What's a yule log?

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What's a yule log?

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A roaring fire in the hearth has long been associated with Christmas. But does it have its origins in the winter solstice? See Christmas tree images.

In a holiday season often defined by snowmen and sleigh rides, staying warm is important. Anyone who dreams of snow on Christmas morning knows that scarves, mittens and hot chocolate must never be far behind. And perhaps nothing symbolizes holiday coziness better than the yule log, the centerpiece of any fireside gathering. But what makes this hunk of wood so prized? Where else can you find one, besides your fireplace? And how did a New York television impresario bring the yule log into so many American homes?

The tradition of yule logs has its roots in pagan rituals. In fact, the word "yule" is old English for a festival known to take place in December and January. Northern Europeans, like Vikings, celebrated the Festival of Yule to honor the winter solstice by journeying into the woods in search of a hearty oak tree. The event was a family affair, with family members venturing out in search of a choice cut of wood. They would return with the most robust log they could find and burn it in deference to various gods as well as in celebration of life and prosperity.

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Ultimately, the yule log was thought to determine a person's good or bad luck, and there are many variations on this superstition. One European belief held that the log had to catch fire on the first attempt to light it, lest all the inhabitants of the home where it burned suffer bad luck. Another stated that the remains of a log must be kept for the following year's ceremony for good luck, which would extend across successive generations. The ashes were sometimes stored under a bed in order to make a home immune to evil spirits and lightning strikes. English Christmas traditions called for the yule log to burn as a sign of goodwill through all 12 days of Christmas, during which time family members would refrain from labor to celebrate the season [source: Morton].

In the next section, we'll look at how the yule log is celebrated in modern times.

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Fred Thrower's Yule Log and France's Buche de Noel

While a proper yule log isn't a common sight in 21st-century fireplaces, it can be found in holiday kitchens -- in the form of a dessert. Bûche de Nö el is of French origin and is a sponge cake replica of a yule log. It comes in flavors like chocolate and gingerbread and is frosted in a wood-grain pattern.

In France, the Buche de Noel is a sweet stand in for a yule log.

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In France, the Bûche de Nöel is a sweet stand-in for a yule log.

It's believed that the dessert was created in response to French families who didn't have a fireplace for a real yule log in their homes but wanted to share in the holiday tradition [source: Jaworski]. Yule log cakes are readily available in French bakeries, but many residents in the United States must make their own version of the delicacy from scratch.

But France isn't the only place that has adapted the concept of the yule log. Urban areas like New York City have high-density populations, and, as a result, space is at a minimum. Therefore, fireplaces are a rare commodity in apartments and condominiums. In 1966, New York City television programming director Fred Thrower had an idea for log-deprived New Yorkers. Thrower had his local station, WPIX-TV, broadcast a looping video of a blazing fireplace -- with Christmas music playing in the background -- beginning on Christmas Eve. The broadcast, designed to provide city-dwellers with holiday ambience they might otherwise lack, was an instant success and became a Christmas morning mainstay on the New York station. It began airing on national cable networks, and in high-definition, in 2004 [source: The Yule Log].

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What's a yule log?