Some Scandinavian folklore stuff for the holiday season. A Yule goat (straw goat inhabited by a field spirit) delivers some ale to a lonely deildegast out in the winter forest. Art by dontfapgirl. 

Some explanation for the lore: 

“The Yule goat is a Scandinavian and Northern European Yule and Christmas symbol and tradition. Its origin may be Germanic pagan, and has existed in many variants during Scandinavian history. Modern representations of the Yule goat are typically made of straw. The custom of wassailing is sometimes called “going Yule goat” in Scandinavia.

The function of the Yule goat has differed throughout the ages. In a Scandinavian tradition similar to wassailing, held at either Christmas or Epiphany, young men in costumes would walk between houses singing songs, enacting plays and performing pranks. This tradition is known from the 17th century and continued in places into the early 20th century. The group of Christmas characters would often include the Yule goat, a rowdy and sometimes scary creature demanding gifts. Other traditions are possibly related to the sheaf of corn called the Yule goat. In Sweden, people regarded the Yule goat as an invisible spirit that would appear some time before Christmas to make sure that the Yule preparations were done right.”

“A deildegast, it was said, does not receive peace in the afterlife as a result of enlarging his own territory while alive by moving the border-stone dividing his own and his neighbours territory. After dying, the deildegast was forced to haunt the area near the border-stone until he was able to lift it back to its correct place. This feat proved impossible, however, as the stone would always slip, causing the deildegast to emit a sorrowful scream before trying again to no avail.“

Austria reassures refugees that there's no need to fear Krampus

Moving to a foreign land and experiencing a new culture can be trying under the best of circumstances, let alone following harried passage from war-torn regions. The new sights, sounds, and tastes can be overwhelming, the unfamiliar customs can be baffling, the different climate can be uncomfortable. I’m certain the Syrian refugees have confronted all of these things in Austria and elsewhere throughout Europe. But while each element of culture shock can (by definition) be cause for distress, one aspect of life in Austria that is likely to be particularly disturbing for uninitiated newcomers is… Krampus. For those unfamiliar, Krampus is “a horned, anthropomorphic figure who punishes children during the Christmas season who have misbehaved, in contrast with Saint Nicholas, who rewards well-behaved ones with gifts.” In Austria and other Alpine regions of Europe, early December often features “traditional parades in which young men dress as Krampus.”

Mindful of these festivities, “Officials in the village of Virgen worried about how new arrivals from the Middle East would react to the local tradition of meeting so-called ‘Christmas Devils’ who pretend to abduct kids.”

What a great and thoughtful approach, and in such marked contrast to the xenophobia that has greeted migrants in so many other parts of the world.

KRAMPUS!

‘Old English nursery songs’ Music arranged by Horace Mansion. Pictured by Anne Anderson. Published 1921 by Brentano’s, New York.

See the complete book here.

“Everyone loves the jolly Santa who brought us awesome presents as children. On bad years, we might have gotten lumps of coal. In Europe, naughty children get PUNISHED and BEATEN.”

Maybe that’s why kids behaved better back then… 

Awesome I’ll be telling my future children some of these. 

Pretty medieval manuscript of the day is a lovely Parisian book of hours known as the Hours of René d’Anjou. The miniatures depict the adoration of the magi, and St Sylvester; the margin is illustrated with foliage which is carried by angels. Isn’t it beautiful? It dates from the fifteenth century. I think the scribal hand is quite stunning.

Like many high status manuscripts, this book has had an interesting life. It is thought to have been created for a member of the Anjou family around 1410. The British Library catalogue record indicates that it is uncertain who the original owner/patron was. However the arms and motto of René d’Anjou (1409-1480), King of Naples, have been added in several places, indicating that it fell into his hands. Later, it ended up in the hands of George Strangways, Archdeacon of Coventry and chaplain to the King of England. He presented it as a gift to Henry VII (1457-1509). By the mid seventeenth century it was in Krakow in the library of the city’s Jesuit College, presumably having been sold/removed from England following the Reformation. Eventually, after a few more twists and turns, the book was purchased in 1844 by the British Museum for the library (now the British Library)

Image source: British Library MS Egerton 1070. Image declared as public domain on the British Library website.

A Christmas picnic in Australia, 1881.

(National Library of Australia)

In medieval and Tudor England, the Twelfth Night marked the end of a winter festival that started on All Hallows Eve — now more commonly known as Halloween. It is defined as “the evening of the fifth of January”.

The Lord of Misrule symbolizes the world turning upside down.

On this day the King and all those who were high would become the peasants and vice versa. At the beginning of the Twelfth Night festival, a cake that contained a bean was eaten. The person who found the bean would rule the feast. Midnight signaled the end of his rule and the world would return to normal. The common theme was that the normal order of things was reversed.

General Sherman’s “Christmas Gift” to Lincoln- Savannah

Southern families had been marking the Union Army’s approach by the distant sight of smoke from burning railroad depots, warehouses, and not a few houses, the destruction reflecting Sherman’s “scorched earth’’ strategy to destroy Southern infrastructure, economy, and the will to wage war.

Dec. 21. That afternoon, the city’s mayor surrendered the city. Sherman, clearly feeling proud of his army’s accomplishment, sent a telegram to President Lincoln: “I beg to present you as a Christmas-gift the city of Savannah.’’ (and its 25,000 bales of cotton) It arrived at the White House on Christmas Eve.

On this Christmas Eve, we felt it was fitting to share this beautiful mother of pearl nativity scene from our collections. This Creche Shadowbox was presented to Caroline and John F. Kennedy Jr. by Hussein bin Tal, the King of Jordan, as a Christmas gift.

Stereograph Christmas Scenes

Just thought I’d polish off the Advent Calendar of Oddments with these pleasant scenes of Christmas past.

All can be credited to Strohmeyer & Wyman.

[Sources: Met Museum : Daily Mail : Flickr : Falmanac]

Joulupukki (Finnish Santa)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joulupukki

This image of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their family was published in the Illustrated London News on 22 December 1848. It features the family gathered around a Christmas tree and is surrounded by images of Christmas (sleigh rides, bountiful amounts of food for a Christmas feast) and images of giving to charity. It is accompanied by an article explaining what a Christmas Trees is and what is used to decorate it:

The article also points to the Christmas tree being a German tradition brought to the royal family through their German heritage. Their use of a Christmas tree began to influence upper class families to have a Christmas tree in the early 1840s. This article in the Illustrated London News marks a wider, middle class audience being influenced to include a Christmas tree for their family’s Christmas celebrations.

Image from Illustrated London News, “The Christmas Tree at Windsor Castle”,22 December 1848

Christmas is Cancelled

Oliver Cromwell, “who was part of the joint republican, military and parliamentarian effort that overthrew the Stuart monarchy as a result of the English Civil War, and was subsequently invited by his fellow leaders to assume a head of state role,” [Source] banned Christmas in the ‘anti-fun charter’ of 1651. Public notices were nailed to trees around Britain warning that:

In 1657 he also banned mince pies because they symbolised Catholicism.