Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1876-12-27

CHRISTMAS.
The manner in which tits Celebrated
In Norway.

We find the following interesting |
sketch in Scribner's Magazine for
January:
The great festival of the year in
Norway, as among all Germanic
nations, is Christmas. Whether it
owes all its sanctity to its associa-
ton with the birth Of the Savior is,
however, an open question; for
many customs still kept alive in the
remoter valleys seem to point be-
yond the beginning Of the Chris
tian era, to the time when the
Norsemen ate horsehesh in honor
Of Odin and Thor and Frey. The
festival, as the retaining of the old
name indicates, is as yet strongly
tinctured with "reminiscences Of the
old pagan Yule, Tracing the char.
acter of Christ and his apostles, as
they appear in many popular mar
chen and legends, the conclusion
lies near that the people have, con.
sciously or not, transferred much
that was dear to them in the old
gods to the new deity, and thus by
a sort of compromise between the
old faith and the new have pro-
duced a divine type which is, at all
events, sufficiently national to ap-
peal strongly to their Morse hearts.
The nationalizing of ones divinity
is, of course, not peculiar to Nor
way; it would be more singular if
Norway had shown no trace Of it.
The preparations for the Yule-
tide, in the way of provisioning the
house, would, to American eyes,
look perfectly enormous. Baking
and brewing and butchering keep
the whole household busy during
the last three weeks preceding the
festival. And the fact that the pro-
cess is repeated year after year
probably proves that it is necessary.
Every man, woman or child who
comes within a stones throw of the
house during the holidays (Which
last until week alter New Year,
must be invited in and urged to
eat and drink without regard for
comfort. Even the birds are to
have their share of the Christmas
Iioy. AS soon As the church bells
have "rung in the feast" at five
o'clock in the afternoon of Christ
mas eve, the father Of the house
) takes his richest sheaf of oats OF
barley and attaches it to the end OF
a pole, which is nailed to the gable
of the barns on the store houses.
The mother and the children stand
by enjoying the sight of the happy
birds futtering around the sheaf,
while the father will perhaps quote
the passage about Gods care even
for the sparrow, wherefore it is
right that the sparrow too should
! rejoice on the day when Christ was
born.
Amangthe many evening visitors
which are ssflre tq ttql drop in to taste
the Christmas brew, some are apt
to be disguised by grotesque masks,
and otherwise fantastically accou-
tered. These arc called Yule-bucks,
possibly because the most common
mask may have been that of goat
or some other horned creature. AT
present / do not know thatany spe-
cial kind of disguise is preferred.
| The rule seems to be, the more gro
tesque the better,
| The Germrn custom Of having
poor children wander about on
Christmas eve, carrying Q large
lighted star of canvas, representing
the star of Bethlehem, PREVAILS also
in Norway. No one can hear their
shrill, tiny voices in the snow under
his window, singing the dear ia.
miliar carols, aud refuse them their
/ Sell- earned penny,