Dangling From a Tree

Thankfully, since ancient times, our forebears enlightened us regarding how to appease the sun and beseech its return to the sky. The last days approach but do not actually arrive, for there will be a Great Sacrifice.

We have scant knowledge of the truly ancient rituals of the European North, but we're considerably more informed about what they transformed into over time. Mass human sacrifices occurring during the winter solstice among the Germanic and Scandinavian peoples are vividly described in numerous sources. The European chronicler of the 10th-11th centuries, Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg, not prone to tendentiousness and inaccuracies, nonchalantly mentions that in Zealand,iZealand – an island in modern Denmarkthey annually sacrifice 99 people, 99 horses, 99 dogs, and 99 roosters in the middle of winter.

In the sanctuary of Swedish Uppsala,iUppsala, Old Uppsala – the largest cult and political center of pagan Scandinavia, located a few kilometers from the modern city of the same name.there once stood a sacred grove dedicated to Odin. The sanctuary lies in ruins, leaving archaeologists to only approximate its outlines, but written sources vividly reconstruct the ancient narrative. Here, too, they hung people and animals – strictly of the male gender. Sacrifices mainly consisted of criminals, prisoners, and slaves, but FrazeriFrazer, James George (1854-1941) – a prominent British ethnographer, historian of religion, and author of the monumental work "The Golden Bough."in "The Golden Bough" writes the following: "To save his own life, the Swedish king Aun, or On, sacrificed nine of his sons to the god Odin in the city of Uppsala. After sacrificing his second son, the king received an answer from the god that his life would be prolonged as long as, once every nine years, he sacrificed one son." By the time of the sacrifice of the seventh son, On was still alive but weakened to such an extent that he was carried for walks, seated on his throne. Nine years after sacrificing the eighth son, the king became bedridden. After the death of the ninth son, he, just like a year-old baby, was fed for nine years from a horn. However, the desire to sacrifice the last son to Odin was not destined to come true: the subjects of On prevented this. So, On died and was buried in the royal mound in Uppsala." On (Aun) is an almost mythical Swedish king, but researchers believe that he could well have been an actual ruler who sat on the throne in Uppsala in the late fifth to the early sixth century AD.

If we delve five hundred years deeper into the past, Tacitus' "Germania"iTacitus Publius Cornelius (AD 50 – c. 120) — Roman historianreveals a mention of the Odin cult (Wotan). Tacitus, in the typical Roman manner, calls Odin "Mercury," seemingly viewing the god of wisdom, cunning, and eloquence as an aspect of Mercury. Tacitus also notes obligatory human sacrifices to Odin, specifying their locations. "They venerate Mercury among the gods and deem it appropriate to sacrifice people to him on certain days... They believe that, due to the grandeur of the heavenly gods, it is impossible to confine them within walls or give them any semblance of human form. They consecrate groves and woods to them, naming them after the gods, and these sanctuaries are only marked by their piety." Tacitus also observes that kings and heirs to kings were often sacrificed to Odin.

The origin of cults in their infancy remains speculative, reconstructed not from written evidence, which did not exist then, but from their echoes in subsequent eras.

Wotan, or Odin, was the supreme deity of Germanic-Scandinavian mythology. In his mature form, the god represents the head of the pantheon, a one-eyed warrior and poet, a sorcerer, and a sage. The central myth about Odin is a tale of him gaining powerful knowledge and transforming himself into the Allfather, the head of all other gods and spirits. Odin acquired his power by hanging himself on the World Tree and piercing himself with a spear. After hanging on the tree for nine or twelve days, he ultimately resurrects as an immensely powerful being. The very name of the World Tree – Yggdrasil – can be translated as "Odin's Gallows" ("Ygg," "awful," one of the sacred names of this god; "drasil" -steed, often used as a tabooed term for the gallows – "gallow steed").

Frazer, who devoted his life specifically to studying the history of myth, draws a logical conclusion that Wotan, by origin, is one of the "sacrificial gods" that, during Frazer's time, could still be observed in action among some peoples and tribes in the civilized stage of the Stone Age. A human becomes a sacrificial god, brought in as a sacrifice (often in an extremely harsh manner), after which parts of their body – bones, skull, skin – become objects of worship. (And the meat is often used for ritualistic cannibalism). A person typically chosen for sacrifice is an aging king, a royal son, or a mighty warrior selected through a special “draw.”

Wotan aligns well with the scheme of a sacrificial god on the calendar. Selected by fate (perhaps with a baked bean in the portion of ritual bread assigned to him), a warrior with a gouged-out eye, hanging in a sacred grove on a revered tree, pierced with a spear, transforms into a mighty defender of his people. His spirit would return to the earth, and the sun would turn as red as his blood on the snow, his missing eye keenly watching over enemies while his bones, clattering in the wind, ward off evil from the people. Another name for Odin, Yule-Being, indicates that he is indeed the sacrificial spirit of the Winter Solstice. The days in the middle of winter when the sun was ready to bid farewell to the world were called "yule," further affirming Odin's identity.

So, we can guess what we’re supposed to decorate our Christmas trees with, and it’s not shiny glass ornaments or candy canes.

By the way, the myth of Odin greatly assisted Christian missionaries who sought to convert the pagans of northern Europe. A god hanging on something wooden and pierced by a spear? A remarkably fitting coincidence. And to subjugate the indomitable tradition of Yule rituals, the legend that Jesus was born precisely during the days of the Winter Solstice proved useful (which is highly unlikely, even during the ancient climatic optimumiAncient (Roman) Climatic Optimum – a period of global warming occurring from 250 BC to approximately AD 400.– December in Israel is the least suitable time for grazing livestock in the fields at night, as mentioned in the Gospel: "There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified." Luke 2:8-14).

And thus, the terrifying winter sacrifice holiday ultimately transformed into the joyous Christmas.

1. Gurevich, A. Y. Selected Works. In 4 volumes. Moscow-St. Petersburg, 1999.

2. Dryakhlov, V. In the Sacred Groves of Wotan. Kirov, 2002.