In the Viking tradition, Bo or Boh was a fierce Gothiccaptain and a son of Odin. When Viking troops surprised their enemies they invoke his name, calling out Bo! The custom lives on in Britain where it is customary to shout boo! When taking someone by surprise. Research Boo
Christmas is the Christian celebration of the birth of their saviour, Jesus Christ. The festival we now call Christmas was adopted from earlier pagan winter solstice celebrations celebrating the sun, including the Roman festival of Saturnalia celebrated from December the 17th to the 24th; Celtic Yuletide which was a twelve-day long festival of feasting around November/December; the Roman New Year celebrated on January the first when lights and greenery were used to decorate houses in celebration of the birth of the undying sun, and presents were given to children and the poor. Other elements of modern Christmas celebrations are also adopted from earlier pagan celebrations: the Christmas tree as a fir tree originates with the Oak tree that was sacred to Odin in Norse and Germanic tradition, and which was replaced by the fir tree declared to be sacred to Jesus by St Boniface in Germany in the 8th century. Mistletoe and holly were sacred to the Druids who used them as decorations in their winter solstice celebrations to the sun around mid-December.
Christmas was first celebrated around the 2nd century on two dates depending upon church; the Roman catholic church adopting December the 25th and some other churches adopting January the 6th which around the 5th century became Epiphany. Christmas day was officially transferred to the 25th of December by Julius I, who died in 352. The Puritans suppressed Christmas celebrations in Britain and America on the justifiable grounds of their pagan origins, however since the 18th century when the first Christmas cards were produced by the company of Goodall of London in 1862, peoples of many cultures, including Jews have celebrated Christmas in a variety of religious, pagan and other ways, with today the Jehova's Witnesses being the only major Christian objectors to the celebration of Christmas - on the perfectly correct grounds that it is a pagan festival, and the irrefutable evidence suggests that Jesus was not born on December the 25th or even in the month of December.
Complaints about the commercialisation of Christmas are not new. In the 19th century Charles Dickens character 'Ebeneazer Scrooge' in the novel 'A Christmas Carol' complains that Christmas is a 'humbug' or in other words a con or a rip off, a sentiment widely echoed by shoppers in Britain at the end of the 20th century. Research Christmas
The Aesir were the principal gods in Norse mythology. They lived in Asgard. Four of the gods were common to the Germanic nations: Odin, chief of the Aesir; Frigg Odin's wife; Tyr the god of war; and Thor the god of thunder. Some of the other important Aesir were Balder, Jord, Heimdall, and Loki. Research Aesir
In Norse mythology, Balder or Baldur was the son of Odin and Freya and husband of Nanna, and the best, wisest, and most loved of all the gods. His mother took an oath from every creature, and even from every inanimate object, that they would not harm Balder, but omitted the mistletoe. Balder was therefore deemed invulnerable, and the other gods in sport flung stones and shot arrows at him without harming him. But the evil god Loki fashioned an arrow from the mistletoe and got Balder's blind brother Hoder to shoot it, himself guiding his aim. Balder fell dead, pierced to the heart, to the deep grief of all the gods. He is believed to be a personification of the brightness and beneficence of the sun. Research Balder
In Norse mythology, Bragi is the god of poetry and eloquence. He was the son of Odin and the giantess Gunnlod, and was married to the goddess Iduna who dwelt in the underworld. After Odin learned the mysteries of writing, he taught them to Bragi by cutting runes on his tongue. Bragi was told to let them out like butterflies at banquets of the gods and in Valhalla in the form of poetry. Bragi was depicted as an old man with a long white beard. Loki called him Braggy and Windymouth. Research Bragi
Abbreviations
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