Odin and the winter festival of Yule as the origins of Christmas festivities

Yule (also Yul or Jól) was a prominent winter festival that was celebrated by the Norse and Germanic peoples from very ancient times as far as even the best part of the Early Middle Ages before incorporated by the Christians to shape the backbone of the festivities of Christmas, eventually ending up as very much a synonym.

Etymology

The spelling ‘Yule’ actually renders the modern English form which derives on the so-called Old English⁽¹⁾ ‘ġeōl’ (likely pronounced as ‘/jo:l/ or /ju:l/) and that in turn ultimately on Old Norse ‘Jól’ apparently meaning ‘feast’ or ‘joy,’ associated with supreme god Odin as ‘Jólnir’⁽²⁾ (apparently meaning ‘feast/joy bearer’) or ‘Jólfaðr’ (father of the feast/joy).

According to Agrip, a history of the kings of Norway (12th century), the festival’s name descended from the above former mentioned epithet of Odin’s while other gods were also tied to the festivities identified with the plural appellation of Jólnar, spelling ‘Yule-beings.’

Yule, Midwinter and Winter Solstice

The affair lasted a good twelve days that commenced on Midwinter Night which many scholars interpret as the Winter Solstice (December 21 or 22 nowadays but December 25⁽³⁾ on the Julian Calendar in effect back then) yet some opt for the start of the middle phase of winter, albeit the two standpoints could eventually meet.

For that matter, the Norse actually acknowledged only two seasons round the year, unlike the rest of Europeans, where Vetr or Vintr (winter⁽⁴⁾) stretched from mid October through to mid April so much so that the winter solstice would most likely fall at or around the beginning of mid winter at the end of the day.

The Anglo-Saxon Ġēola

Bede or Beda (quite likely also Bedda, a name either Frisian or Danish⁽⁵⁾ in origin), a monk and author that roughly lived between 672/3 and 735 AD in the so-called Anglo-Saxon Britain, mentions that ‘Ġēola’ (‘time of ġeōl,’ nowadays Yule) covered the entire winter solstice spell in his treatise titled ‘De temporum ratione’ (The Reckoning of Time, c. 725 AD).

Moreover, he interestingly calls ‘Ǣrra (preceding) Geōla’ the part of December up to and ‘Æftera (after, following) Geōla’ the part of January following Ġēol (Yule). With the shades of the so-called Anglo-Saxon invasion still fresh in his time, this reckoning and practice was most likely carried over and reflected that held in the lands whence the Saxons, Angles, Frisians and Jutes came from.

Ýlir, the month of Yule

The second month on the Norse calendar was that of Ýlir, a cognate of Jól, Jul (also attested in the Old Germanic calendar) and ultimately Yule that consequently spells a connection to Odin, which extended roughly from mid or late November to mid or late December with the winter solstice usually at its end.

Seeing it was a lunar calendar, namely revolving around the cycles and phases of the moon, Ýlir shifted as regards dates from year to year and thereby so could likely the festival of Yule towards its end – unless the Norse directly associated it with the winter solstice and could locate that within the month regardless of the moon.

After all, midwinter may have not necessarily carried the meaning of the centre of the winter for the Norse and the Germanic peoples but rather either the two middle months therein or even more so a spell over the darkest days of the year, as was the case in many regions Europewise, marking the transition of days from drawing in into drawing out and by extension the death and rebirth of the sun.

Gormánuður, the month preceding Ýlir (Norse calendar)

Now, the previous month to Ýlir was that of Gormánuður (meaning ‘slaughter’) when the Norse would go on to slaughter most of their domestic animals since they couldn’t feed them during the harsh phases of the winter. That would yield an abundance of meat that had to be consumed within the next few weeks since they could hardly preserve it so deep into the winter.

Which, in turn, provided them with an excellent opportunity to hold generous feasts and socialize between them at large with meat and drink aplenty at the same time that the most significant event of the winter solstice lay at hand. By implication, that shapes a sound ground to virtually rule out any suggestion by some historians that Yule may have been held in January instead.

Christmas traditions drawing on Yule

Many of the traditions and conceptions of Christmas nowadays draw heavily on Yule starting off with the Twelve Days of Christmas, getting underway on Christmas Day (doubling as the old winter solstice on the Julian Calendar), that originate from nothing else but the twelve days that the festivities of Yule lasted commencing at Midwinter, which apparently doubled as the winter solstice.

The Yule log or clog (also known as Christmas block) comes a long way from the traditional burning of large logs, usually an oak or ash tree trunk carved with runes, in the main hearth (fire place) of Norse longhouses for several days during Yule so that symbolically some light would remain in the darkest spell of the year awaiting the return of the sun as well as providing warmth.

Moving on, the singing of carols door-to-door is yet another Christmas practice that has its origins in Yule and more precisely in the Wassailing⁽⁶⁾, meaning ‘Wishing good health/fortune,’ where people would be singing and offering drink from a wassail bowl door-to-door in exchange for gifts.

Wassail was actually a hot beverage that in the early days was warmed mead with roasted crab apples that with time developed into a mulled punch of cinnamon, sugar, ginger and nutmeg interspersed with sops of toast. ‘Smoking Bishop,’ mentioned by Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens’s novel ‘A Christmas Carol’ (1843), was a popular type of wassail, punch or mulled wine at Christmas in Victorian England.

Furthermore, the Yule boar or Sonargöltr, Old Norse apparently meaning ‘sacrifice boar,’ was a boar sacrificed as part of the festivities of Yule where solemn vows would be taken over its bristles as regarded future actions in a tradition called Heitstrenging which is still reflected nowadays in the pig-shaped cakes in Sweden or the Christmas ham in northern Europe and Britain at Christmas.

This tradition was apparently linked to the golden-bristled boar called Gullinbursti, made out of pure gold by the dwarves Eitri and Brokkr, that Freyr (meaning ‘Lord’) of the Vanir (gods) would ride, potentially on Midwinter Night among other occasions, or had his chariot pulled by.

The Christmas tree and decorations as well as the Yule goat and the mistletoe are further customs that come all the way from the pagan Yule as the Norse would take in evergreen trees, likely representing Yggdrasil (the Tree of Life), and adorn them with small carvings of gods, food and clothes while also affording warmth to the vættir, spirits they believed that lived in them.

The Wild Hunt and Odin as gift-bringer

Coming to a close, Yule was also associated with the Wild Hunt, also known as Oskoreia (apparently meaning ‘Asgard’s Ride’ or ‘Odin’s Army/Hunters’) among the Norse, that was led by mighty Odin himself (also known as Woden in parts of northern or western Europe) accompanied by other fearsome ghostly riders such as Gudrun, other Æsir (gods of Asgard), Valkyries and even slain warriors from Valhalla on a relentless chase sweeping the skies over Midwinter.

Odin rode his lightning fast eight-legged Sleipnir, meaning the ‘Slipper’ or ‘Smooth,’ and children would leave their boots out by the hearth filled with straw, hay and sugar so that the divine horse could eat during the Hunt.

Odin would come down and visit homes of mortals, take the food for hungry Steipnir so that he could keep up the pursuit with renewed vigour and leave candies or gifts for the generous children in their boots in return.

A practice that certainly rings a bell and demonstrates that Odin has most likely been the inspirational figure behind far later Santa Claus (also known as ‘Father Christmas’ in an analogy to Odin’s ‘Jólfaðr’), a prominent Christmas tradition, rather than the ‘lame’ candidate of Saint Nicholas of Myra put forward by scholars and church.

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(1) ‘Old English’ is more of an exaggeration by modern historians and linguists as it was actually no more than a number of mainly Frisian and Low German as well as Norse dialects, some not mutually intelligible between them, that arrived along with the large numbers of Germanic and Norse peoples that settled in Britain in two extended waves over the second half of the first millennium AD.

(2) The Old Norse suffix ‘-(n)ir’ apparently carries the meaning of ‘bearer/bringer’ added at the end of verbs to form nouns.

(3) On the Gregorian calendar, which came in use in 1582 AD, December 25 from the preceding Julian calendar would translate to December 23 in the seventh century and December 22 in the eighth century AD for instance.

(4) English ‘winter’ most likely derives on Old Danish ‘wintær’ and that in turn on (East) Old Norse ‘vintr.’

(5) The Angle or Engle (Angles) came from what is south Denmark and part of northeast Germany nowadays so shared many similar or identical names with the Danes while their dialects were closely related.

(6) Middle English form apparently originating from Danish ‘Wes hál’ with the latter in turn ultimately out of the Old Norse ‘Ves heill’ meaning ‘be healthy/fortunate’ by means of wish

Η Δοκιμασία του Odin

Σύμφωνα με το θρύλο, σε μια ανελεή επιδίωξη της γνώσης ο Odin θυσίασε τον ευατό του κρεμώμενος από το ιερό δέντρο του κόσμου (συμπαντική έννοια) Yggdrasil με σκοπό να ανακαλύψει τα μυστικά των ρούνων (ιερά μυστικά), τα οποία κατείχαν οι τρεις αρχέγονες θεότητες της μοίρας Norns (Urðr, Verðandi and Skuld).

Ο Odin χρειαζόταν να αποδείξει ότι ήταν άξιος τέτοιας γνώσης για αυτό υπέβαλλε τον εαυτό του στο μαρτύριο, με μία λόγχη να διαπερνά το σώμα του επίσης, για εννιά μέρες και νύχτες έχοντας επιπλέον απαγορεύσει στους άλλους θεούς να του προσφέρουν οποιαδήποτε βοήθεια από άποψη τροφής ή υγρών κατά τη διάρκειά του.

Σε αυτό το θέμα, δεν πρέπει στην πραγματικότητα να κρέμασε τον εαυτό του από τον λαιμό από ένα κλαδί, όπως συχνά απεικονίζεται, αλλά αντιθέτως από τον κορμό του όπως ακριβώς ο Arnold Schwarzenegger ως Conan εμφανίζεται από το Δέντρο των Συμφορών (εικόνα) στην πολύ γνωστή ταινία ‘Conan the Barbarian.’

Στην ουσία, ο Odin σταυρώθηκε επάνω στο Yggdrasil, κάτι που ενδεχομένως εξηγεί την ερμηνεία του ονόματός του ως ‘υποστήριγμα του Odin,’ καθώς το πρότυπο της δοκιμασίας ξεκάθαρα δείχνει ομοιότητες με το μαρτύριο του Ιησού επάνω στο σταυρό σύμφωνα με τη χριστιανική παράδοση, το οποίο είναι χρονολογικά αρκετά κατοπινό.

Ο Odin κρεμώταν εκεί κοιτώντας διαρκώς κάτω (το οποίο δεν θα μπορούσε να κάνει αν είχε κρεμαστεί από το λαιμό) χωρίς σταματημό στα αρχέγονα νερά του Urðarbrunnr, ή Πηγάδι του Urðr (Πηγάδι της Μοίρας), στις ρίζες του Yggdrasil καλώντας τους ρούνους, όπως ακριβώς ο Ιησούς καλούσε τις Γραφές (ιερά μυστικά) επάνω στο σταυρό, μέχρι που τελικά άρχισε να διακρίνει σχήματα αυτών στο τέλος της ένατης νύχτας.

Υπόψη σας, σε μια σταύρωση κάποιος μπορούσε επίσης να δένεται παρά να καρφώνεται επάνω σε ένα σταυρό, μια δοκό ή κάποιο άλλο ξύλινο υποστήριγμα όπου αφηνόταν κρεμώμενος μέχρι να πεθάνει από εξάντληση.

ΣΣ Ο Odin απεικονίζεται επίσης πολλές φορές κρεμώμενος από τον κορμό του Yggdrasil όπως προσωπικά θεωρώ ο ίδιος.

Odin’s ordeal to discover the runes

As legend has, in his relentless pursuing of knowledge Odin sacrificed himself hanging from the sacred tree of Yggdrasil in order to discover the secrets of the runes (sacred secrets), possessed by the fate deities Norns (Urðr, Verðandi and Skuld).

Odin needed to prove that he was worthy of such knowledge so subjected himself to the torment, pierced also with a spear, for nine days and nights having further forbidden the other gods to offer him any aid by means of food or drink during that time.

For that matter, he mustn’t actually have hanged himself by the neck from a branch, as often depicted, but instead from its trunk just as Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan appears to be from the Tree of Woe (image) in the well-known film “Conan the Barbarian.”

In essence, Odin was crucified on Yggdrasil, which may account for the likely interpretation of the sacred tree’s name as ‘Odin’s support’ in turn, as the pattern of his ordeal clearly bears shades of Jesus’s torment on the cross according to Christian tradition, which is chronologically later.

Odin hanged there staring down (which he wouldn’t have been able to if hung by the neck) endlessly into the primordial waters of Urðarbrunnr, or Well of Urðr (Well of Fate), at the foot of Yggrasil calling to the runes, just as Jesus kept calling to the scriptures on the cross, until eventually he started discerning shapes of them at the end of the ninth night.

Mind you, in a crucifixion a person may also be tied rather than nailed on a cross, a beam or some other wooden support where one is left hanging from until dying from exhaustion.

PS Odin also appears many times hanging from the trunk of Yggdrasil as I reckon myself to be the case.

Yggdrasil, the sacred Tree of Life of the Norse

Yggdrasil, or Yggdrasill in Old Norse, is an immense sacred ash tree that shapes the center of the Norse spiritual Cosmos with everything else, including the Nine Worlds (Realms), arrayed around it and held together by its long branches and deep roots, connected to one another.

It is attested both in the Poetic Edda, a modern title attached to an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, and the Prose Edda, written by Snorri Sturluson, that were compiled and written respectively in the 13th century.

The name itself likely means something like “Odin’s Horse” out of the first component ‘Ygg(r)’ (Terrible, the Terrifying One), a name of mighty god Odin’s, and ‘drasil(l)’ that means ‘horse.’

Yet, the second component ‘-drasil(l)’ may carry a different nuance as ‘support’ here to a sense of ‘Odin’s gallows’ for the name of the sacred tree instead.

That said, in very ancient times horse (in early forms as a word) also carried the wider sense of ‘vehicle’ so ‘drasil(l)’ might have shared this nuance towards a rendering of ‘Odin’s Vehicle’ (across the Norse Cosmos) for the sacred tree of Yggdrasil.

According to the legend, in his relentless pursuing of knowledge Odin sacrificed himself hanging from the sacred tree in order to discover the secrets of the runes, possessed by the fate deities Norns (Urðr, Verðandi and Skuld).

Odin needed to prove that he was worthy of such knowledge so subjected himself to the torment for nine days and nights having further forbidden the other gods to offer him any aid by way of food or drink during that time.

The gods would go to Yggrasil daily to hold their ‘Things,’ that is assemblies, while the Nine Worlds connected through it were:

Asgard (Ásgarðr), the fortified home of the Æsir tribe of gods that feature the likes of Odin, Thor, Frigg and Baldr.

Vanaheimr, home of the Vanir who were a second group of gods such as Freya, Freyr and Njord.

Álfheimr, the realm of the Elves.

Midgard (Miðgarðr, Middle Enclosure), the realm of men.

Jötunheimr, the realm of  Jötnar (giants).

Muspelheim (Múspellsheimr), the realm of Fire and the fire giants.

Svartalfheim (Svartálf[a]heimr), the realm of the Black Elves.

Niflheim, a primordial world of ice which may also overlap that of Hel (Underworld).

Niðavellir, the realm of the Dwarves.

Yggdrasil had three roots that ran deep into three further locations that were the well of Urðarbrunnr, the spring of Hvergelmir and the well of Mímisbrunnr.

There were also creatures that lived within the sacred tree such as the dragon Níðhöggr, a giant unnamed eagle with the hawk Veðrfölnir between one’s eyes and the stags Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór.

It is quite intriguing that the unnamed eagle is perched on top of Yggdrasil in the same fashion as the serpent bird Itzam-Yeh over the also sacred tree Ceiba that connected the different planes of the universe in the Mayan Cosmology given that those two worlds, Norse and Mayas, never came in contact between them.