Viking Christmas Traditions

Christmas ales are annual traditions today but in ancient norway a king declared it illegal not to brew beer for christmas.

Viking christmas traditions. In scandanavia in particular yule celebrations predate the celebration of christmas as we know it by thousands of years. This resulted in a large range of ritual practices both within and between communities. Winter solstice festivals in viking age scandinavia as well as before were marked by many different rituals many of which are still around today. Decorating a christmas tree is a viking ritual that is performed worldwide every year.

Christmas traditions from the vikings happy yule everyone. The yuletide was originally celebrated by ancient germanic peoples including celts and vikings and by others all around europe long before the christian holiday. The vikings also celebrated a festival known as yule. The summer solstice brought the midsummer festival a time when most foreign trade took place and vikings went off on fishing and raiding.

Yoh l was the time between the winter solstice and the yule sacrifice jolablot. While christmas is predominantly viewed as a christian celebration many of the traditions associated with it are thought to have origins in viking culture. The vikings passed on knowledge through oral history rather than writing things down. 12 days of christmas.

The wheel of the sun. In fact customs and traditions from modern christmas stem from the yule celebration of the vikings. The spring equinox brought ostara a renewal festival welcoming fertility back to the land. Nevertheless the 12 days of christmas originates from the 12 day long midwinter feast celebrated by the vikings every winter solstice the shortest day and longest night of the year.

The viking period began in the year of 793 with the attack on the lindisfarne monastery in england which is the first known viking raid. Vikings would use holly leaves and berries to make into circular wreaths these wreaths would then be used to decorate their houses during the yule festival. Yule or jol pronunciation. This is an interesting one since 12 days of christmas is a tradition far more popular in the united states than it is in scandinavia.

The occasion that marks the end of their glory days is the killing of king harald hardrada at the battle of stamford bridge in 1066. In modern english the word is yule and is synonymous with christmas. The winter solstice brought jul from december 20 to 31st from which we draw some of our christmas traditions. Viking history and culture.

Vikings also worshiped their dead ancestors communicated with spirits practiced divination and sorcery and had a wide variety of burial practices.