The idea of Christmas caroling brings to mind jolly bands of churchgoers, dressed in shawls and top hats, going door-to-door, also known as wassailing -- an Old Norse term -- to spread the spirit of Christmas through hymns. Whether it's "Deck the Halls," "Joy to the World" or "Silent Night," Christmas carols provide the soundtrack to the holidays.
 Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images Ukrainian girls sing Christmas songs during the Orthodox Christmas Eve festival in Kiev. See Christmas tree images. |
How Christmas Works How Santa's Sleigh Works Why is Rudolph's nose red? Christmas Channel |
The root of the word "carol" lies not in song, but in dance. In Old French, "carole" means "kind of dance." In Latin, "choraula" means "a dance to the flute," and in Greek, "choraules" means "flute player who accompanies the choral dance." Although there are some carols centering around religion, the song were originally secular -- up-tempo melodies with alternating choruses and verses associated with traditional dances. Like many other Christmas traditions, caroling is also thought to have its roots in the pre-Christian celebration of the Festival of Yule, when Northern Europeans would come together to sing and dance to honor the Winter Solstice. As carols evolved into a Christian tradition, they became hymns, having little relation to any type of dance.
In the next section, we'll look at the history of caroling and why it's sometimes called "wassailing."
