The Interesting History of Yule.
Another Christmas Lesson.
Yule is a pagan holiday that predates Christianity. The word is a derivative of the Old Norse word jól, meaning winter or slackening of winter. Yule was the time for celebrating the god Thor and his triumph over the giants, with him defeating them on 25 December, which resulted in an end to the old winter and a beginning of a new one.
It was first celebrated in Germanic countries during the middle to late Iron Age. It was a festival of the wild hunt (also known as Odin’s Hunt). There was a feast that only lasted three days during the Winter Solstice, and there was animal sacrifice happening where you also got the Yule Goat and Ham. There were also business deals and arranged marriages were happening during this time.
Yule Log
At that time, it was customary to burn the trunk of a tree on the eve of the winter solstice. The tree trunk would be dragged from the forest, brought to a longhouse, and laid on a hearth. The fire would be lit, and all the family members would return home for a festive dinner. The fire would burn for 12 days, after which nothing but ashes were left. The people of this region used the ashes to…
