Christmas: Converting Vikings to Christianity

Long before Christmas reached Norway, the Norse lit up the darkest nights of the year with Jól, or Yule in English: a three-night midwinter feast. Alaskans understand the instinct perfectly. When the sun barely clears the mountains, you throw a party.

Exactly when Jól fell is debated. Snorri Sturluson’s saga of Haakon the Good says it began on ‘hǫkunótt,’ midwinter night, and lasted three nights. Some scholars think the date was originally set by the moon. Sources on how it was celebrated are thin, but they agree on the essentials: feasting, drinking, and sacrifice for a good and peaceful year.

Haakon the Good and Alcohol

Haakon the Good (c. 920–961), the youngest son of Harald Fairhair, grew up in England as the foster son of King Athelstan and was raised a Christian. When he returned to Norway around 934, he won the farmers to his side by promising to restore the odal (inherited land) rights his father had taken, and his half-brother Eric Bloodaxe fled. Haakon wanted Norway Christian, but he moved carefully, because his chieftains were not.

His compromise was brilliant. According to the saga, Haakon made it law that Yule would begin at the same time Christians held Christmas, and that every man, under penalty of a fine, had to brew ale from a set measure of malt and ‘keep the Yule holy as long as it lasted.’ The old feast survived; it simply moved to the Christian calendar. (The popular claim that every man had to drink four gallons is a modern embellishment of the brewing rule.)

Haakon’s nicknames tell his story: Aðalsteinsfóstri, ‘Athelstan’s foster son,’ and Haraldsson, ‘son of Harald.’

Celebrating a Viking Holiday

People mark the season in many ways today, and many modern pagans and heathens have traditions of their own. That’s part of the fun: the record from the Viking age has plenty of gaps, and every family fills them differently. Tell us your favorite winter tradition in the comments.

At Asgard Alaska we plan to keep the heart of Jól, which is a long table, a roaring fire and good company, with plenty on the menu for every diet and age.

Want to celebrate Yule in a real longhouse someday? Help us get there with a gift to our Land Fund, and join our newsletter for more stories from the Norse year.