The Yuletide season celebrations today are based on Christian religious beliefs. They are unique because the religion has changed over the many years that the celebrations have been around. The changing religious beliefs have merged to give the present Yule celebrations. When these celebrations were first recorded, Christianity had not yet reached Iceland . The population was celebrating the sun and the lengthening days. They were polytheistic, and believed there was a Sun God. Upon the arrival of Christianity, the celebrations were centered more around the birth of Christ rather than the winter solstice. Even though over 90% of the population in Iceland professes Christianity as their faith, they have not completely oriented their celebrations around it. Many of the pre-Christian traditions have remained.

 

The Yule Lads have been present in Yule folklore since about the 17 th century, but their troll-like parents have been present since about the 13 th century. The purpose they serve can be related to Santa Claus, but they were not created as a response to the creation of Santa. The Yule season brings about a time rich in family activities. The adults use the Yule Lads to keep their children on good behavior. This is similar to Santa Claus. The difference is that the Yule Lads were originally not nice. They were known to come into town and cause mischief and snatch children that were not behaving from their homes. The bad children were then taken back to the Lad's parents where they were boiled into stew. The Yule Lads also have a cat that comes around to eat children who do not receive any clothing gifts. So, of course, all children asked for new clothing such as socks for one of their Yule presents. This is similar to reciprocal gift giving, in that the children are expected to behave well for the gifts they receive, and thus “our generosity is not as unconditional as we would like to believe.” (Cronk, 164) The parents definitely have some positive psychology working on their side. The idea of the Yule log has been around since the beginning of the Yule celebrations. Families burn a special log on New Years Eve that will be the beginning of the first fire of the New Year. They may carve prayers and wishes into the log to ward off any unwanted occurrences. The only difference between now and 1000 years ago, is that today they only pray to one God.

 

Besides the religious aspect of the Yule celebrations, there are not many more culturally significant realms. Social structure is not an important detail during this season. It is a time for families to be together. It brings about a “communitas”, where social status does not matter as it would under normal circumstances.(Turner, 205) As long as families have some money to spend on gifts and food, there is no real economic hierarchy to the celebrations. Gifts from the Yule Lads are generally small, so it is not a large economic burden to buy gifts for each of the thirteen nights before Christmas. They have adopted some of the Christmas traditions, such as a Yule tree and presents under the tree on Christmas day. This has resulted in the celebration becoming more of a money maker for businesses, and has therefore become more like Christmas in the United States . The most culturally important idea of these celebrations is to bring families together. The Yule season celebrations reinforce the old traditions of Iceland , and express the contemporary ideas that come with globalization.