Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1917-12-21

erytnlng animate n IN 7
animate. the animals and
men and fish and birds, -
the water and earth and rocks ant
trees, the winds and clouds and rair
and snow, all agreed never TO harm
Baldur.
Go forth and weep no more, daugh
ter" said Wodin to Mamma. mo harm
can now come TO your husband. my
son." and Mamma went forth happy.
After that all the gods used tC
amuse themselves hurting stones ant
axes and spears at Baldur and he
stood and laughed at them, because
neither wood nor petal nor anything
could harm him. 1t was great sport
for everyone. One day while at this
sport an old woman asked Mamma why
they were trying to kill Baldur.
Everything has promised never to
harm him." she explained.
"EverythingT Queried the old won
an.
Except the mistletoe, what can that
little shrub do?' Mamma laughed scorn-
fully.
The old woman hurried away. OF
course it was Loki in disguise. She
got a twig of mistletoe and hardened
1t by charring the outside before the
fire, fitted the point to a lance and
hurled 1t at Baldur, w%hereupon it
pierced his heart and he fell dead.
Dedicated to Love and Affection.
AS a peace offering the gods dedi-
Gated the mistletoe to love and affec-
ton and peace just so long ms it never
touched Loki's territory, the ground.
Ever since then the m~istletoe has
grown without roots, far away from
the ground, and even to this day it is
used by %suspending it above the floor
or ground.
And so it is that both ancient Brit
ain and Scandinavia lay their claim to
mistletoe customs and the origin of
suspending a branch of 1t beneath
which youth may kiss. There is little
doubt but what the custom was In use
a thousand years before the origin of
Christmas. While the story of the
maidens who lured back to their
camps, and to themselves, the young
men who were about 20 become Druid
priests, gives good account of our Gus
tom of kissing beneath the mistletOe
today, to Scandinavia also belongs
much credit. When those brave and
romantic Scandinavians 1ooked for
ward to Valhalla rs their heaven, and
worshiped the gods Thor and WOdin
on Thor's day and Wodin's day (Which
Is where we get our Thursday and
Wednesday,, they used to have GER
tain great feast days for their gods.
1t became the custom, on observing
Thor's day, to build great fires. These
were called "Juul" fires. AS everyone
knows, the Scandinavian -" Is pro-
nounced quite like our pronunciation
Of the letter "Y," consequently those
fires were spoken of as "Yule" fires.
The brighter the fires, the higher
the flames lowered through the for.
ests where the Scandinavians used to
gather to pay honor to the great god
Thor, the greater pleased was Thor,
and so 1t became necessary to pick
out the best Of wood tc burn.
Then men would go into the forest
looking for "Juul" logs, and they soon
learned that the trees upon which
much mistletoe chung would give the
brightest fires. They did not know
reason for this, and believed that
t was due to the work of the great
Thor himself who caused the mistle.
toe to grow on those trees without
'oots solely as a means of letting his
people know which trees were best
or burning In his honor.
And so whenever anyone met under
he mistletoe In the great forests. no
how great enemies they were,
hey dropped their weapons and greet.
ID each other kindly, nor would they
axe up arms against each other until
he sunrise Of another day. This was
heir tribute in memory Of Thor.
A Fetish Of Good Luck.
They began to take bits of the mis-
into their homes and hang II
yer the doorways, and If any enemies
anne, they could not enter the houses
eneath the mistletoe without becom.
ng friends to the people inside SO long
$ they remained there. From this
anne the habit of greeting people who
topped under the mistletoe with an
mbrace or a kiss, and at great indoor
the mistletOe was hung I'm in
ne room and the people greeted each
with kisses.
Later this mistletoe hanging nj
came to be put in use only at
Christmas feast and from that
rev the custom Of hanging I'D the