Yule log
A Yule log, sometimes known as the Great Ashen Faggot,[1] is a large log which is burned in the hearth as a part of traditional Yule or Christmas celebrations in some cultures. It can be a part of the Winter Solstice festival or the Twelve Days of Christmas, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or Twelfth Night.
The expression "Yule log" has also come to refer to log-shaped Christmas cakes, also known as "chocolate logs" or "Bûche de Noël".
Historical custom
The Yule log has frequently been associated with Germanic pagan origins. Robert Chambers in his 1832 Book of Days notes that Two popular observances belonging to Christmas are more especially derived from the worship of our pagan ancestors—the hanging up of the mistletoe and the burning of the Yule log. James George Frazer in The Golden Bough (p. 736) holds that "the ancient fire-festival of the winter solstice appears to survive" in the Yule log custom.
Frazer records traditions from England, France, among the South Slavs, in Central Germany (Meiningen) and western Switzerland (the Bernese Jura).
In English folklore, Father Christmas was often depicted carrying a Yule Log. [2]
The German term is Christklotz, Christbrand or Weihnachtsscheit ("Christ-log" or "Christmas-log"). Kindled on Christmas eve, the log in German tradition functioned as a lightning charm.
In Tuscany, there is a Festa di Ceppo ("festival of the log").
Confection
Sometime in the late 18th to early 19th century, a facsimile of the Yule Log became a traditional French dessert. Usually, it is in the form of a large rectangular yellow cake spread with frosting and rolled up into a cylinder - one end is then lopped off and stood on end to indicate the rings of the "log." This "Bûche de Noël" became a traditional Christmas dessert, and has recently spread to other regions, where it is often referred to as a yule log.
Modern popular culture
In the United States and Canada, the "Yule log" has also become a modern tradition in the form of a TV screen in one's home showing video of an actual Yule Log burning in a real fireplace. The video is accompanied by Christmas music, crackling fire sounds, or both at the same time.
This is now a very popular trend on DVDs,[citation needed] but it began on a whim in 1966, by Fred Thrower, former TV programming director for WPIX in New York City, who wanted to offer a Yule Log for the majority in New York City who had no real fireplace of their own.[3] It has been offered for several hours each year (on Christmas Eve and/or Christmas Day) as a video greeting card to viewers, and is syndicated across the U.S. Many others have offered their own versions over the years on TV, and in all video formats.[citation needed]
Beginning in the late 1970's, the ski resort town of Steamboat Springs Colorado intitated a Yule Log hunt for locals. The tradition continues to date, with the town's museum providing local historical clues and hints each day in the newspaper, for a period of 10 days before Christmas, until the log is found. The successful treasure hunters, receive $150, a large framed historical picture, their picture in the newspaper, and of course bragging rights. One local family group (Wattersons, Herfurtners, Farrells, & Selch) have found the log 15 times since the hunt began.
References
- ^ Ashen Faggot at Dartmoor
- ^ American Christmas Origins
- ^ Malzone, Joe. "Frequently Asked Questions about the Yule Log". The Yule Log.com. Retrieved 2008-09-24.
- Margaret Baker, Discovering Christmas Customs and Folklore (1992), pp. 16 ff.
- Walsh, William Shepard.Curiosities of Popular Customs And of Rites, Ceremonies, Observances, and Miscellaneous Antiquities (1897), p. 1014
See also
- Yule goat
- Christmas ham
- Wassail
- Tió de Nadal - a Christmas log tradition in Catalonia.
- Badnjak - a Christmas log tradition of Serbs.
External links
- A burning Yule log
- Several variations of Yule Logs created by Pastry Chef Eric Hubert
- "The Yule Log", a page with information about the Yule log
