To mark the Winter Solstice.

There are many ancient celebrations centred around the Winter Solstice, including Yule or Yuletide and Saturnalia, and many of the traditions associated with them still permeate the Christian and secular celebrations of Christmas.

Yule or Yuletide (Yule time) was a religious festival observed by Northern European peoples. In particular, the Anglo-Saxons and Norsemen of Northern Europe saw the sun as a wheel that changed the seasons as it turned through certain ‘wheeling points’. It was from the Anglo-Saxon and Norse words for this wheel (hwéol and jol or jul) that the word yule is thought to have come. The chief of the Norse gods, Odin, was also known as the ‘Jul-vatter’ or ‘Yule-father’ because he was strongly associated with the sun. One of the greatest symbols of Yule is the Yule log (still with us as a chocolate coated swiss roll streaked to look like bark). The Celts thought that the sun stood still for 12 days at the end of December and during this time a log was lit to conquer the darkness, banish evil spirits and bring luck for the coming year. If a Yule log went out, then there could be terrible bad luck. However, if it could be kept burning bright for the 12 days, then the sun would be persuaded to move again, and make the days grow longer.

The ancient Romans also held a festival (Saturnalia) around the Winter Solstice. Saturnalia ran for seven days from the 17th of December. It was a time when the ordinary rules were turned upside down. Men dressed as women (hence pantomime dames), masters dressed as servants and a ‘Lord of Misrule’ was appointed. The festival also involved decorating houses with greenery, lighting candles, holding processions and giving presents. It was a time when the accepted order of things was challenged with mirth, laughter and tomfoolery.

Long after the Romans, the ‘Lord of Misrule’ remained a key part of Christmas. In England, the Lord of Misrule (known in Scotland as the Abbot of Unreason and in France as the Prince des Sots) was an officer appointed by lot at Christmas to preside over the Feast of Fools. The Lord of Misrule was generally a peasant or sub-deacon appointed to be in charge of Christmas revelries, which often included drunkenness and wild partying, in the pagan tradition of Saturnalia.

Thanks for all the C&Cs on McMelchior, McBalthasar and McCaspar!

Happy Yuletide,
Philip

Tags: Architecture East yorkshire Jester Beverley minster Yule Winter solstice Grotesque Yuletide Stone sculpture Saturnalia Lord of misrule

Voters: , CarolG, Fefe, mrswoolybill and 22 more