Why Do Some of Us Celebrate Yule at the Solstice?

By Shade McCurdy

In recent years, there has been some debate amongst the Ásatrú community about when to observe Yule. There are those who favor celebrating near the winter solstice, those who favor the lunisolar reckoning, and those who favor the Misseri calendar reckoning.

Critics of the solstice celebrations will point out that Saga literature informs us that this was not originally when our heathen ancestors observed Yule, and how it was moved as part of the Christian conversion efforts in the 10th Century. This is true.

“[King Hákon] made it law that observance of Yule should begin at the same time as Christian people observed Christmas, and then everyone was to have a measure of ale, or else pay a fine, and keep holiday as long as the ale lasted. But previously observance of Yule began on midwinter night and continued for three nights.” — Heimskringla, Hákonar saga góða Ch. 13

On this note, it is also worth mentioning that the observance of the birth of Christ was moved from its original date to the winter solstice to coincide with Roman pagan celebrations of Saturnalia. While we lack written accounts, the sun and the solstice appear to have had great cosmic significance to our ancestors in the Paleolithic and the Bronze Age, as demonstrated by archaeological finds like the Nebra Sky Disc, petroglyphs, and other megalithic structures.

By all available documented accounts, the lunisolar reckoning is the oldest and most traditional to our heathen ancestors. In 2006, Professor Andreas Nordberg of Stockholm University published a paper called Jul, disting och förkyrklig tideräkning, where his research into the Norse lunisolar calendar concluded that the placement of Old Yule—occurring at Midwinter—was at the full moon following the first new moon after the winter solstice (this places the coming Yule at February 1, 2026).

According to this method, the solstice does still play a role, but serving as more of an anchor point than the main celebration. The “Great Midwinter Sacrifice” as some have called it, occurred as late as 853CE in Old Uppsala, Sweden. At least this is the case for Scandinavia. The Anglo-Saxons, according to the Venerable Bede’s 725CE treatise, De Temporum Ratione, began their new year with the observance of Módraniht, Mothers’ Night, a blót which fell on the solstice.

The Anglo-Saxons were Christianized quite early—in the 6th Century—so a Christian influence is certainly possible, however, the intent and timing of this holiday also appears related to the pagan Matronae cult that emerged organically between the Roman and Germanic peoples during their interactions throughout the 1st and 5th Centuries.

The Misseri Calendar was implemented at an Icelandic Althing in the 10th Century, discarding the lunisolar system. Scholars such as Kristín Bjarnadóttir have theorized that this may have been due to the difficulty of seeing the moon from Iceland. Nevertheless, this new calendar determined the placement of auspicious days by counting fixed weeks and months.

“The first day of summer is to be a Thursday; from then three months of thirty nights and four nights in addition are to be counted to midsummer. From midsummer there are to be three months of thirty nights to winter. The first day of winter is to be a Saturday and from then there shall be six months of thirty nights to summer; and ten weeks of summer are to have passed when men come to the General Assembly." — The Laws of Early Iceland: Grágás

Being that the Misseri Calendar was also a post-Christian innovation, the observance of Yule and other heathen holidays were dropped completely, but Christmas remained. Those who have adopted this method have interpolated the dates of Yule and Sumarmál from the available formula.

So, now that we have compared these means of reckoning our holy tides, the question remains: why do some of us celebrate Yule at the solstice?

In the thousand years between our indigenous religion going dormant and re-emerging again, Europeans and Americans have carried on timeless traditions which undoubtedly originated within the same Northern environment as our faith. Whether they are the ancient Yuletide customs that our various tribes and nations shared from a common root, or unique regional folklore and celebrations that emerged in more recent centuries, we have an opportunity to recognize all of these expressions of European culture in a manner that not only integrates with the conditions of the modern world, but reaches back to the deeper spiritual roots that many people remain unaware of.

All around the world, our Yuletide customs have continued to take place at Christmastime. Even the secular world takes a pause in its ordinary routines here, near the solstice, and families come together with gifts, meals, and cheer amidst the darkness. All of the accoutrements and energy of this festive atmosphere may serve to reinforce our reverence, if we choose to approach them with that intention in mind. Our folk who seek their pre-Christian heritage benefit from stepping into something that is already accessible and familiar (note that the Christians used this to their advantage in converting our ancestors).

Finally, I will ask, at what point do we draw the line for what is and what is not an authentic expression of our culture and faith? Is it limited to a certain era in history? Or a particular geographic region? Or a specific written source? What about folkloric characters and traditions such as the Yulefather (who inspired Santa Claus) the Yule Lads, the Tomten, the Yule Log, the Wild Hunt, the Yule Tree, the Yule Bock, Krampus, carols, dances, etc.? Most of these customs and beliefs do not explicitly exist in the laws and lore of the Norse literary corpus, but should we snuff them out for this reason?

I ask these questions not to be deconstructive or to dismiss the idea of having definitive answers and boundaries, but to encourage some more consideration to the subject. Our ancestors were innovators, after all. Even an unbroken tradition of Ásatrú would look different in modern America than Viking Age Scandinavia. The heathen practices of the Swedes and Norwegians differed from the Saxons and Danes in their own time.

As a personal advocate of revitalizing the lunisolar calendar, I agree that we should uphold Óðinn’s command that “there should be a blót in the middle of winter for a good crop,” (Ynglinga Saga Ch. 8), in addition to the festivities that our folk have been inclined to partake in at the solstice. Perhaps the “Old Yule” which occurs at Midwinter may be a culmination of the greater Yuletide season which begins in December.

I think that having more opportunities to honor our gods, ancestors, and culture is a good problem to have.

At any rate, we Ásatrúar should not be putting one another down without first attempting to understand each other’s reasonings. Let us use these moments to share our own traditions with others, and allow them to share theirs with us, in kind—free of condescension, and full of piety.

Hail the Gods!
Hail the Folk!
Happy Yuletide!