‘Yule’ is a word that gets thrown around a lot at this time of year, mainly in terrible puns like ‘yule love our Christmas discounts!’. But how many of us know what it actually is?
Like a lot of stuff to do with Christianity, yule has its roots in paganism. It’s still with us thanks to a process called ‘Christianised reformulation’ (a fancy name for the way Christianity nicked certain traditions and symbols from pre- or non-Christian cultures as a way to ease conversion). In this case, yule comes from the word jól, a shortened version of Jólablot, the name of a Norse midwinter feast. This took place in the 12 days leading up to 25 December, and celebrated the change of the seasons. We added the word jól to Old English as ġéol, which morphed into ‘yule’ some time in the middle of the 1400s. It also made its way into Old French as ‘jolif’, which is where we get ‘jolly’ from.
You might well have heard of the yule log, which I totally thought was only a cake, but is in fact, an actual log (there is a cake version too – called a Bûche de Noël – but the woody version came first). Lighting the yule log was another pagan tradition, and a symbol of the sun’s return after the winter solstice. People believed that doing this would protect their homes from fire and lightning during the coming year. In some cultures, families kept the remaining burned log underneath the homeowner’s bed (which seems like a great way to start a fire in your home, but whatever). Once lit, the yule log had to burn for 12 days to get the luck. You also had to find your Yule log yourself – buying one from the log shop was considered bad luck.
Yule is also connected to the myth of the wild hunt, a spectral hunting party said to pass through forests at the coldest, stormiest time of the year (AKA Christmas time). Anyone unfortunate enough to be outdoors when the hunt passed by would be swept up into the hunting party then dropped miles from where they started. While the members of the wild hunt vary, it’s almost always led by Odin, the head of the Norse gods (Anthony Hopkins in the Thor films). He’s also known as Jólnir or Jauloherra, which translates as ‘Master of Yule’.
Here’s one last yule-based myth, which I think is my favourite. The Yule Lads are a group of mischievous beings from Icelandic folklore, similar to elves or dwarves, who visit children on the 13 nights leading up to Christmas. They’re the sons of Gryla, an ogress, and her husband Leppalúði. Gryla is said to kidnap and eat children who misbehave, so you don’t want to mess with her.
Each Yule Lad has his own weird personality and behaviour (some might say fetish). Here are a few of the best – or worst, depending on how you feel about sheep harassment and crockery/cutlery licking:
Stekkjastaur: harasses sheep but is hampered by stiff legs, dammit
Þvörusleikir: his name literally means ‘spoon licker’ and he steals wooden spoons to lick – there’s also Askasleikir which translates as ‘bowl licker’. You can probably guess what he does
Hurdaskellir: slams doors in the night
Bjúgnakrækir: steals sausages
Gáttaþefur: means ‘door sniffer’.
Icelandic children leave their shoes on windowsills during the 13 nights of Christmas for the Yule Lads to give them small gifts or treats – but only if they’re well behaved. Get on the Yule Lads’ naughty list and you might end up with a potato in that shoe. Although we are in a cost-of-living crisis, so a few potatoes might come in handy just before Crimbo…