Have you ever been curious about the origins of the Christmas tree and the evergreen wreath? Follow a priest on his investigations into the early medieval pre-Christian North in two intriguing books!
In his book “Tree of Salvation” (Oxford University Press, 2013), Father G. Ronald Murphy, S.J., explores the origin of Christmas trees and their use during the holiday season. Father Murphy, professor emeritus at Georgetown University’s Department of German, tells us:
“The Christmas tree harks back to the myth of Yggdrasil which, according to the Icelandic Edda of Scandinavian mythology, is the great central tree that stands in the middle of the universe. It is the axis of the world, the world tree that holds up the skies, and the tree of life. Medieval artists in the North depict Yggdrasil on occasion as a stolid evergreen spruce, the highest of trees.”
“Perhaps the most famous of the many functions of Yggdrasil is to provide protection, especially at the time of the end of the world, Ragnorak, the twilight of the gods. Yggdrasil, seeing and feeling the destruction of the whole world which the tree supports and protects, will open to the last man and woman, or boy and girl, to admit them and provide protection for them throughout the end of the world. A new earth will emerge from the sea, eternally green.”
This myth became so enshrined in the pagan Scandinavian mythic world that people would cut down evergreen trees and bringing them into their homes to decorate, yielding the Christmas trees of today.
In a more recent book, “The Heliand, a Beautiful Happiness” (an extended interview with Dr. Murphy conducted and written by Sister Nectaria McLees, an Eastern Orthodox nun), there are further fascinating parallels between holiday traditions today and pre-Christian pagan mythology. First, however, what is the Heliand of the title? In the book (St. Nicholas Press, 2021), Father Murphy answers this directly: “… it is a poetic paraphrase of the [Christian] Gospel […] written in Old Saxon, the language of the Saxons who did not migrate to England around AD 450.” It is written in the style of medieval epic poetry and was composed by an anonymous author between 800 and 850 with the purpose of narrating and explaining the Gospel to an audience new to its message.
Thus, “The Heliand” (which means “savior”) becomes a story imbued with heroic values in which “blessed are the peace-makers” is rendered into something more understandable to Germanic warrior culture: “Blessed are those who do not like to start fights,” says Father Murphy in paraphrase.
This desire and ability to appeal to the local, pre-Christian belief system is especially clear in the Nativity narrative so prominent during the seasonal holidays: “When the Wise Men go [to the manger], they present their gifts, kneel down, and greet Christ in a royal manner.” Yet in early Germanic culture, gift giving had to be reciprocal, so in the The Heliand, Mary the mother of Jesus gives the Wise Men a gift in return: they are allowed to hold the Christ child, an event not mentioned in the four traditional Christian gospels.
Other holiday traditions are explored in “The Heliand, a Beautiful Happiness” as well. For example, we find the roots of the twelve days of Christmas. According to Father Murphy, “Before Christianity, the twelve days originally celebrated the turning back of the sun. […] Now, of course, the twelve days of Christmas are Christian.” The phrase “yuletide” heard so much at this time of year also has associations with Northern pagan traditions and the sun, for “yule means a turning or wheeling, when the sun, which had gone as far south as it could on the horizon, wheeled around to begin its northern ascent. The ceremonial Yule logs were to burn hot because the sun needed help […] to pull itself back up north along the horizon.”
Father Murphy concludes his interview in “A Beautiful Happiness” with these words:
“The Christmas tree, the wooden manger, the Norns, the Cross, the male driftwood and the female ivy, the tree stave church and runes on wooden twigs of Yggdrassil; they are all promises to us of the intercommunication of all things in the Lord of all life and in his beautiful happiness”
Briefly interviewed for this article, Father Murphy wishes Falls Church News-Press readers: “Merry Christmas and Glad Yule!”
