jól
nafnorðhvorugkyn
, in rhymes, gólig, Jóla, (in a verse); [ geôl, sometimes used of the whole month of December, whereas December is also called æra geola = fore Yule, and January æftera geola = after Yule; the in perhaps refers to this double month. The origin and etymology of the word Yule is much contested, and has been treated at length by Grimm (Gesch. der Deutschen Sprache), who tries to make out a relation between the Jūlus or Jūlius and the Yule, the one being a midsummer month, the other a midwinter month; like former etymologists, he also derives the word from hjól, a wheel, as referring to the sun’s wheeling round at midwinter and midsummer time. The resemblance of the words is striking, as also the old northern celebration of the midsummer feast Jónsvaka (see below), which was in fact a kind of midsummer Yule.]
B. Yule, a great feast in the heathen time, afterwards applied to Christmas (as still in ) In popular usage Yule-eve is a kind of landmark by which the year is reckoned, so that a man is as many years old as he has passed Yule nights, hafa lifað (so and so) margar Jóla-nætr; for the year counts from Yule night, whence the phrase, vera ílla or vel á ár kominn, to become well or ill in the year; thus a person born shortly before Yule is ‘ílla á ár kominn,’ for at next Yule he will be reckoned one year old, whereas one born just after it is ‘vel á ár kominn.’ The heathen Yule lasted thirteen days, whence are derived the names Þrettándi, the thirteenth = Epiphany, the 6th of January, as also the ‘Twelfth-night;’ it is however probable that the heathen feast was held a little later than the Christian (see hökunótt). The heathen Yule was a great merry-making, and tales of ghosts, ogres, and satyrs were attached to it, the Jóla-sveinar or ‘Yule-lads,’ a kind of goblins or monster satyrs, thirteen in number, one to each day of the feast, sons of the kidnapping hag Grýla (), whose names were used to frighten children with, see i. 219, 220. As the night lengthens and the day shortens, the ghosts gain strength, and reach their highest at Yule time, see 34–37, 67–70, 34, 22. The day next before Yule is called atfanga-dagr () Jóla, when stores were provided and fresh ale brewed, Jóla-öl. Passages in the Sagas referring to Yule are numerous, e.g. 4, Hálfd. S. Svarta 8, Har. S. Hárf. 16 (in a verse), Góða 12, 15, 19, 151, 31, 3. 15 (in the ), 51 , iii. 127. As for Yule games the Norse and Danish Jule-buk, Jola-geit () = a Yule goat, Jule-leg = a Yule game.
II. in poetry a feast (generally); hugins jól, a raven’s feast, vi. 255 (in a verse), 36.
:
- Jólaaptan,
- Jólabál,
- Jólaboð,
- Jólabók,
- Jóladagr,
- Jóladrykkja,
- Jólafasta,
- Jólafriðr,
- Jólaföstubók,
- Jólaföstutíð,
- Jólagjöf,
- Jólagrið,
- Jólahald,
- Jólahelgi,
- Jólahöll,
- Jólakveld,
- Jólales,
- Jólamorgin,
- Jólanótt,
- Jólaskrá,
- Jólasveinar,
- Jólatíð,
- Jólatíðir,
- Jólatíðabók,
- Jólatungl,
- Jólaveizla,
- Jólavist,
- Jólaöl.
Skammstafanir og tilvitnanir
- n.hvorugkyn (e. neuter)
- pl.fleirtala (e. plural)
- A. S.Anglo-Saxon.
- plur.fleirtala (e. plural)
- Icel.Iceland, Icelander, Icelanders, Icelandic.
- Lat.Latin.
- Teut.Teutonic.
- North. E.Northern English.
- i. e.id est.
- Engl.English.
- esp.especially.
- q. v.quod vide.
- ch.chapter.
- sqq.following.
- cp.compare.
- Dan.Danish.
- COMPDSsamsett orð (e. compounds)
- Ó. H.Ólafs saga Helga. (E. I.)
- Ísl. Þjóðs.Íslenzkar Þjóðsögur.
- Grett.Grettis saga. (D. II.)
- Eb.Eyrbyggja saga. (D. II.)
- Flóam. S.Flóamanna saga. (E. I.)
- Hervar. S.Hervarar saga. (C. II.)
- Hák. S.Hákonar saga. (E. I.)
- Landn.Landnáma. (D. I.)
- Hb.Hauks-bók. (H. IV.)
- Bjarn.Bjarnar saga. (D. II.)
- Sturl.Sturlunga saga. (D. I.)
- Ivar AasenIvar Aasen’s Dictionary, 1850.
- Fms.Fornmanna sögur. (E. I.)