From the Viking Age to Modern Day: the Story of Yule
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In Scandinavia, and probably in most countries with Christian traditions, December is all about Christmas, or as we say; jul (and no, we don’t spell it with a capital letter). It’s all about shopping for julklappar, decorating the julgran, and making julgodis.
In the USA and the United Kingdom, "Yule” or “Yuletide” still appears in literature, carols, and traditions like the Yule Log stories. It’s also kept alive by those of you with Scandinavian roots or an interest in Norse history and mythology. My guess is that even though the word appears often, especially in Scandinavia, most people don’t actually know what jul, or the English version Yule, really means or where it comes from (based on my extremely limited research of asking three family members 😅).
So what do we actually know about the origins and traditions connected to the old jól? And are there any traces left today beyond the word itself?
The Sun’s Rebirth
According to some scholars, the word jól may mean “rebirth,” referring to the sun’s return after the darkest part of winter. Since the winter solstice occurred in January, this was when jól was traditionally celebrated.
Another culture that honored the returning sun, just a few weeks earlier, was the Roman Empire with their Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, held on December 25 every year (ring a bell? 😉).
To Drink Jól
One of the earliest written sources mentioning jól is The Lay of Harald (Hrafnsmál) from the 10th century. According to the poet Torbjörn Hornklöve, King Harald Fairhair (King of Norway 872–930 AD) said: “Úti vill jól drekka”. He wanted to “drink Yule” outdoors because he was busy traveling and couldn’t celebrate at home.
The expression “to drink Yule,” or dricka jul, was used in Sweden for centuries. Home-brewed dark julöl held an important place in Swedish households well into the late 19th century. Today the breweries take care of the special holiday editions.
The details of Viking Age celebrations are hard to pinpoint. But we do know that drinking beer and mead, along with eating pork and other festive foods, played a central role. Snorri Sturluson wrote that people raised toasts, skål, to important gods like Odin, Njord, Freyr, and Bragi. Thinkang about departed loved ones were also important. After three nights of eating, drinking, and offering, jól was over.
Odin’s Wild Hunt
The connections between Odin and Santa Claus are too many to be pure coincidence. Odin is for example often epicted as a hooded, old man with a long grey beard. Another fascinating Santa-like aspect of Odin is his association with the Wild Hunt. This was said to be a mythological procession of spirits, sweeping across the winter sky during midwinter, led by Odin on his eight-legged horse Sleipnir.
Children and adults would leave food out for Sleipnir to appease Odin and his ghostly entourage, much like children today leave milk and cookies for Santa and his reindeer.
And one can’t help but wonder about another “coincidence”: Santa originally had eight reindeer pulling his sleigh (before Rudolf the Rednose joined the crew in the 1930s).
Jól Becomes Jul and Yule
So how did the word jul, and many pagan traditions, survive for centuries in Scandinavia?
According to Snorri Sturluson, the Christian king of Norway, Hákon the Good (934–961 AD), decided to reshape the pagan jól into a celebration of Christ’s birth after earlier attempts to forbid it failed. Since the original scriptures never stated when Jesus was born, the Catholic Church had already aligned Christmas with Rome’s Dies Natalis Solis Invicti.
Thus, the traditions surrounding jól remained, while the official reason changed. The Catholic Church, and later the Lutheran, were satisfied as long as the celebration claimed to honor Christ’s birth.
Yet Swedish folklore remained strong well into the 18th and 19th centuries. Forest spirits, trolls, gnomes, and other supernatural beings were believed capable of ruining your harvest, or worse, if rituals were neglected or mistakes were made, such as failing to move in a circular sun-wise direction on Christmas eve (you could upset the dark spirits).
Christian or Secular Traditions?
In the end, you could argue that the Church didn’t quite “win.” Scandinavia today is among the most secular regions in the world. Many would say the jul-celebrations in Sweden are cultural, not religious, where Advent calendars are more of a countdown to the festivities than to the birth of Christ (nothing says “awaiting the Savior” quite like receiving a chocolate or a Lego minifigure every day from December 1 😏).
And then there’s the modern obsession with “nisse houses.” But I’m all for the adorable Christmas outfits we can now buy for our Pugs or Chihuahuas (and maybe even the cat, if you’re ready to accept the claw marks).
Still, churches in Sweden do see more visitors at Christmas than at any other time of year, so perhaps we’re more spiritual than we want to admit?
Different, but Still the Same?
If any tradition still feels truly “Viking Age,” it’s the food and drink. Grilled Christmas pork, julskinka, remains the centerpiece of the Swedish Christmas table, alongside julöl and other beverages (even though some of us politely decline the julsnaps). These items are nearly always present on the julbord.
Christmas celebrations vary greatly around the world. But regardless of how, or if, you celebrate, my hope is that we all share one thing: the understanding that the most important part of this season isn’t the number of gifts, or how we celebrate. It’s telling the people we love how much they mean to us. Words and kindness really are enough.
Although… If there is one thing that might make them extra happy, it’s a unique Norse-inspired T-shirt. 😜 Just kidding! (Sort of.)
At Last
God Jul and Skål to all of you!🎄🍻
Or, as the words heard by millions of Swedes every Christmas Eve go (yes, watching basically the same Donald Duck-cartoons every year since the 1960s is a very strange tradition): “Från oss alla, till er alla, en riktigt God Jul!”
/Lotta
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