{"id":9566,"date":"2021-12-24T01:11:30","date_gmt":"2021-12-24T01:11:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/?p=9566"},"modified":"2022-01-21T04:34:30","modified_gmt":"2022-01-21T04:34:30","slug":"swedish-jul-a-christian-tradition-with-pagan-roots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/swedish-jul-a-christian-tradition-with-pagan-roots\/","title":{"rendered":"Swedish Jul – A Christian Tradition with Pagan Roots"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by Mitchell Henderson from Pexels<\/p><\/div>\n

Swedish jul<\/em> (Christmas) is more a cultural fixture than a religious observation. Its roots connect to the pagan Yuletide season, centered around the winter solstice – the Christian celebration of Jesus Christ’s birth came later. This week,<\/span> we’ll discuss how modern Swedish jul<\/i> tells the story of shared historical and religious practices.<\/span>
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Roots of Yule<\/span><\/h2>\n

The Germanic peoples of northern Europe were hedniska<\/em> (pagan, plural adjective form) and celebrated J\u00f3l<\/em> (Yule) during the span of a few weeks around midvinter<\/em> (from December through January). Long before kristendomen<\/em> (Christianity) arrived in Scandinavia, this season’s h\u00f6gtider<\/em> (celebrations) culminated around <\/span>vintersolst\u00e5ndet<\/span><\/i> (the Winter Solstice), and j<\/em>ulblo<\/i>t, an offerm\u00e5ltid<\/em> (sacrificial dinner) that earned the approval of the gods and culminated in a large feast. The modern Swedish symbols julbock<\/em> (Christmas goat) and julgris<\/em> (Christmas pig) are said to be tied to julblot<\/em>. Further, scholars connect pagan J\u00f3l<\/em> celebrations to the Norse God Odin and Odens jakt<\/em> (Odin’s Hunt, or the Wild Hunt), a mythical tradition of ghostly hunters and beasts led by Odin.<\/span><\/p>\n

The burning of the iconic\u00a0julstock <\/em>(yule log) translates to modern times as the brasa<\/em> (fire), a lovely indoor or outdoor fire and quintessential to Swedish julmys<\/em> (Christmas coziness)<\/a>. Northern Europeans have a longstanding tradition of tree worship, as mentioned in the story of Saint Boniface when he confronted a group of pagans as they worshipped a large ektr\u00e4d<\/em> (oak tree). Disgusted at their blasphemy, he chopped down the tree and many say this was the beginning of the julgran<\/em> (Christmas tree) tradition, although decorating the julgran<\/em> came much later. See a short history of the Swedish julgran<\/em> as explained by etnolog<\/em> (ethnologist) Jonas Engman at Nordiska museet<\/a>.
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