Then we have entered the month of Christmas, if we like it or not. In English the word Christmas is closely tied to the name of Christ. This is the case in many other languages too, directly or indirectly. Here are a few examples:
o French: Noel, means birth
o Spanish: Navidad, means birth
o Italian: Natale, means birthday
o German: Weihnachten, means holy night
o Dutch: Kerst, which means Christ.
However, there are exceptions: In the Scandinavian languages, the word for Christmas is Jul, and in Icelandic it’s Jol. It is the same as the English word Yule, which was the Pagan celebration of winter solstice.
Yule (or jul as I call it) was a religious midwinter fest honoring the myriad of gods of the Germanic people in Northern Europe. In my country the Norse gods Odin and Thor were the most important. Thor was the god with the big hammer, the god who created thunder and lightning. The English word thunder is derived from his name.
Christianity was brought to Europe around year 1000 (with some local variations, in my place it happened in 1030). To make it simple, the Christian church simply took over the Pagan midwinter fest, and gradually introduced Jesus in the lead role. In elementary school we learnt that Christmas Eve was the birthday of Jesus. It is not known exactly which day he was born, but it’s not likely that it was in December (I researched this on the Internet).
The Yule tradition dates back to the iron age, at least. Christmas is not about Christ originally, but in many languages this is not so obvious.
(Maybe Christmas was about Christ for a while. Now it's about shopping.)
If you would like go into the Christmas month with the Pagan origin in mind, I can recommend this doom-black metal classic by Gorgoroth: The Virginborn
Enjoy your Yule-tide >:)
I thought Christmas was all about the astounding array of original music...
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the fine folks at Marvel Comics would be totally cool with it if the world wanted to rededicate Christmas to Thor.
ReplyDeleteActually, I'd be okay with that too. I could hang little hammers from my tree and give origami thunderbolts to friends. Beer drinking would be more widely accepted amongst the family and arm wrestling would be encouraged during the celebration.
Sorry, I might be getting my stereotypes mixed up. Great post. I love the blog.
Christmas here is about lying on the beach, have some beer and cook some BBQ.
ReplyDeleteFire and Cross
Birth in french is "naissance". Noel has no other meaning than Christmas...except maybe for first names (and even then, those people are usually born at Christmas). I know a guy his family name was Noel and he was born on December 25th, so his parents thought of naming him Joyeux (Merry). Eighteen years later, he moved out, changed his name and stopped talking to his parents.
ReplyDeleteThe closest estimation I've see on Christ's birthday was April... he probably was an Aries... Where is Mithras from? That is the other 'much older' December 25 celebration... It's true though, that those early Christians had a heck of a marketing strategy--coopting existing holidays so people could 'convert to something familiar'.
ReplyDeleteI liked hearing the Scandenavian roots here!
ABftS: For me Christmas is mainly a mid-winter vacation, including music, preferably black metal.
ReplyDeleteRusty: Thanks. I'm sure Thor would appreciate Christmas trees with little hammers. He would probably also prefer the call it yule-tree
Enid: Your beach-Christmas seams fabulous to me, except I would probably miss the snow and the skiing.
Ben: I guess you're French is better than mine. According to online dictionaries noel derives from the Latin word natalis, like the Italian variety. I wouldn't be surprised if naissance has the same origin.
Hart: I bet ancient people all over the world had some kind of celebration of winter solstice. I only know the Scandinavian version of it. We celebrate the summer solstice too, just a party with BBQ and beer, without any gods or demons involved. I always wish my friends merry anti-Christmas on 6/6, but I wouldn't call that a tradition >:)
Speaking of associations...for some reason, I associate Thor with Norway. Why is that? Hmm.
ReplyDeleteHelen: The pre-Christian Norse mythology was common to the people of Scandinavia, Iceland and Faroe Islands. The vikings are known for their somewhat outrageous behavior (the remnants of which can be still observed downtown on a Saturday night), but they were also good poets, ship-builders and navigators. In their open ships they reached as far as North Africa to the South and New Foundland to the West. They discovered America some 400 years before Columbus. They never made it to Texas though >:)
ReplyDeleteWonder what would have happened if Texas had fought for their independence from the Vikings instead of Mexico.
ReplyDeleteHelen: I think that would be a tough battle. If someone could have been capable of fighting the vikings, it must be the Texans. I guess the closest we get to see this is when Dallas Cowboys play against Minnesota Vikings >:)
ReplyDeleteI saw a sign on a church that said "Jesus CHRIST is the reason for the season". I guess they never read your blog. I also read somewhere that Santa's look is by Coke. Wonder what Christ himself thinks?
ReplyDeleteCD
Wonderful information about the Yule. I had never heard of it until last month. It sounds like a wonderfully joyous festivity.
ReplyDeleteI wrote a drabble about the Yule Goat in our December Advent Calendar at the Burrow. Check us out sometime.
-Chary
Clarissa: If Jesus had the chance to see the shopping madness that carries his name he would probably run away from it all and rather take a beer with sinners and tax collectors >:)
ReplyDeleteChary: I will jump over to read your drabble about the Yule Goat. Goats made of straw is a frequently used Christtmas decoration over here >:)