What is a yule, or yule tide?
Yule/Yuletide refers to a winter festival that was originally a Germanic pagan religious festival that eventually turned into Christmas. It originally was celebrated from the end of December to early January as dictated by the lunar Germanic calendar. It started on December 25 (connected to the Wild Hunt by scholars and to Saturnalia – the Roman festival by others).
Yule is to refer to the Christian Christmas but also for the holidays of the season – it is simply nowadays in reference to Christmas. People who do not celebrate Christmas use Yule in reference to the winter solstice and the newborn solstice sun.
Period extending from Dec. 24 to Jan. 6 Yuletide “Yule,” like many of our Christmas terms, dates back to “pagan” traditions in pre-Christian Europe, and didn’t originally have anything to do with Christmas. The word “yule” comes from the Old English “geol,” which came in turn from the Norse “jol,” a pre-Christian midwinter festival. The Norse “jol” may be related to an ancient Indo-European root meaning “to go around,” in this case referring to the “turn” of the year. The “tide” in “Yuletide” comes from the Old English “tid,” meaning “division of time,” and in the case of “yuletide” means simply “time or season.” If we wish someone “good tidings” or hear the phrase “tidings of great joy,” we are harking back to a related Old Icelandic word meaning “news or events.” Yule Dictionary Yule (yūl) n. Christmas, or the season or feast celebrating Christmas.
