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Christmas in Norway
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Christmas in Norway
Jul or jol ([jʉːɽ]) is the term used for the Christmas holiday season in Scandinavia and parts of Scotland. Originally, jul was the name of a month in the old Germanic calendar. The concept of jul as a period of time rather than a specific event prevailed in Scandinavia; in modern times, jul is a period of time stretching from the fourth Sunday before Christmas Eve, December 24, to (traditionally) mid-January at the date of Epiphany with the month of December and Christmas, and the week up to the New Year, as its highlight. The modern English yule and yuletide are cognates with this term.
The term jul is common throughout Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Greenland, Scotland and the Faroe Islands.
Whereas the start of jul proper is announced by the chiming of church bells throughout the country in the afternoon of 24 December, it is more accurate to describe the season as an eight-week event. It consists of five phases: Advent, julaften, romjul, nyttår, and The End of Christmas, very often with Epiphany, the thirteenth day of Christmas, as the final day of the season. From the original beginning on Christmas Day, the custom of Julebord has spread to the entire season and beyond, often beginning well in advance of December.
The modern day celebration is largely based on the Church year and has retained several pre-Reformation and pre-Christian elements.
The central event in Scandinavia is Christmas Eve (julaften), when the main Christmas meal is served and gifts are exchanged. This might be due to the old Germanic custom of counting time in nights, not days (e.g. fortnight), as it holds for other holidays like Midsummer Eve (Jonsok, lit. 'Wake of St. John') and St. Olav's Mass (Olsok, lit. 'Wake of St. Olav'), with the main celebration on the eve of the official church day.
Jul or Jol are cognates of Norse Jòlnir or Ýlir, which are alternate names of Odin, although the root itself is debated.[citation needed] Jul was celebrated during the second moon (from new moon to new moon) of the winter half of the year – roughly from the new moon of November to the new moon of December. At this time, the animals for slaughter were the fattest, flour had been processed, all the work of autumn was completed, and it was time to celebrate.
The time of celebration has varied. According to written sources such as the legislation of Gulaþing, it was mandatory for farmers to have a beer-drinking party with at least three farmers attending. If a farmer was so far away from his neighbours that this was difficult, he still had to brew as much beer as if he had been taking part in such a party. The beer should be ready by November 1.
The tradition of Yule ale and "drinking jul" is symbolized by a drinking horn on December 25 on the Runic calendar, with an upside-down drinking horn depicted on January 13, symbolizing that the ale should be finished by then.
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Christmas in Norway
Jul or jol ([jʉːɽ]) is the term used for the Christmas holiday season in Scandinavia and parts of Scotland. Originally, jul was the name of a month in the old Germanic calendar. The concept of jul as a period of time rather than a specific event prevailed in Scandinavia; in modern times, jul is a period of time stretching from the fourth Sunday before Christmas Eve, December 24, to (traditionally) mid-January at the date of Epiphany with the month of December and Christmas, and the week up to the New Year, as its highlight. The modern English yule and yuletide are cognates with this term.
The term jul is common throughout Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Greenland, Scotland and the Faroe Islands.
Whereas the start of jul proper is announced by the chiming of church bells throughout the country in the afternoon of 24 December, it is more accurate to describe the season as an eight-week event. It consists of five phases: Advent, julaften, romjul, nyttår, and The End of Christmas, very often with Epiphany, the thirteenth day of Christmas, as the final day of the season. From the original beginning on Christmas Day, the custom of Julebord has spread to the entire season and beyond, often beginning well in advance of December.
The modern day celebration is largely based on the Church year and has retained several pre-Reformation and pre-Christian elements.
The central event in Scandinavia is Christmas Eve (julaften), when the main Christmas meal is served and gifts are exchanged. This might be due to the old Germanic custom of counting time in nights, not days (e.g. fortnight), as it holds for other holidays like Midsummer Eve (Jonsok, lit. 'Wake of St. John') and St. Olav's Mass (Olsok, lit. 'Wake of St. Olav'), with the main celebration on the eve of the official church day.
Jul or Jol are cognates of Norse Jòlnir or Ýlir, which are alternate names of Odin, although the root itself is debated.[citation needed] Jul was celebrated during the second moon (from new moon to new moon) of the winter half of the year – roughly from the new moon of November to the new moon of December. At this time, the animals for slaughter were the fattest, flour had been processed, all the work of autumn was completed, and it was time to celebrate.
The time of celebration has varied. According to written sources such as the legislation of Gulaþing, it was mandatory for farmers to have a beer-drinking party with at least three farmers attending. If a farmer was so far away from his neighbours that this was difficult, he still had to brew as much beer as if he had been taking part in such a party. The beer should be ready by November 1.
The tradition of Yule ale and "drinking jul" is symbolized by a drinking horn on December 25 on the Runic calendar, with an upside-down drinking horn depicted on January 13, symbolizing that the ale should be finished by then.
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