonar andHervarar saga ok Heiðreks provide accounts of the custom ofheitstrenging. In these sources, the tradition takes place on Yule-evening and consists of people placing their hands on a pig referred to as asonargöltr before swearing solemn oaths. In the latter text, some manuscripts explicitly refer to the pig as holy, that it was devoted toFreyr and that after the oath-swearing it wassacrificed.[13]
TheSaga ofHákon the Good creditsKing Haakon I of Norway who ruled from 934 to 961 with theChristianization ofNorway as well as rescheduling Yule to coincide with Christian celebrations held at the time. The saga says that when Haakon arrived in Norway he was a confirmed Christian, but since the land was still altogether heathen and the people retained their pagan practices, Haakon hid his Christianity to receive the help of the "great chieftains". In time, Haakon had a law passed establishing that Yule celebrations were to take place at the same time as the Christians celebrated Christmas, "and at that time everyone was to have ale for the celebration with a measure of grain, or else pay fines, and had to keep the holiday while the ale lasted".[14]
Haakon planned that when he had solidly established himself and held power over the whole country, he would then "have the gospel preached". According to the saga, the result was that his popularity caused many to allow themselves to be baptized, and some people stopped making sacrifices. Haakon spent most of this time inTrondheim. When Haakon believed that he wielded enough power, he requested a bishop and other priests from England, and they came to Norway. On their arrival, "Haakon made it known that he would have the gospel preached in the whole country." The saga continues, describing the different reactions of various regionalthings.[14]
A description of heathen Yule practices is provided (notes are Hollander's own):
| Old Norse text[15] | Hollander translation[16] |
|---|---|
| Þat var forn siðr, þá er blót skyldi vera, at allir bœndr skyldu þar koma sem hof var ok flytja þannug föng sín, þau er þeir skyldu hafa, meðan veizlan stóð. At veizlu þeirri skyldu allir menn öl eiga; þar var ok drepinn allskonar smali ok svá hross; en blóð þat alt, er þar kom af, þá var kallat hlaut, ok hlautbollar þat, er blóð þat stóð í, ok hlautteinar, þat var svá gert sem stöklar; með því skyldi rjóða stallana öllu saman, ok svá veggi hofsins utan ok innan, ok svá stökkva á mennina; en slátr skyldi sjóða til mannfagnaðar. Eldar skyldu vera á miðju gólfi í hofinu ok þar katlar yfir; ok skyldi full um eld bera. En sá er gerði veizluna ok höfðingi var, þá skyldi hann signa fullit ok allan blótmatinn. | It was ancient custom that when sacrifice was to be made, all farmers were to come to theheathen temple and bring along with them the food they needed while the feast lasted. At this feast all were to take part of the drinking of ale. Also all kinds of livestock were killed in connection with it,horses also; and all the blood from them was calledhlaut [sacrificial blood], andhlautbolli, the vessel holding the blood; andhlautteinar, the sacrificial twigs [aspergills]. These were fashioned like sprinklers, and with them were to be smeared all over with blood the pedestals of the idols and also the walls of the temple within and without; and likewise the men present were to be sprinkled with blood. But the meat of the animals was to be boiled and served as food at the banquet. Fires were to be lighted in the middle of the temple floor, and kettles hung over the fires. The sacrificial beaker was to be borne around the fire, and he who made the feast and was chieftain, was to bless the beaker as well as all the sacrificial meat. |
The narrative continues that toasts were to be drunk. The first toast was to be drunk to Odin "for victory and power to the king", the second to the godsNjörðr andFreyr "for good harvests and for peace", and third, a beaker was to be drunk to the king himself. In addition, toasts were drunk to the memory of departed kinsfolk. These were calledminni.[16]
ScholarRudolf Simek says the pagan Yule feast "had a pronounced religious character" and that "it is uncertain whether the Germanic Yule feast still had a function in the cult of the dead and in the veneration of the ancestors, a function which the mid-winter sacrifice certainly held for the West EuropeanStone andBronze Ages." The traditions of theYule log,Yule goat, Yule boarSonargöltr,Yule singing, and others possibly have connections to pre-Christian Yule customs, which Simek says "indicates the significance of the feast in pre-Christian times."[17]
Scholars have connected the month event and Yule period to theWild Hunt (a ghostly procession in the winter sky), the god Odin (who is attested in Germanic areas as leading the Wild Hunt and bears the nameJólnir), and increased supernatural activity, such as the Wild Hunt and the increased activities ofdraugar—undead beings who walk the earth.[18]
Mōdraniht, an event focused on collective female beings attested by Bede as having occurred among theheathen Anglo-Saxons when Christians celebrated Christmas Eve, has been seen as further evidence of a fertility event during the Yule period.[19]
The exact dating of the pre-Christian Yule celebrations is unclear and debated among scholars. Snorri in Hákonar saga góða describes how the three-day feast began on "Midwinter Night", however this is distinct from thewinter solstice, occurring approximately one month later. Andreas Nordberg proposes that Yule was celebrated on the full moon of the second Yule month in theEarly Germanic calendar (the month that started on the first new moon after the winter solstice), which could range from 5 January to 2 February in the Gregorian calendar. Nordberg positions the Midwinter Nights from 19 to 21 January in the Gregorian calendar, falling roughly in the middle of Nordberg's range of Yule dates. In addition to Snorri's account, Nordberg's dating is also consistent with the account of the great blót atLejre byThietmar of Merseburg.[20]
In modern Germanic language-speaking areas and some other Northern European countries,yule and its cognates denote theChristmas holiday season. In addition toyule andyuletide in English,[21] examples includejul inSweden,Denmark, andNorway,jólin Iceland and the Faroe Islands,joulu in Finland,Joelfest in Friesland,Joelfeest in the Netherlands andjõulud in Estonia.[citation needed]
Ascontemporary pagan religions differ in both origin and practice, these representations of Yule can vary considerably despite the shared name. SomeHeathens, for example, celebrate in a way as close as possible to how they believeancient Germanic pagans observed the tradition, while others observe the holiday with rituals "assembled from different sources".[22] Heathen celebrations of Yule can also include sharing a meal and gift-giving.[citation needed]
In most forms ofWicca, this holiday is celebrated at thewinter solstice as the rebirth of theGreat horned hunter god,[23] who is viewed as the newborn solstice sun. The method of gathering for thissabbat varies by practitioner. Some have private ceremonies at home,[24] while others do so with theircovens:
Generally meeting in covens, which anoint their own priests and priestesses, Wiccans chant and cast or draw circles to invoke their deities, mainly during festivals like Samhain and Yule, which coincide with Halloween and Christmas, and when the moon is full.[25]
Some members of theChurch of Satan and otherLaVeyan Satanist groups celebrate Yule at the same time as the Christian holiday in a secular manner.[26]
So for the Yule holiday season we enjoy the richness of life and the company of people whom we cherish, as we will often be the only ones who know where the traditions really came from!
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