A to Z challenge 2023 – X is for . . .

 

A to Z challenge 2023 – X is for . . .

My theme for this challenge is Nature in all much of her wonderful diversity. My posts will reflect the fact that I am resident in the south of England.

All photographs courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Xmas

 Recreated Victorian Christmas at Harewood House

Whether mankind is Nature’s greatest achievement is a moot point, but Christmas is a time of year when the focus in on mankind. You may or may not hold a religious belief, yet the story of the Nativity is one of hope and celebration.

When did Christmas become Xmas? In the Greek alphabet X is the symbol for ‘chi’ and is the first letter in the Greek word for Christ. In the early Christian church believers used the letter X as a secret sign to other believers.

Trafalgar Square

The ‘mas’ of Xmas refers to the religious ceremony that is celebrated at Christmas – literally Christ’s mass. The first abbreviation of Christmas to Xmas appeared in 1021 when a scribe used it to save space on his scroll.

Xmas is associated with the pagan festival of Yule.

Haakon the Good (920-961) was a Christian and he ruled Norway as King Haakon I from 934 until his death in 961.  He was a tolerant ruler and did not impose his beliefs on his people, allowing them to continue their pagan worship.

However, he decreed that Christmas and Yuletide should be celebrated at the same time. To ensure that the festivals were properly celebrated, he required every free man to consume approximately four gallons of ale and to continue celebrating until the ale ran out.

Yule was celebrated at the time of the winter solstice to hail the return of the sun and longer days. Bonfires were lit, and holly, ivy and evergreen boughs were used to decorate the home. There were ritual sacrifices and great feasts, and gifts were exchanged.

Much of this ritual was absorbed into the Christian festival. For Christians, evergreens symbolised eternal life and the promise of renewed life in spring. An account from England in 1444 recorded that every house and church was dressed with oak, ivy, bay and other evergreen branches.

Christmas tree at Windsor Castle, drawn by J.L. Williams, 1848, for The Illustrated London News

It was not until December 1800 that the first Christmas tree was brought indoors to Queen’s Lodge, Windsor, by Queen Charlotte, the German wife of George III. That tree was a yew rather than a fir tree.

However, it was Queen Victoria and Prince Albert who embraced the tradition and popularised it. Illustrations of the ‘Royal Christmas’ in the 1840s in popular magazines, whetted the public appetite.

Henceforth, Christmas trees became very popular with the upper classes, particularly for children's parties, decorated with real candles and baubles, with piles of presents underneath.

When I read that I immediately thought of ‘The Nutcracker’, the engaging 1892 ballet based on Hoffmann’s 1816 story of ‘The Nutcracker and the Mouse King’ and set to the incomparable music of Tchaikovsky. (I dislike the nutcracker character and find him quite grotesque.)

After many years, Christmas trees became an established seasonal feature in most homes.

Every year since 1947, the Norwegian government donates a large Christmas tree to Great Britain, to be erected in Trafalgar Square. It is a token of gratitude to London for sheltering the Norwegian king and government during the Second World War when Norway was under Nazi occupation.

The scent of green branches in the house on a drear December day lifts the spirits, giving promise of brighter days and new growth to come. The twinkling lights on the Christmas tree and the candles that lend their flickering warm glow, offset the darkness that falls so early.