Isto do Natal tem-me deixado um pouco pensativa, até porque agora é a minha vez de comprar presentes, manter a tradicão e no entanto o Natal em família mais parece o natal que se faz no local de trabalho, cada um leva uma prenda e depois troca-se... Então eu procurei descobrir o que foi o Natal, o que é e não que vai continuar a ser mas sim o que eu posso aprender para não fazer... E o meu pedido a todos os que pensaram em comprar-me um presente, não o facam, como a minha mana me disse, comprem para vocês mesmos...Talvez se cada um comprasse um presente para si mesmo as desilusões não aconteceriam na noite de Natal... Um beijinho grande para todos e aqui vai o que foi o Natal nos países nórdicos...
"Yule or Yule-tide ("Yule-time") is a winter festival that was initially celebrated by the historical Germanic people as a pagan religious festival, though it was later absorbed into, and equated with, the Christian festival of Christmas. The festival was originally celebrated from late December to early January on a date determined by the lunar Germanic calendar. The festival was placed on December 25 when the Christian calendar (Julian calendar) was adopted. Scholars have connected the celebration to the Wild Hunt.
About AD 730, the English historian Bede wrote that the Anglo-Saxon calendar included the month’s geola or giuli corresponding with either modern December or December and January. He gave December 25 as the first day of the heathen year and wrote that the Anglo-Saxons celebrated all night long to honor the Germanic divine "mothers":
They began the year with December 25, the day some now celebrate as Christmas; and the very night to which we attach special sanctity they designated by the heathen term Mōdraniht, that is, the mothers' night — a name bestowed, I suspect, on account of the ceremonies they performed while watching this night through.
Ynglinga saga, the first book of Heimskringla, first mentions a Yule feast in 840. Saga of Hákon the Good credits King Haakon I of Norway with the Christianization of Norway, as well as rescheduling the date of Yule to coincide with Christian celebrations held at the time. The saga states that when Haakon arrived in Norway he was confirmed a Christian, but since the land was still altogether heathen and they retained their practices, Haakon hid his Christianity to receive the help of "great chieftains." In time, Haakon had a law passed that established that Yule celebrations were to take place at the same time as when the Christians held their celebrations, "and at that time everyone was to have ale for the celebration with a measure of grain, or else pay fines, and had to keep the holiday while the ale lasted."
Yule had previously been celebrated on midwinter night for three nights, according to the saga. Haakon planned that when he had solidly established himself and held power over the whole country, he would then "have the gospel preached." According to the saga, the result of this was that his popularity caused many to allow them to be baptized, and some people stopped making sacrifices. Haakon spent most of this time in Trondheim, Norway. When Haakon believed that he wielded enough power, he requested a bishop and other priests from England, and they came to Norway. Upon their arrival, "Haakon made it known that he would have the gospel preached in the whole country."
It was ancient custom that when sacrifice was to be made, all farmers were to come to the heathen temple and bring along with them the food they needed while the feast lasted. At this feast all were to take part of the drinking of ale. Also all kinds of livestock were killed in connection with it, horses also; and all the blood from them was called hlaut (sacrificial blood), and hlautbolli, the vessel holding the blood; and hlautteinar, the sacrificial twigs. These were fashioned like sprinklers, and with them were to be smeared all over with blood the pedestals of the idols and also the walls of the temple within and without; and likewise the men present were to be sprinkled with blood. But the meat of the animals was to be boiled and served as food at the banquet. Fires were to be lighted in the middle of the temple floor, and kettles hung over them. The sacrificial beaker was to be borne around the fire, and he who made the feast and was chieftain, was to bless the beaker as well as all the sacrificial meat.
The narrative continues that toasts were to be drunk. The first toast was to be drunk to Odin "for victory and power to the king", the second to the gods Njörðr and Freyr "for good harvests and for peace", and thirdly a beaker was to be drunk to the king himself. In addition, toasts were drunk to the memory of departed kinsfolk. This toast was called "minni [memorial toast]".
The Svarfdæla saga records a story in which a berserker put off a duel until three days after Yule to honor the sanctity of the holiday. The Grettis Saga refers to Yule as a time of "greatest mirth and joyance among men." This saga is set soon after Iceland converted to Christianity and identifies Yule with Christmas: "No Christian man is wont to eat meat this day [Yule Eve], because that on the morrow is the first day of Yule," says she, "wherefore must men first fast today."
Simek says that the Yule feast "had a pronounced religious character", and Simek cites Gulaþingslög, where Yule is described as celebrated "for a fertile and peaceful season" and consists of a fertility sacrifice. Simek says that focus was not on the gods of the Vanir, but instead the god Odin. Simek says that Odin was associated with Yule, and that the tradition of the Wild Hunt undoubtedly contributed to the association of the two. According to Simek "it is uncertain whether the Germanic Yule feast still had a function in the cult of the dead and in the veneration of the ancestors, a function which the mid-winter sacrifice certainly held for the West European Stone and Bronze Ages." The traditions of the Yule log, Yule goat, Yule boar, Yule singing, and others stem from Yule customs, and Simek says these customs "indicate the significance of the feast in pre-Christian times."
Although Yule proper starts with the chiming of the church-bells in the afternoon of julaften ("Yule Eve" or "Christmas Eve") on December 24, the previous day lillejulaften (little Christmas Eve), when the tree is put up and decorated, is increasingly the actual start date for the 13 day long Yule celebration in Norway.
Julaften remains the main event, with a traditional lunch, dinner and the exchange of gifts. Traditional dishes vary by region, but ribbe (pork ribs), and pinnejøtt, some places also codfish are eaten. As a continuation of older beliefs, a bowl of "rice porridge" (julegrøt) is sometimes left outside for nisse that evening.
The time period between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, is called romjul. Occasionally children dress up in costumes and visit neighbours, where they sing Yuletide carols and receive treats like candy, nuts and clementines. This tradition is called julebukk.
In the old days in certain areas, primarily Setesdalen, adults commonly went from house to house drinking, an event called Toftirus, during the 13 days surrounding Christmas eve. Although increasingly rare and localized, this tradition had developed into today's Drammebukk, where adults visit neighbors in the evening."
Os textos do Natal foram retirados da Wikipedia
Os textos do Natal foram retirados da Wikipedia
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