Do you know what the word Yule means?

Yule, A pagan festival also called the Winter Solstice, celebrates the rebirth of the Sun, the Sun God and honors the Horned God. On Yule we experience the longest night of the year. Although much of the winter's harshest weather is still ahead of us, we celebrate the coming light, and thank the Gods for seeing us through the longest night. It is a time to look on the past year's achievements and to celebrate with family and friends. From this day until Midsummer, the days grow longer, everyday banishing the darkness a little more in a glow of the warm sunlight that brings the world to life again. This day is the official first day of winter. This holiday will fall somewhere between the dates above and varies from year to year depending on when the Sun reaches the southern most point in its yearly trek.

Christmas: Christmas day or the Christmas season ( archaic or literary )

[ Old English gēol "mid-winter festival, Christmas" < Germanic]

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=1861733442

(archaic) Christmas.

— ORIGIN Old English or Old Norse, originally applied to a pagan festival lasting twelve days; related to JOLLY.

http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/yule?view=uk

Etymology: Middle English yol, from Old English geōl; akin to Old Norse jōl, a pagan midwinter festival. Date: before 12th century

the feast of the nativity of Jesus Christ

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=yule

From the Middle English yole, from Old English geōl, cognate with Old Norse jól, Estonian jõul, Finnish joulu, German Jul, Scandinavian jul, etc., the name of a pre-Christian holiday held in midwinter, and later applied to the Christian celebration of Christmas. The Anglo-Saxon cognate giuli was the name for a two-month midwinter season.

A wintertime holiday celebrated by the Heathen/Pagan Scandinavian, Germanic, and Anglo-Saxon peoples.

One of the eight Sabbats celebrated in Wicca, a celebration of the winter solstice.

(archaic) Christmas.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Yule

O.E. geol, geola "Christmas Day, Christmastide," from O.N. jol (pl.), a heathen feast, later taken over by Christianity, of unknown origin. The O.E. (Anglian) cognate giuli was the Anglo-Saxons' name for a two-month midwinter season corresponding to Roman December and January, a time of important feasts but not itself a festival. After conversion to Christianity it narrowed to mean "the 12-day feast of the Nativity" (which began Dec. 25), but was replaced by Christmas by 11c., except in the northeast (areas of Danish settlement), where it remained the usual word. Revived 19c. by writers to mean "the Christmas of 'Merrie England.' " First direct reference to the Yule log is 17c. O.N. jol seems to have been borrowed in O.Fr. as jolif, hence Mod.Fr. joli "pretty, nice," originally "festive" (see jolly).

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=yule

Yule
Although Yule is celebrated in the midwinter in the Shire, it is in some ways different from the more recently historical Yule practices in England.

The Shire's fictional Yule consisted of two days called 1 Yule and 2 Yule. The last day of the year was 1 Yule and the first day of the next year was 2 Yule. The Yuledays fell between the months called Foreyule and Afteryule and were not part of either month. 1 Yule was always on a Friday and 2 Yule fell on Saturday.

Yule was one of the two chief holidays in the Shire—the other being the midsummer holiday called Lithe. The Yule celebrations lasted six days in total, including two days before and two days after the Yuledays. This six-day period was called Yuletide. It was a time of feasting and merriment.

After the War of the Ring, it was feared that the Yule feasts would be rather meager due to shortages of provisions in the Shire. But large stores of food and beer were found in the tunnels of Michel Delving and in the quarries at Scary and in other places, so the Yuledays were a time of great cheer.

The Elves did not have a celebration at midwinter. It appears that the Rohirrim maintained the custom of celebrating the midwinter holiday as their ancestors the Northmen had done. The name of the holiday in Rohan is not known but it was most likely similar to "Yule."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule_%28Middle-earth%29#Yule

Ancient Yule:

Yule celebrations at the winter solstice predate the conversion to Christianity. It was, in pre-conversion times, the name of a feast celebrated by sacrifice on mid-winter night of January 12th according to the Norwegian historian Olav Bø. Though there are numerous references to Yule in the Icelandic sagas, there are few accounts of how Yule was actually celebrated, beyond the fact that it was a time for feasting. According to Adam of Bremen, the Swedish kings sacrificed male slaves every ninth year during the Yule sacrifices at the Temple at Uppsala. 'Yule-Joy', with dancing, continued through the Middle Ages in Iceland, but was frowned upon when the Reformation arrived. The custom of ritually slaughtering a boar on Yule survives in the modern tradition of the Christmas ham and the Boar's Head Carol.

"On Yule Eve, the best boar in the herd was brought into the hall where the assembled company laid their hands upon the animal and made their unbreakable oaths. Heard by the boar, these oaths were thought to go straight to the ears of Freyr himself. Once the oaths had been sworn, the boar was sacrificed in the name of Freyr and the feast of boar flesh began. The most commonly recognised remnants of the sacred boar traditions once common at Yule has to be the serving of the boar's head at later Christmas feasts".

According to the medieval English writer the Venerable Bede, Christian missionaries sent to proselytize among the Germanic peoples of northern Europe were instructed to superimpose Christian themes upon existing pagan holidays of the area, to ease the conversion of the people to Christianity by allowing them to retain their traditional celebrations. Thus, Christmas was created by associating tales of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the central figure of Christianity, with the existing pagan Yule celebrations, similar to the formation of Easter, Halloween, and All Saint's Day via Christianization of existing pagan traditions.

The confraternities of artisans of the 9th century, which developed into the medieval guilds, were denounced by Catholic clergy for their "conjurations" when they swore to support one another in coming adversity and in business ventures. The occasions were annual banquets on December 26,

"feast day of the pagan god Jul, when it was possible to couple with the spirits of the dead and with demons that returned to the surface of the earth... Many clerics denounced these conjurations as being not only a threat to public order but also, more serious in their eyes, satanic and immoral. Hincmar, in 858, sought in vain to Christianize them."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule

geól; akin to geóla December or January, Icel. jl Yule, Ylir the name of a winter month, Sw. jul Christmas, Dan. juul, Goth. jiuleis November or December. Cf. Jolly.] Christmas or Christmastide; the feast of the Nativity of our Savior.

"And at each pause they kiss; was never seen such rule In any place but here, at bonfire, or at Yule." - Drayton.

Yule block, ∨ Yule log, a large log of wood formerly put on the hearth of Christmas eve, as the foundation of the fire. It was brought in with much ceremony. - Yule clog, the yule log. Halliwell. W. Irving.

http://machaut.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/WEBSTER.sh?WORD=yule

period extending from Dec. 24 to Jan. 6

A surname (very rare: popularity rank in the U.S.: #22513)

http://www.rhymezone.com/r/rhyme.cgi?Word=Yule

YULE, the season of Christmas. This word is chiefly used alone as an archaism or in poetry or poetical language, but is more common in combination, as in "yule-tide," "yulelog," &c. The Old English word appears in various forms, e.g. gala, iula, geol, gehhol, gehhel; cognate forms are Icel, jol; Dan. juul; Swed. jul. It was the name of two months of the year, December and January, the one the "former yule" (se aerra gala), the other the "after yule" (se aeftera gala), as coming before and after the winter solstice (Cotton MS. Tib. B. i.; and Bede, De Temporum Ratione, 13, quoted in Skeat, Etym. Dict., 1898). According to A. Fick (Vergleichendes Wärterbuch der Indogermanischen Sprachen, vol. iii. 2 45, 1874) in proper meaning is noise, clamour, the season being one of rejoicing at the turning of the year among Scandinavian peoples before Christian times.

http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Yule

Yule is the name of baby boy born on Christmas day.

http://www.babyhold.com/list/American_Baby_Names/Yule/details/

Definition:
Pagans celebrate Yule also called Mid-Winter or Winter Solstice.

In the Northern Hemisphere the date of this Holiday varies from December 20th to December 22nd (in the Southern Hemisphere it is traditionally celebrated on or about May 1) depending upon what day the sun reaches the Southern most point in it's yearly journey around the Earth. This is known as the longest night of the year, also the first day of Winter.

No other night of the year stays dark for as long as Yule eve. This is the day that the Pagan Goddess gives birth to the God. She has been without him since his death on Samhain (October 31st) and all want to celebrate his return. His life follows the changing of the seasons, with birth, growth, life and death all happening in one year’s time and repeating itself every year.

The God represents new life and is symbolized by the sun, which brings new life to our Earth. This festival was first started by the ancient Egyptians to welcome the rebirth of Horus (a sun God). But today the God has many different names and faces because Pagans celebrate a wide variety of cultural beliefs. The Celts call the Him Bel, the Norse call him Balder, and the Greeks call him Appolo, but all are one in the same representing the sun and all of the power and life carried within it.

Sometimes Yule celebrations include an acting out of a battle between the old Holly King and the young Oak King (Pagan Gods). The Holly King symbolizes the dark, cold winter and the Oak King represents The warm summer to come and the return of the sun. A battle goes on between these two kings when the Holly King refuses to give up his throne. The two fight the Holly king is slain and the Oak King is victorious. He takes his place on the throne, and with his rule the Earth prepares itself to reawake in the spring.

In the days before Yule a tree (typically an evergreen or fir) is cut and brought into the home to decorate. Holly and mistletoe are also hung around the house. Any greenery brought inside during Winter are used to extend an invitation to nature to join in our celebration and to remind us that life goes on even in the midst of the darkest and coldest time of the year. A Yule altar is usually set up and decorated with the colours red, green, white and gold.

It is tradition for some on Yule to stay awake all night and greet the sun when it rises. During the wait for the sun, rituals are held, spells are cast to send peace and joy to others, and joyous celebration takes place. A Yule log (usually a log made of Oak or Ash) is burned and a piece of it is saved to light next years log. A modern Yule log (for those without fireplaces) is a hollowed log, flat on one side that holds three candles. Exchanging gifts usually follows this and eating all the wonderful foods prepared for this holiday. Stories are also told during this time and plans are made for the future. It is a time of rebirth and new beginnings.

Symbols of Yule are the evergreen tree, Holly, mistletoe, wreaths, the Yule log and a wheel with eight spokes. This wheel is similar to a wagon wheel or even a bicycle wheel but the eight spokes represent the eight major Pagan Sabbaths (Holidays). The Wheel begins to turn again at Yule. As the sun rises and the longest night of the year is over, we know that the days will grow longer and warmer and we have a new year full of new life, new hopes and new dreams to look forward to.

http://www.kidsturncentral.com/holidays/glossary/defyule.htm

Yule: An ancient Celtic seasonal day of celebration at the time of the winter solstice. Depending upon the year, the solstice may fall on DEC-20 to 23. A popular minor Sabbat (holy day) observed by Wiccans and other Neopagans.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/gl_xyz.htm

"And at each pause they kiss; was never seen such rule In any place but here, at bonfire, or at Yule." (Drayton) Yule block, or Yule log, a large log of wood formerly put on the hearth of Christmas eve, as the foundation of the fire. It was brought in with much ceremony. Yule clog, the yule log.

http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?yule