Hur firades det forntida Yule?

[Bäckahästen]

Hur firades det forntida Jul/Yule? Vad finns bevarat i medeltida skrifter? Hur firade andra Yule (som tex germaner, kelter mfl)? Går det att dra några paralleller?

[anganatyr]

På wiki står det inte mycket.
https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule

[anganatyr]

Det finns lite mer på engelska wiki.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule

[anganatyr]

Här är något annat jag hittade.
http://www.thewhitegoddess.co.uk/the_wh ... lstice.asp

Yule: Winter Solstice - Dec 21st/22nd

The origin of the word Yule, has several suggested origins from the Old English word, geõla, the Old Norse word jõl, a pagan festival celebrated at the winter solstice, or the Anglo-Saxon word for the festival of the Winter Solstice, 'Iul' meaning 'wheel'. In old almanacs Yule was represented by the symbol of a wheel, conveying the idea of the year turning like a wheel, The Great Wheel of the Zodiac, The Wheel of Life. The spokes of the wheel, were the old festivals of the year, the solstices and equinoxes.

The winter solstice, the rebirth of the Sun, is an important turning point, as it marks the shortest day, when the hours of daylight are at their least. It also the start of the increase in the hours of daylight, until the Summer Solstice, when darkness becomes ascendant once more.

[anganatyr]

Här är lite till.
http://www.orkneyjar.com/tradition/yule/

From the dawn of time, the need to celebrate the winter solstice, and the subsequent 'rebirth' of the sun, was an absolute necessity.

An Orkney winter is long, cold and dark. It is a bleak time, when the weak, grey sun barely crawls above the horizon for a few hours each day.

Life goes on, but mostly in darkness.

Even today, the winter solstice remains significant to Orcadians, although, in most cases, subconsciously. Once the shortest day has passed, and although we know that the worst of the winter may yet come, it is comforting to know that the days are lengthening, once again, and that the light is returning.

The return of the light

By the winter solstice - the shortest day of year - the sun rises in Orkney well after 9am and is beginning to set again by 2pm. Assuming clear conditions, this leaves a mere six hours of weak daylight.

But the solstice marks a turning point.

The darkness has reached its zenith and soon the days will lengthen again. In this, the darkest time of the year, what better way to celebrate the return of light, and warmth, than to feast and make merry.

The midwinter traditions surrounding the festival of Yule were once strong in Orkney. So much so that even in the early years of the 20th century, in the more remote corners of the islands, the winter festivities were still referred to as Yule. It was rare indeed to hear folk speak of "Christmas".

Like the other festivals of the year, Yule was a great social occasion, relieving, if only for a brief time, the hardship and monotony of the islanders' subsistence living.

But Yule was not only about celebrating the return of the light...

The dead return...

Being the darkest time of the year, midwinter, and Yule in particular, was also a time when supernatural forces were able to cross to the realm of man, and the spirits of the dead would return to their families.

As such, most of the Yule customs we remember today were originally to protect the household against these paranormal influences.

Over the years, the pagan Yule traditions were overlaid with elements of Christianity, but, as is common in the islands, old traditions die-hard and some of the ancient customs persisted until the early 19th century.

Unfortunately, however, these are now all but forgotten, as practically no Orcadian Yule customs were recorded by early scholars.

But all is not lost.

We can at least get an inkling of what went on by referring to the documented customs found in Shetland, where the traditions of Yule were more extensively collected and documented.

[anganatyr]

Från engelska wiki.

The word is attested in an explicitly pre-Christian context primarily in Old Norse. Among many others (see List of names of Odin), the long-bearded god Odin bears the names jólfaðr (Old Norse for "Yule father") and jólnir ("the Yule one"). In plural (Old Norse jólnar, "the Yule ones") may refer to the Norse gods in general. In Old Norse poetry, the word is often employed as a synonym for 'feast', such as in the kenning hugins jól (Old Norse "Huginn's Yule" → "a raven's feast").

[Bäckahästen]

Tusen tack för informationen Angantyr!

[kylarvende]

Bäckahästen och angantyr!
Länkarna från an- gan - tyr (tvingas av stava, blir engelskt ord annars) är mycket intressanta. Det finns alltså en koppling mellan orden hjul och Jul. Kalendrar verkar vara inblandade likt Stone-henge (tror ni inte det blir Stonehouse utan avstavning).

[Bäckahästen]

Jag har en bok som handlar om svenska traditioner. Jag har för mig att det stod lite om det förkristna yule i den. Skall leta lite i hyllorna och se om jag hittar den.

[Ephraim]

Det finns alltså en koppling mellan orden hjul och Jul..

Det gör det antagligen inte. Sidan thewhitegoddess.co.uk ovan har nog missförstått det hela lite, varken i fornnordiska eller fornengelska finns något ord iul som betyder ’hjul’. Söker man på iul och wheel verkar alla träffar handla just om magi och spiritualism så det hela verkar vara en missuppfattning som spritts i vissa kretsar. Den äldsta källan jag hittar för detta är Bill Whitcomb, The Magician's Companion: A Practical and Encyclopedic Guide to Magical and Religious Symbolism från 1993:
https://books.google.se/books?id=fFDzqD ... &lpg=PA148

Där står om Yule:
From the Norse word iul, meaning "wheel".

Men detta är uppenbart ingen tillförlitlig källa för etymologisk information. Den fornöstnordiska (svenska, danska) formen av jul torde vara iūl (jól är fornvästnordiska) men det torde inte finnas någon koppling till hiūl ’hjul’ (fornvästnordiska hvél eller hjól). Nu uttalas de ju likadant i modern svenska men h-et i hjul har en gång uttalats.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix ... nic/jehwlą
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix ... ic/hwehwlą

Engelska yule skulle kunna vara lånat från nordgermanska, men det kan också vara ett arvord med samma ursprung.