According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, in the year 793,a foreign raiding party struck England and raided a Christian monastery at Lindisfarne. The raiders killed the resident monks, threw others into the sea to drown, and stole the ecclesiastical silver. The raid, conducted by those would come to be referred to as the Danes, Norsemen, the Heathen, and much later, Vikings, marked the beginning of the Viking Era. The Viking Era also marked the beginning of a great change in Scandinavia: the old Nordic religion, and its gods, were gradually replaced by Christianity.

When the Norsemen (Northmen) began to spread out from their natives homes, they were searching for, not only wealth and plunder, but new lands for cultivation and colonization. They brought with them their religion, gods, culture and customs. Many of their customs were connected closely to nature and to the earth, including the celebration of the winter solstice. The summer solstice was also time for great celebration, as were the autumnal and spring equinoxes. They provided opportunities for celebrating, feasting, dancing, gathering, and, well — drinking.

Winter solstice was particularly important to the people of Scandinavia, where winter days are short and nights are remarkably long. In fact, the winter solstice marked the longest night of the year, which also began the gradually lengthening days, and the slow return to light. The celebration of December 21 was a festival that lasted for 12 days, and was called”Jól.”. According to many historians, “Jól” refers to the Norse god, Odin, who was also celebrated during the festival. It was also a time for hunting after the autumn harvest was gathered.

Yule comes from the old Norse “Jól” and Old English géohol which was a season of hunting after the harvest was done, and “Yuletide” translates to “Yule time.” Yuletide began at the end of November, ending during the beginning weeks of January.

During the Jól celebrations, various plants were used to celebrate the holiday, or hold in remembrance, events that took place among the Æsir and Vanir, the Norse gods, states Matthew Gaskill, in his Dec. 20, 2018 article, “The Story of Yule – How Vikings Did Christmas,” in the Vintage News.

Jól, or Yule, celebrations included bonfires, decorating with holly, mistletoe and the boughs of evergreen trees, ritual sacrifices, feasts and gift giving.

In the dead of winter, when all plants and trees were devoid of foliage and seemingly dead, the evergreen trees stood as a symbol of life to the Norse. To them. the evergreens represented the promise of life that, even in the midst of winter, at the death of the year, there was still a seed of life to begin the new cycle.

Scandinavian tradition decreed that evergreen trees were decorated with gifts such as food, carvings, and food for the tree spirits to encourage them to return in the spring.

Mistletoe was also symbolic in the hopes that winter would eventually end. Frigga, the mother of the Baldr, the god of light, would resurrect her son with her tears, falling on the red berries of the mistletoe, would turn them white. Her tears provided the kiss of life.

If the Vikings have the reputation of being pirates, raiders, killers, and just plain mean, it is because they were. But, they were also very spiritual, and adhered closely to their religious beliefs. Because they believed in such great numbers of gods, however, many historians believe that the conversion of those of Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Britain and Europe, was not an overly difficult task, especially in comparing Christ’s resurrection to that of Baldr, the son of the “All-Father,” states Gaskill in the Vintage News.

In their conversion to Christianity, the Vikings also contributed many of their customs to what became Christmas. Including the Christmas tree, wreaths, Yule logs, and others too many to mention in this limited space.

So, from those of us at the Daily Mining Gazette, to you and your loved ones: Merry Christmas; or as the Vikings would say: “glædelig jul.”