Yule
Yule | |
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Winter festival | |
Date | See § Date of observance |
Frequency | Annual |
Related to | Midwinter, Christmastide, Christmas |
Yule (also called Jul, jól or joulu) is a winter festival historically observed by the
Etymology
The modern English noun Yule descends from
The word is conjectured in an explicitly pre-Christian context primarily in Old Norse, where it is associated with Old Norse deities. Among many others (see
It has been thought that Old French jolif (→ French joli), which was borrowed into English in the 14th century as 'jolly', is itself borrowed from Old Norse jól (with the Old French suffix -if; compare Old French aisif "easy", Modern French festif = fest "feast" + -if), according to the Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology[6] and several other French dictionaries of etymology.[7][8] But the Oxford English Dictionary sees this explanation for jolif as unlikely.[9] The French word is first attested in the Anglo-Norman Estoire des Engleis, or "History of the English People", written by Geoffrey Gaimar between 1136 and 1140.[8]
Germanic paganism
Attestations
Months, heiti and kennings
Yule is attested early in the history of the Germanic peoples; in a
While the Old Norse month name ýlir 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 the
Heitstrenging
Both Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar and Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks provide accounts of the custom of heitstrenging. In these sources, the tradition takes place on Yule-evening and consists of people placing their hands on a pig referred to as a sonargöltr before swearing solemn oaths. In the latter text, some manuscripts explicitly refer to the pig as holy, that it was devoted to Freyr and that after the oath-swearing it was sacrificed.[13]
Saga of Hákon the Good
The
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 in Trondheim. 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 regional things.[14]
A description of heathen Yule practices is provided (notes are Hollander's own):
Old Norse text[15] | Hollander translation[16] |
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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 the heathen 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 called hlaut [sacrificial blood], and hlautbolli, the vessel holding the blood; and hlautteinar, 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.
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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 gods Njörðr and Freyr "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 called minni.[16]
Academic reception
Significance and connection to other events
Scholar
Scholars have connected the month event and Yule period to the Wild 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 name Jólnir), and increased supernatural activity, such as the Wild Hunt and the increased activities of draugar—undead beings who walk the earth.[18]
Mōdraniht, an event focused on collective female beings attested by Bede as having occurred among the heathen Anglo-Saxons when Christians celebrated Christmas Eve, has been seen as further evidence of a fertility event during the Yule period.[19]
Date of observance
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 the
Contemporary traditions
Relationship with Christmas in Northern Europe
In modern Germanic language-speaking areas and some other Northern European countries, yule and its cognates denote the
Modern paganism
As
In most forms of Wicca, this holiday is celebrated at the winter solstice as the rebirth of the Great horned hunter god,[23] who is viewed as the newborn solstice sun. The method of gathering for this sabbat varies by practitioner. Some have private ceremonies at home,[24] while others do so with their covens:
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]
LaVeyan Satanism
Some members of the Church of Satan and other LaVeyan Satanist groups celebrate Yule at the same time as the Christian holiday in a secular manner.[26]
See also
- Dísablót, an event attested from Old Norse sources as having occurred among the pagan Norse
- Julebord, the modern Scandinavian Christmas feast
- Koliada, a Slavic winter festival
- Lohri, a Punjabi winter solstice festival
- Saturnalia, an ancient Roman winter festival in honour of the deity Saturn
- Yaldā Night, an Iranian festival celebrated on the "longest and darkest night of the year".
- Nardoqan, the birth of the sun, is an ancient Turkic festival that celebrates the winter solstice.
References
Notes
- ^ For a brief overview of the proposed etymologies, see Orel (2003:205).
Citations
- ^ OED Online (2022).
- ^ Bosworth & Toller (1898:424); Hoad (1996:550); Orel (2003:205).
- ^ "jol". Bokmålsordboka | Nynorskordboka. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
- ^ Barnhart (1995:896).
- ^ Vigfússon (1874:326).
- ^ Hoad (1993)
- ^ Dictionnaire historique de la langue française (sous la direction d'Alain Rey), édition Le Robert, t. 2, 2012, p. 1805ab
- ^ a b "JOLI : Etymologie de JOLI". www.cnrtl.fr. Archived from the original on 24 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
- ^ "jolly, adj. and adv. Archived 16 October 2023 at the Wayback Machine" OED Online, Oxford University Press, December 2019. Accessed 9 December 2019.
- ^ Simek (2007:379).
- ^ Faulkes (1995:133).
- ^ Simek (2007:180–181).
- ^ Kovářová (2011:195–196).
- ^ a b Hollander (2007:106).
- ^ "Saga Hákonar góða – heimskringla.no". heimskringla.no. Archived from the original on 16 October 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
- ^ a b Hollander (2007:107).
- ^ Simek (2007:379–380).
- ^ Simek (2007:180–181, 379–380) and Orchard (1997:187).
- ^ Orchard (1997:187).
- ^ Nordberg, Andreas (2006). "Jul, disting och förkyrklig tideräkning". Acta Academiae Regiae Gustavi Adolphi. 91: 155–156. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
- ^ OED Online (2022).
- ^ Hutton (2008).
- ^ Buescher (2007).
- ^ Kannapell (1997).
- ^ La Ferla (2000).
- ^ Escobedo (2015).
Works cited
- ISBN 0062700847.
- Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898). An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Buescher, James (15 December 2007). "Wiccans, pagans ready to celebrate Yule". Lancaster Online. Archived from the original on 29 December 2007. Retrieved 21 December 2007.
- Escobedo, Tricia (11 December 2015). "5 things you didn't know about Satanists". CNN. Archived from the original on 7 March 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
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!
- Faulkes, Anthony, ed. (1995). Edda. Translated by Anthony Faulkes. ISBN 0-460-87616-3.
- Hoad, T. F. (1993). English Etymology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-283098-8.
- Hoad, T. F. (1996). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-283098-8.
- Hollander, Lee M., ed. (2007). Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway. Translated by Lee M. Hollander. Austin: ISBN 978-0-292-73061-8.
- Hutton, Ronald (December 2008). "Modern Pagan Festivals: A Study in the Nature of Tradition". Folklore. 119 (3). Taylor & Francis: 251–273. S2CID 145003549.
- Kannapell, Andrea (21 December 1997). "Celebrations; It's Solstice, Hanukkah, Kwannza: Let There Be Light!". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 31 July 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2007.
- Kovářová, Lenka (2011). The Swine in Old Nordic Religion and Worldview. S2CID 154250096.
- La Ferla, Ruth (13 December 2000). "Like Magic, Witchcraft Charms Teenagers". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 28 December 2007. Retrieved 21 December 2007.
- OED Online (December 2022). "yule, n.". Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 27 December 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
- Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. ISBN 0-304-34520-2.
- Orel, Vladimir (2003). A Handbook of Germanic Etymology. Leiden: ISBN 90-04-12875-1.
- Simek, Rudolf (2007). Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Translated by Angela Hall. ISBN 978-0-85991-513-7.
- OCLC 1077900672.