History Of The yule Log

If you were to ask people nowadays what a yule log is used for,they would probably say "for eating!!" but actually the history of the Yule Log dates back to the ancient Norsemen.It was the central part of Yuletide festivities.A large log would be dragged into the house and after being decorated with greenery such as holly,mistletoe and evergreens,doused with mulled wine,cider or ale,it was placed in the hearth and set ablaze,the log would burn throughout the night and then left to smoulder for twelve days before it was ceremonially put out.Pieces of kindling would be stored away and saved to light the log of the following year.This was done to symbolize the conquering of light over darkness and so the rebirth of the sun.

        I wouldn't imagine that in our modern houses of today,we would have hearths big enough to burn a large log and so now we make a decorated Yule Log as a table centre.