In the darkest time of the year the Norsemen celebrated Jól. Some customs of this winter feast live on in our Christmas to this day.
When the nights are longest and coldest, the Norsemen celebrated their greatest winter feast: Jól. It fell around the winter solstice – the turning point at which the light returns.
Jól was a feast of comfort in the darkest time. People gathered in the hall, lit fires, ate and drank plentifully. At the solemn drinking feast, mead was drunk to the gods, to a good harvest and to the departed ancestors; in some places solemn oaths were sworn for the coming year.
Much of Jól survives only in fragments, and not every modern custom can be traced to it with certainty. But the name lives on: in Scandinavian, Christmas is still called Jul to this day, and in English it echoes in the word Yule. The idea of light in the darkness and of a shared feast also links the two festivals.
This very image – a warm light in the long night – lies at the heart of our tealight holders and engravings. It is a deeply Norse idea: community and light against the cold.
Cups up and skål – and a blessed Jól.