| In a land whre midday shadows begin to lengthen in September, the "turning of the sun" at Yule-tide gave rise to celebrations in Scandinavia long before the 11th century when Christianity reached Norway. Heathen beliefs linked with the return of the dead on this darkest of days, as well as the anxiety concerning the year to come, added an eerie touch to the rejoicing over the return of the light. Fertility rites and thw worship of the goddess Freia were also a part of these festivities. Yule in Norway is not only a time for feasting with all the attendant preparation of the season, but also (as in all Scandinavia), an occasion for singing, dancing, parties, and visiting. The basic holiday dishes: sausages in variety hams, cutlets, fat and trimmings for sylte----even the feet, which are pickled in salt brine, make good eating. Until a few generations ago, there were farms in Norway where old trees were served food on Christmas Eve, even as the animals were given special rations. In one instance, a mug of ale, a piece of meat, and a bowl of porridge were placed every Christmas Eve before a venerable oak standing in the farmyard. While no specific belief was attached to this practice in later years, it was continued as a part of cherished Yule ceremonies on that particular farm. More common today in various parts of Scandinavia is the bowl of porridge placed in the hayloft of the barn. This is the Christmas treat for the family's "barn elf", who claims the loft and sable as his own particular domain. No one in Norway joins in the holidays without a good scrubbing from top to toe. This custom----like many others of the Christmas season----stems from the day when people were convinced that the new year began with Christmas Day. During WW II, when Norway was occupied, free Norwegian forces made it a point to slip through German coastal patrols to cut a Norwegian tree as a gift for the exiled King Haakon each year. The parctice of sending a tree to England has persisted since the war, and each Christmas a huge Norwegian tree stands in London's Trafalgar Square----a gift from the Norwegian people. In times past, tradition was generally centered around the Yule log, which was frequently an entire tree trunk dragged into the room with the butt resting in the fireplace. It burned and smouldered during the shole of the Yule season, gradually being pushed farther onto the hearth as the end burned away. While lighted candles have always been a part of the Norwegian Christmas, according to tradition they have always been placed in candleholders rather than on the tree. It was often a practice to have a candle for each member of the family, and in bygone days the light of each candle was thought to have partaicular powers over any person or object on which it shone. Formerly, on Christmas Eve in farm areas, the Christmas candle was carried through the yard, through the barn, and into the stable----and the farmer sang and made the sign of the cross in the hair of the cattle to ensure good fortune and good health during the coming year. In days when the floors of Norwegian homes were made of packed earth, it was the custom to spread fresh straw thereon prior to Christmas. During the holy season's festivities it lay there, absorbing the mystical candlelight, the various rituals. On Christmas Eve, when it was considered dangerous to sleep alone, the whole family (including servants and hired hands) slept on the floor in the Christmas straw, protected there against the evil thought to be abroad. This, too, was a sort of equality ritual where master and servant found themselves on equal levels on this one night of the year. After the Christmas season, the straw was gathered up and strewn on the fields as an omen of good harvest for the year to come. Coffee and cakes, usually all fourteen different kinds, are part of the Christmas tree celebration. Delicacies may include julekake (a cake-like bread with citron), hjortetakk, doughnut-like cakes in an "e" shape, berlinerkranser in much the same shape, though not fried in fat, and a small fat-fried cookie called fattigmann. The name of the last cake, which means "poor man's cake" is slightly misleading, since quantities of eggs, butter, and fine flour go into its making. The name may imply that the maker can expect to be a "poor man" by the time he has made the cakes. |
