I read a very interesting article about the origins of some of our winter and Christmas customs. Although we celebrate Christmas as essentially a Christian festivity, the customs have different origins and may be much older… in fact who knows how old they are?
The article was written from the research carried out at the University of the Highlands and Islands examining the connection between things we do and Viking traditions. In the Northern parts of Scandinavia, winters would be long and harsh and dark; days would become increasingly short and then daylight would depart and there would be lots of dark!
The word jól is so ancient no-one knows exactly what it means, all though it is understood and we have it as ‘yule’; this Old Norse word might originally have meant something like the time of blizzards, or a great celebratory feast of drinking and eating, or even magic.
From earliest times people would get together share alcohol and eat a mighty feast, and do this in the deepest darkest part of the year, looking forward no doubt to the days reappearing and gradually getting longer. The roots of this must be pagan and pre-Christian; wherever it derives, it certainly means, drink alcohol, eat lots, be happy, have fun!
Traditions from this time include dressing up to gå julebukk, to go yule-goating. I wonder if this idea of a horned animal being involved has come to us as reindeer not goats? People would dress up, often with masks and go round the different farms and villages where they would be given food and drink… this sounds a lot like the old English mummers; if you have read Thomas Hardy, The Return of the Native’, you will have read about mummers!
Other old Scandinavian traditions would include children leaving food out for a sprite… it would always be gone in the morning; this reminds me of how as children my sister and I would leave a mince-pie and a glass of whisky for Father Christmas and on Christmas morning there would be just a few crumbs left and some sooty finger-prints! We still think of Christmas elves, and I’m sure they derive from the Scandinavian Jultomte or Julenisse which the article mentions.
If you want to read more, here is the link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-30411490
Lois Elsden 