'tis the Season ❄️
Sharing the umami of non-Christian Christmas traditions
There are very few things that make me wax nostalgic about my childhood, and the arrival of Christmas is one of them.
Although, we don't call it "Christmas" in Norway. We call it "Jul".
As we've been settling into the "julestemning" (Christmas mood) baking "julekaker" (Christmas cookies) and packing "julepresanger" (Christmas presents), I've been following my curiosity and learning new things about old traditions this year.
Etymology of Jul (the tradition)
Jul has a long and foggy history.
In Old Norse, the language of the Vikings (800-1000 AD), it's called "jól" ("yule" being the modern version most of you know).
Jól "is an indigenous winter festival celebrated by the Germanic peoples" (Wikipedia) centred around winter solstice.
Jól is also believed to be one of Odin's many nicknames, from Norse mythology. Celebrating Odin could be closely related to the winter solstice and the "rebirth" of light as the days get longer.
I always knew that jul-traditions in Norway were incredibly rich and steeped in folklore, much more so than in the North American version. We learned as kids that when the Vikings converted to Christianity, they essentially blended the traditions of Jul and of Christ's birth together. While the Christians were hoping to phase out the folkloric celebrations eventually, they never quite succeeded.
Frankly, I'm glad they didn't succeed. Norwegian Jul is a crazy umami of culture and tradition that is a feast to the senses and feeds the soul. And until I moved away, I had no idea how much the folk traditions really added to the unique flavour of Norwegian Christmas.
My experiences with “Norsk” Jul
Norway during Christmas time is a magical place. There are several things that make celebrations distinctly Norwegian:
Julenisse 🎅🏻
A "nisse" is known as a gnome, and also as a "kabouter" in Dutch, as I once was delighted to learn from a Dutch classmate. The word "julenisse" is used interchangeably to refer to the gnome as well as Santa Claus, as he’s known in the English-speaking world.
The gnome-version of julenisse is a sort of guardian over farm and property, and it is expected that humans make food sacrifices to it during Christmas, traditionally a bowl of rice porridge.
Light and Fire 🎇
Jul is centred around the darkest period of the year, usually from mid-November to mid-January. The focus is therefore on bringing light and warmth back to the streets and homes in the form of seasonal lighting decorations.
Christmas markets and downtown areas need the quintessential "over the street" lights and garlands. Homes are filled with candles and lit fireplaces. Traditions using candles are embraced, like the celebration of "Santa Lucia" (Lucia being Latin for "light") and Advent (lighting a candle for each Sunday).
The presence of light and fire is what makes this dark season more than bearable - it is enriching and comforting.
Workshops and Prep 🧹
As I described briefly in my essay Beauty is Life, the pre-Christmas time ("førjulstid") is governed by a huge buzz of activity, involving food-prepping, decoration-hanging, gift-making, and clean-doing. The preparatory activity is characterized by the making of many different types of things. There are dozens of jul-appropriate cookie recipes you can choose from, and even more DIY jul-decorations to do for both kids and grownups.
It's worth noting that workshops are usually an inter-generational bonding activity.
Carols 🎶
Oh yes. Carols are serious business. There are many exclusively Scandi-Germanic songs related to jul, which all kids are sure to be taught at school.
Musevisa, literally "The Mouse Song", which is about how the whole mouse family is preparing for jul, as long as they don't get caught in the mousetrap!
På låven sitter nissen, literally "At the barn sits the gnome", which is about a nisse trying to protect their porridge from all the hungry rats
O jul med din glede, literally "Jul with your joy", is a song designed to be sung as everyone joins hands and dances around the Christmas tree. It also includes special dance moves during the chorus!
(I've been practicing more English-centric festive songs on my ukulele this year, with the hopes that more will know the lyrics of those!)
Advent series on TV 📺
Every year, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK (like Canada's CBC) runs an Advent Calendar TV series for kids. Usually it's unique Norwegian content that has been produced for this purpose only. Many of these series become beloved cultural symbols that folks love to replay every jul-season.
One of my earliest memories of an advent calendar series was called "Vertshuset den gylne hale", which means The Golden Tail Guesthouse. What made this guesthouse truly special was that all the staff and guests had to speak in sign language! (Seriously: how progressive!!) As it's geared towards kids, and they speak very slowly and deliberately, you could quite possibly learn Norwegian AND sign just by watching this series .
Needless to say, I am thoroughly enjoying this season. 🔔 No matter all the news and the upending of normal life over the past two years, the Jul-season continues to be an anchor-tradition for me which, I think, is something we all can benefit from during these tumultuous times.
Thanks for reading!
What does Christmas/Jul make you feel like? What are your favourite traditions of the season? I’d love to hear it!
(And do give this letter a ❤️ if you like!)
As always, stay safe and stay curious.
— F
Loved your commentary on the rich history of Norwegian traditions woven into the Christmas tradition!
Thanks for this intro to Yule/Jul culture, Fei-Ling! Eye opening on so many levels. And it makes complete sense.