How the Vikings celebrated Christmas
For many people today, Christmas means presents, coziness and togetherness. Things were different for the Vikings more than 2,800 years ago. The celebrations around the winter solstice were brutal and bloody.
For the Vikings, traditional festivities at Christmas time were a bloody as well as wet and cheerful affair. According to the Norwegian University of Agder (UiA), blood, sacrifices and drunkenness were all part of the Viking festivities before the Christianization of Norway put an end to the most brutal elements of such celebrations.
"The sacrificial ceremonies and communal feasts with plenty of food and drink were the most important aspects of the Viking festivities," reported UiA professor Helje Kringlebotn Sødal. In contrast to modern Christmas, these festivities were not at all suitable for children. There were no Christmas presents like today, and there was also a lack of coziness.
Winter ceremony
Anyone wishing someone a Merry Christmas in Norway, as in Denmark and Sweden today, would say "God jul". According to UiA, the term "jul" comes from the Old Norse "jól", a winter sacrificial ceremony that was celebrated between the winter solstice in December and mid-January. The Vikings drank in honor of the gods and paid homage to them with animal sacrifices. Sacrificial blood was splashed on walls, statues and the guests during the ceremonies.
Consecrated beer and meat were drunk and eaten, as Kringlebotn Sødal was quoted as saying in a press release from her university. Otherwise, "jól" was a celebration at home and within the extended family circle. There was also a lot of toasting and drinking - in a way similar to many of today's Christmas family celebrations.
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Despite the shift towards more peaceful celebrations with presents and coziness during modern Christmases, Norway's Viking ancestors celebrated a historically brutal and intoxicating festivity. This ancient celebration, known as "jól," commemorated the winter solstice and involved animal sacrifices, drinking rituals, and the splashing of sacrificial blood on guests and surroundings.
Source: www.ntv.de
