Jölnir's Ride: a Norse Pagan Yule Story

Jölnir (yul-near) rode his eight-legged horse, Sleipnir (shlep-near), through the starry night. It was the eve of Yule, the night of the winter solstice, and Jölnir had an important job to do. Two of them, in fact.

You see, Jölnir was actually Odin, the king of the Norse gods. From Samhain until Beltaine, Odin would lead a group of hounds and warriors called the Wild Hunt. This is because Odin has the ability to send away ghosts and spirits that travel the world during the dark months and might try to harm us.

In old Norse times, there wasn’t electricity and heaters in people’s homes. They didn’t have the medicines that we have today. So winter was very hard and, sometimes, people got very sick. They believed that sickness was caused by ghosts who were angry that they had died but didn’t go to Valhalla and were bitter that the people were still alive.

Jölnir would race across the land, hunting the ghosts and spirits, and sending them to the afterlife where they belonged. His hounds and his warriors helped him.

The other job Jölnir had to do was to give rewards to children who had been kind. Because the winters were so hard, it was very important to the Norse people to help each other whenever possible. Giving someone a coat or a piece of bread could keep them from starving or freezing to death, which would turn the person into an angry ghost.

Children who were kind and helped people made Jölnir’s job much easier. The children would leave their boots by the chimney or the door with a blöt, an offering to the gods, which was usually yummy food like cookies!

Jölnir would visit children who had been very nice and he would accept their blöt by eating the cookies. Then, he would leave little wooden toys or candies inside their boots as a reward.

Today, we leave stockings out, instead of boots, and we put milk with the cookies. Jölnir goes by the name Santa Claus, and he has eight reindeer instead of a horse with eight legs. But he still has a great white beard and fur on his coat, and he loves to give presents to children who have been kind.

Joy to the World: The Pagans Sing!

There are so many songs for Christians during the holiday season, but something struck me about some of these songs. They are really about the God, not just the Christian God. I know many people filk these songs for Pagan viewpoints, but I am going to do a Pagan analysis of Joy to the World to show that busting out into song during this season doesn't have to mean memorizing a whole new set of lyrics. Enjoy!

Joy to the World Lyrics 

Joy to the World , the Lord is come!
The God, the Lord of the Sun, is very present at this time.
Let earth receive her King;
Let's capitalize that Earth to show that She is Mother birthing her Lord son-lover.
Let every heart prepare Him room,
Get ready for the rebirth of the Sun and the Lord of the Grains...Spring is comin'!
And Heaven and nature sing,
Heaven is the sky, where the Sun lives. Nature is both Mother and the flora and fauna over which the God presides.
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!
This references the Holly King's sovereignty coming to an end. The Oak King, who "saves" us from perpetual winter has returned to claim His throne.

Let men their songs employ;
Celebrate! Party on!
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Fields are where the God will grow for the Harvest. Floods generally happen in spring, when the snows melt. Everything else represents the whole of Nature.
Repeat the sounding joy,
Nature echos the celebrations of humankind, welcoming the Oak King.
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
If we look at "sin" as a violation of Nature or unkindness, then this is saying "Let's all be happy and forgive what has passed!"
Nor thorns infest the ground;
We would rather grow fruits and vegetables and grains, not thorny, inedibles.
He comes to make His blessings flow
A promise of the upcoming spring and future bounty of Harvest.
Far as the curse is found,
I would translate "curse" as the threat of unending winter and lack of food/Harvest. Essentially, these lines say that His light and promise of bounty/Harvest breaks the "curse" of barren Earth and endless Cold/Dark.
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
The God does tend to be a Justice-giver, so this fits very nicely with that idea.
And makes the nations prove
What land or people would survive without the Harvest or the Sun?
The glories of His righteousness,
The God is an ideal manifesting high principles for proper conduct, an example of how we should treat each other and the Earth.
And wonders of His love,
Beltaine is coming! :-)
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.