Jól – the Feast of the Long Nights

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.

A Feast Against the Darkness

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.

Traces to This Day

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.

Light in the Darkness

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.

The feast of the long nights

Yule was the great midwinter feast of the north – celebrated around the darkest time of the year, when the sun stood lowest. It was a feast of light, community and hope for the return of the bright days. There was plentiful eating, drinking and sacrificing, for the autumn stores allowed it.

Twelve nights and the Wild Hunt

Around Yule twines the idea of the "twelve nights", in which the boundary between the worlds is thin. In this time, legend says, the Wild Hunt rides through the sky – a ghostly host, often with Odin at its head. At night one was better off staying indoors.

Odin, Jólnir

One of Odin's many by-names is Jólnir – "the one belonging to Yule". This shows how closely the father of the gods was linked with the midwinter feast. But beware: much of what today counts as "Germanic Yule" comes from later folklore.

From Yule to Christmas

When Christianity came, Yule merged with the Christmas feast. Customs like evergreen greenery in the house, festive light and the shared feast survived the change of faith and live on in our Christmas.

Visit the Shop More posts