Jul (Denmark)
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Jul (), the
Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
Jule and
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
, is celebrated throughout December starting either at the beginning of Advent or on 1 December with a variety of traditions. Christmas Eve, ''Juleaften'', the main event of Jul, is celebrated on the evening of 24 December, the evening before the two Christmas holidays, 25 and 26 December. Celebrating on the eve before Christmas is also used for most other holidays in Denmark. Jul is originally an ancient old Norse tradition related to the Germanic
Yule Yule, actually Yuletide ("Yule time") is a festival observed by the historical Germanic peoples, later undergoing Christianised reformulation resulting in the now better-known Christmastide. The earliest references to Yule are by way of indi ...
celebration of Northern Europe, but was mixed with the overlapping Christian tradition of Christmas when Denmark was christianized during the
11th century The 11th century is the period from 1001 ( MI) through 1100 ( MC) in accordance with the Julian calendar, and the 1st century of the 2nd millennium. In the history of Europe, this period is considered the early part of the High Middle Ages. ...
. The traditions related to ''Jul'' have evolved through the centuries, still with many pagan traditions carried on today. In the 19th century, the tradition of bringing a Christmas tree inside the home was introduced gradually, inspired by
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.


Christmas Eve

In the evening, an elaborate dinner is eaten with the family. It usually consists of roast pork, roast duck, or - more rarely - roast goose, with potatoes, caramelized potatoes, red cabbage and plenty of brown gravy. For dessert, risalamande, a cold rice pudding dish, is served with a hot cherry sauce, traditionally with a whole almond hidden inside. The lucky finder of this almond is entitled to a small gift, which is traditionally a marzipan pig. In some families, it's tradition that the rice pudding dessert is made with the remaining rice porridge from the previous evening, a meal served on the 23rd, ''Lillejuleaften'' (Little Yule Eve), with cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter. It is eaten warm with a fruit drink (usually red cordial) or sweet malt beer. After the meal is complete, (some families dance before the meal) the family will dance around the '' Juletræ'' and sing Christmas carols and hymns like "Nu er det jul igen" (Now it is Yule again) and "Et barn er født i
Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...
" (A child has been born in Bethlehem). When the singing is complete, presents from under the tree are handed out by the children or in turn. After they have been opened, there are more snacks, candy, chips, and sometimes the traditional '' Gløgg''.


Church visits

In Denmark, there is a tradition to go to Church on the afternoon of Christmas Eve, on the 24th. The text is
Luke 2 Luke 2 is the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament, traditionally attributed to Luke the Evangelist, a companion of Paul the Apostle on his missionary journeys. It contains an account of Jesus's birth and an incident from his ...
, but since the 24th is not an official Christmas holiday, there was no official ritual for that day until recently. Most churches have Christmas services on both official Christmas holidays, 25 and 26 December, with well-defined rituals. Going to church on Christmas Eve has become very popular. The services on 24 December are the most heavily frequented services of the year with around a third of the population attending.


Christmas lunches

Throughout the Yule period, a range of Yule dinners or lunches are arranged. Before 24 December most workplaces, unions, schools, football teams, or extended groups of friends arrange a ''Julefrokost'' (Yule Lunch), but sometimes they are delayed until January. This typically involves plenty of food and alcohol, and often takes place on a Friday or Saturday night. After 24 December, usually on Christmas Day and the Second Day of Christmas which are public holidays, the extended families arrange a ' (Family Yule Lunch). This usually involves more food, and takes place from noon until evening. An average Dane usually attends three to four ' and one or two ' during ''Jul''. A typical Yule Lunch involves much beer and
schnaps Schnapps ( or ) or schnaps is a type of alcoholic beverage that may take several forms, including distilled fruit brandies, herbal liqueurs, infusions, and "flavored liqueurs" made by adding fruit syrups, spices, or artificial flavorings to ...
. It begins with a variety of seafood dishes; open face sandwiches with pickled herring, shrimps and deep fried plaice filet with Danish
remoulade Rémoulade (; ) is a cold sauce. Although similar to tartar sauce, it is often more yellowish, sometimes flavored with curry, and sometimes contains chopped pickles or piccalilli. It can also contain horseradish, paprika, anchovies, capers ...
. Sometimes
gravlax Gravlax () or graved salmon is a Nordic dish consisting of salmon that is cured using a mix of salt and sugar, and either dill or sprucetwigs placed on top, and may occasionally be cold- smoked afterwards. Gravlax is usually served as an app ...
or smoked salmon and smoked eel are offered as well. Pickled herring comes in many varieties, with white, red, curried and fried pickled herrings as the most common options, and it is served exclusively on rugbrød, a special Danish rye bread, based on sourdough and whole grains. Next will be a variety of warm and cold meats, such as fried sausages, fried meatballs, boiled ham, liver pâté and fried pork, served with red or green braised cabbage dishes. Desserts are usually cheeses, fruit (mostly
orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...
,
clementine A clementine (''Citrus × clementina'') is a tangor, a citrus fruit hybrid between a willowleaf mandarin orange ( ''C.'' × ''deliciosa'') and a sweet orange (''C. × sinensis''), named in honor of Clément Rodier, a French missionary who fir ...
and mandarin) and risalamande, a special rice dessert associated with Christmas. From time to time, someone calls out "Skål" to make a toast, and everyone stops eating to take a drink. Normally, everyone takes public transportation to the event, to avoid alcohol related traffic accidents on the way home from these parties.


Christmas confectionery and sweet treats

Throughout the Christmas month of December, various confectionery, fruits, cakes, beverages and sweet treats specifically associated with Christmas are widely available in the streets, in shops, cafés or in homes. This includes nuts (mostly hazelnut, walnut and almond), dried fruits (apricots, figs and raisins), oranges, clementines, mandarins, pigeon apples, '' brændte mandler'' (sugarglazed almonds), glazed apples on a stick, pancakes, '' æbleskiver'', '' pebernødder'', '' klejner'', '' brunkager'' and other types of ''småkager'' (Danish cookies), ''gløgg'' (
mulled wine Mulled wine, also known as spiced wine, is an alcoholic drink usually made with red wine, along with various mulling spices and sometimes raisins, served hot or warm. It is a traditional drink during winter, especially around Christmas. It is us ...
) of various recipes and a variety of marzipan treats, some of which includes chocolate and Danish nougat.


Christmas Calendars

Denmark has adopted and expanded the German tradition of
Advent calendar An Advent calendar is used to count the days of Advent in anticipation of Christmas. Since the date of the First Sunday of Advent varies, falling between November 27 and December 3 inclusive, many reusable Advent calendars made of paper or wood ...
s. It is common to have Julekalender (Yule calendars) that mark all days from 1 to 24 December. They are often made of cardboard with pictures or treats such as chocolate. They come in various forms whether home-made or manufactured and can contain innocent stories of Yule, or might even be
scratchcard A scratchcard (also called a scratch off, scratch ticket, scratcher, scratchum, scratch-it, scratch game, scratch-and-win, instant game, instant lottery, scratchie, lot scrots, or scritchies) is a card designed for competitions, often made of ...
s. A popular version is the ''gavekalender'' (gift calendar). These can either function as a julekalender marking all 24 days up to Yule Eve with a gift for each day or they can function as Advent calendars marking the four Sundays of Advent instead with a gift for each Sunday. A special Danish calendar tradition started by DR in 1962 consists of broadcasting TV shows with exactly 24 episodes, one each day up to Yule Eve. The tradition has become very popular and every major network now has TV calendars during the Christmas period, whether original productions or TV shows. The tradition of TV calendars has also been adopted by the other
Scandinavian countries Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swede ...
.


Christmas vacation

Because of the high concentration of holidays at the end of December, it is possible to have a vacation between Christmas and New Year without missing many days at work. This holiday is usually named "Juleferie" or Yule Vacation, and is usually considered to be in the date range from 24 December until approximately 1 January.


Other traditions

In Denmark, Santa Claus is known as Julemanden (literally "the Yule Man") and is said to arrive on a sleigh drawn by reindeer, with presents for the children. He is assisted with his Yuletide chores by elves known as julenisser (or simply
nisser Nisser is a lake in Nissedal, Norway. It is the 13th-largest lake in the nation by area with a surface area of , the 10th largest by volume at 7.19 km³, and the 13th deepest at . It is located in Nissedal and Kviteseid municipality in Ves ...
), who are traditionally believed to live in attics, barns or similar places. In some traditions, to maintain the favor and protection of these nisser, children leave out saucers of milk or rice pudding or other treats for them on the afternoon on the 24th, and are delighted to find the food gone on Yule morning. Danish homes are decorated with ''kravlenisser'' (climbing nisse), which are cardboard cutouts of
nisser Nisser is a lake in Nissedal, Norway. It is the 13th-largest lake in the nation by area with a surface area of , the 10th largest by volume at 7.19 km³, and the 13th deepest at . It is located in Nissedal and Kviteseid municipality in Ves ...
which can be attached to paintings and bookshelves. This is a unique Danish tradition started in the early 20th century. Julehjerter or pleated Yule hearts are handmade decorations which are hung on the Yule tree. Children together with other members of the family create the hearts from glossy paper in various colours. Hearts and ''kræmmerhuse,'' decorated paper cones, are often filled with treats when hung on the tree. Another traditional decoration that is put on the tree are strings with small Danish flags attached to it. St. Lucia Day is celebrated on 13 December.


History

Until 1770, the Christmas holidays included 2nd day of Christmas and Epiphany on 6 January (celebrated on the eve of 5 January). Afterwards, only 1st and 2nd Christmas Day are holidays, and 6 January is now a celebration day. The first Christmas tree in
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
was lit in
Ny Kongensgade Ny Kongensgade (literally "New King's Street) is a street in central Copenhagen, Denmark, connecting Frederiksholm Canal to H. C. Andersens Boulevard. In the opposite direction, The Prince's Bridge connects the street to Tøjhusgade on Slotsholme ...
in 1811. Christmas trees became popular among the
middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Com ...
from about 1820 and hence spread to all levels of society.


See also

* Christmas worldwide * Jól (Iceland) * Jul (Norway) * Julemanden * Julenisse * Juhl (surname) *
Yule Yule, actually Yuletide ("Yule time") is a festival observed by the historical Germanic peoples, later undergoing Christianised reformulation resulting in the now better-known Christmastide. The earliest references to Yule are by way of indi ...


Sources

* danmarkshistorien.dk
Jul i vikingetiden og den tidlige middelalder
Aarhus University . About Danish ''Jul'' in the Viking Age and early Middle Ages. * danmarkshistorien.dk
Julestuen - danske juletraditioner i 1600- og 1700-tallet
Aarhus University . About ''Julestuer'' and Danish Christmas traditions in the 1600 and 1700s.''Julestuer'' can be loosely translated as Yule-gatherings.


References


Bibliography

* Feilberg, Henning Frederik: ''Jul I-II'' (1903) {{Europe topic , Christmas in
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...
December observances Yule