Yule

Yule.the oldest mention of the word is found in the Gothic calendar fragment Codex Ambrosianus A from the sixth or seventh century A.D. In it, November is headed Naubaimbair: fruma Jiuleis, which can mean "November: the first month of Jul" or "November: the month before Jul". In the sense of the second variant, the word "prosabbaton" in Mark's Gospel (Mk 15:42 EU) was also translated as fruma sabbato; a similar meaning seems to underlie the Old English "æftera Geola" for January.

In Old Norse júl and jól are attested, and in Finnish the loan words juhla "celebration, feast" and the plural joulu "Christmas." In its broader meaning, Old Norse jól also included feasting in general, as evidenced by the kenning "Hugins jól" ("drinking party of the raven"). The same stem includes as derivatives jóln (neuter plural) "gods" and jólnir, an epithet of Odin, whose possible meanings include "lord of the gods" and "lord of the jól feast." The Icelandic manuscript collection Flateyjarbók (c. 1500) reports that the pagans celebrated Yule in honor of Odin.

Yule rituals,...