(compiled by Mark Scott; revised Nov. 2012)
I. History of Christmas
1) Sumerian Civilization about 4000 years ago, Marduk, chief God of Sumer engaged in a titanic battle with Tiamat, goddess monster of underworld kingdom of Chaos. Marduk killed her and fashioned the world from her corpse.
Marduk won but the earth required rejuvenating periodically; when vegetation withered and died, and leaves fell from the trees, the world was running down. Chaos was closing in to take revenge for Tiamat’s death, or so they believed.
An elaborate festival, called Zagmuk, was established to persuade Marduk to return to the underworld and battle Chaos for another cycle of seasons. Zagmuk lasted 12 days and began with the people purifying themselves from the sins of the past year by transferring all sins to theSumerian king, who was to die for their atonement. After his death, the king was to accompany Marduk and fight by his side for the new year.
Zagmuk celebrations included mock battles dramatizing the underworld struggle with the demons of Chaos; bonfires blazed and wooden effigies of Tiamat were tossed into them; processions of masqueraders danced and rioted through the streets; good wishes for the new-gained year passed from friend to friend; gifts were exchanged; and everywhere, shouts of thanksgiving and praise rose to Marduk, the deliverer.
Persians and Babylonians followed the traditions of Zagmuk, adding a few of their own touches. As the Mesopotamian civilization grew older, Marduk’s character changed. He increasingly controlled the fate of humans and ordained their destiny. Magic incantations for health and prosperity became part of the Zagmuk celebration. People built their plans for the coming year around fortune predictions. Our present day New Year’s resolutions likely stem from this practice.
2) The chief influence of Mesopotamian religion upon Greece and Egypt was through a sun-worshiping cult developed by the Persian prophet, Mithras. According to the Roman calendar, December 25 was the day the sun reached its weakest point and began to regain its strength. It was also Mithras’ birthday, thus Romans observed a special ritual on December 25th, the Sol Invictus (literally, “the Invitation to the Sun”), for the sun’s replenishment. Candles representing the sun’s returning power were the main symbol of the day.
3) Rome adapted the already extant customs of Zagmuk , and combined them with their own festival called, Saturnalia (celebration of Saturn, god of the harvest). The Roman mythology surrounding their gods made no attempt to fight with gods of the underworld. Instead they preferred to keep them at bay with magic charms and incantations. Evergreens, since they refused to die in the winter, were a mighty symbol of life and strong protection against anything that would destroy. Saturnalia had Roman houses decorated with evergreen boughs. Saturnalia was much less grim and serious that Zagmuk.
Saturn was the god of the harvest so his festival concentrated upon feasting, giving thanks for earth’s fruitfulness, and offering prayers for continued abundance. As time went on, the prescribed religious ceremonies became less and less important and the eating and carousing became the norm for the celebration.
4) At the same time, the Celtic and Teutonic tribes in far north had developed gods and rituals of their own to assure protection and assistance in the new year. The Norse god was Woden, (Oden in Scandanavia), a giant warrior who rode a swift, eight-legged horse. Woden fought against the giants of the earth and underworld.
As winter approached, livestock had to be thinned out so as not to deplete the winter food supplies that had been stored. This led to a time of meat-curing and opportunity to invite neighbors in for a feast and to give thanks for the past year and pray for the next. Because of the interminably long nights in the far north, these northern peoples relied heavily on magic symbols and charms: holly, pine, bay, spruce, laurel, ivy, fir, etc. The Celts attributed miraculous healing powers to mistletoe. The light and heat of fire was also considered helpful magic. Bonfires of large logs burned during the new year observance and were the forebears of the Yule Log of today.
5) It was into this pagan setting that Christ was born. The actual year of
Christ’s birth is likely around Before Christian Era 7. Until about Christian Era 130, Christ’s nativity was not celebrated. There was little celebration until about CE 335 when there was at least an acknowledgment of the day, although it was still not a major celebration in the Christian calendar.
As the Christian faith spread, it ran headlong into the various pagan cults. It was impossible to wean converted Romans away from these pagan customs and observances so the early Church leaders combined the pagan and Christian celebrations. The Christian observances were tacked on to the already popular pagan celebrations–what we know as the winter solstice. Then during the late middle ages, cults developed around Mary and various other Saints, particularly around the conception and birth of Jesus.
Early Christian observances paid much more attention to the celebration of Christ’s baptism (celebrated on Jan. 6th, 12 days after Christmas). This date is also known as Epiphany which, according to legend, was the day the Magi arrived at Bethlehem and presented their gifts to the Christ child. Epiphany means “to show” or “to present.”
6) While the festival of Christmas was being developed by the church at Rome, a priest named Nicholas was serving churches in Asia Minor (present day Turkey). Little is known about him other than he was kind, and good.
Many legends grew up about Nicholas’ generosity and unselfishness. It was said that he would leave gifts for people in the dead of night, so that the recipients would never know who had given them. Later, when the tribes of the north were converted to Christianity, legends of Nicholas mingled with those of the Norse, Woden (Scandinavian, Oden). The resulting figure became Saint Nicholas who rides a white horse and eventually grew, in America, into the legend of Santa Claus.St. (Nicholas +Woden (Oden) + Santa Claus).
II. The Carol
1) During the Middle Ages, ‘carol’ meant an English or Latin song of uniform stanzas (strophic) with a refrain (usually at the beginning) called a ‘burden’ that is repeated after every stanza. Medieval carols could be about any subject but mostly were about the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) or the Saints of Christmas. During the ‘Dark Ages’ (circa A.D. 500-1500), the word ‘carol’ was understood to mean to dance as well as to sing. It was not stated, but was an understood custom.
2) Four types of carols: (1) courtly or popular dance-song, (2) popular religious song, (3) popular litany or processional song, (4) ecclesiastical polyphony.
3) Medieval Carols
The English carol is connected in name and nature with the medieval French Carole, of which the essential features are that it was a true dance-song, that it took various choreographic forms and it was extremely popular from the mid-12th century to the mid- 14th. While the carole is best documented as a courtly dance-song, popular caroles also existed. The English court tradition up to the end of the 14th century was essentially French, thus a large number of English literary references are to the courtly carole. Many of these caroles specifically list dancing with singing.
4) Legendary Carols
In the 12th – 14th centuries, many of the carols known as legendary carols appeared on the scene. Sometimes they were newly-written texts set to a well-known tavern song, sometimes newly-composed music and words. In addition to those listed below, they include “Good King Wenceslas” and “The Friendly Beasts.”
5) Dance Carols, Processionals and Recessionals
The word ‘carol’ comes from the Anglo-French word, ‘carole’ which was understood to mean a round-dance. Hence the term is interpreted to mean dance as well as sing. Most ‘carols’ could technically be considered ‘dance carols.’ Below are a variety of carols that seem particularly suitable for dancing. Many sources describe the highly-trained dancers and expert singers of part music.
6) Lullaby Carols
Lullaby carols offer a more intimate view of the virgin and child. The best known is “Away in a Manger.” There are several different versions of the melody.
7) Paraphrased and Freely-Composed Carols
Psalm 98 – “Joy to the Earth,” later, “Joy to the World:” “Shout for joy to the Lord all the earth!” One of our most popular Christmas carols was actually written as a paraphrase of Psalm 98, to put New Testament meaning into the Psalms. As Psalm 98 looks at the protection and restoration of God’s chosen people, “Joy to the World” looks to the salvation that began as God became human.
Major Sources
“Choral Music of the Church” by Elwyn A. Wienandt (Free Press, Collier-Macmillan, 1965)
“Now Make We Merthe” – ed. Frank LL. Harrison, (1968, Book III, Oxford University Press)
“Te Deum: The Church and Music” by Paul Westermeyer (Fortress Press, 1998)
“The International Book of Christmas Carols” – Walter Ehret and George K. Evans (1963, 1980, 1981, The Stephen Green Press, Brattleboro, Vermont, distributed by Walton Music)
“The Oxford Book of Carols”- Percy Dearmer, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Martin Shaw (1964, Oxford University Press)
“The Presbyterian Hymnal: Hymns, Psalms, and Spiritual Songs” (1990, Westminster/John Knox Press)
“The Shorter New Oxford Book of Carols” – Hugh Keyte and Andrew Parrott (1993, Oxford University Press)
“The Story of Christian Music” by Andrew Wilson-Dickson (Lion Publishing, 1992)