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In Scandinavia, this was known as the yule log and originally had a pagan significance; after the Christianization of Scandinavia, it may have been incorporated into the Christian celebration of Christmas there, with the pagan significance no longer remaining. [47]
The modern English noun Yule descends from Old English ġēol, earlier geoh(h)ol, geh(h)ol, and geóla, sometimes plural. [1] The Old English ġēol or ġēohol and ġēola or ġēoli indicate the 12-day festival of "Yule" (later: "Christmastide"), the latter indicating the month of "Yule", whereby ǣrra ġēola referred to the period before the Yule festival (December) and æftera ġēola ...
Many popular customs associated with Christmas developed independently of the commemoration of Jesus's birth, with some claiming that certain elements are Christianized and have origins in pre-Christian festivals that were celebrated by pagan populations who were later converted to Christianity; other scholars reject these claims and affirm ...
Krampus actually predates Christmas—it is of pagan origin, according to History, appearing in early celebrations of the winter solstice—but since then, he has become a Christmas icon ...
Yule logs. Crackling fireplaces are common themes in Christmas imagery. The symbolism of the roaring fire traces back to the yule log ritual, which originated from a pagan practice predating ...
Christmas: A Biography starts by exploring what Flanders calls the "two most common assumptions" on the origins of the titular holiday: that it originated as "a deeply solemn religious event" before being distorted by "our own secular, capitalist society", and that it is native to the people who celebrate it. [4]
“The Night Before Christmas” originally identified eight reindeer that lead Santa Claus’ sleigh every holiday. And while the poem gendered the reindeer as males, biology tells us that couldn ...
Neapolitan presepio at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. The practice of putting up special decorations at Christmas has a long history. In the 15th century, it was recorded that in London, it was the custom at Christmas for every house and all the parish churches to be "decked with holm, ivy, bays, and whatsoever the season of the year afforded to be green". [4]