TODAY - December 14
NIELS’ MORNING GREETINGS
ON: DECEMBER 14
New edition
TODAY’s LENGTH:
This day is here
in Belgium 8 hours and 29 minutes shorter than June 21. Its length is exactly 8
hours, from 08.37 to 16.37.
See more – also in
English – about where you are on: www.dagenslaengde.dk
TODAY’s NAME:
This day is named CRISPINUS’ DAY. He was bishop in Padua in Italy and died as a martyr in 300.
In Belgium the day’s name is SAINT JEAN DE LA
CROIX – after a Spanish catholic priest, who lived in the
years1542-91. He was very active in the
fight against the Reformation.
TODAY’s EVENT:
1982: Spain opens its border to Gibraltar.
TODAY’s QUESTION:
QUESTION FOR TOMORROW:
YULE -
CHRISTMAS - where do the
words come from? What is the history behind them?
The word YULE goes back to the pagan time in the Nordic countries. In
the Nordic language it was called Jól
– today Jul. It was a celebration for some days around
winter solstice. It was a great time when lots of meat, beer and mead was
consumed.
The origin of the word JUL is still being discussed. It is believed that
it comes from the Nordic word hjul (wheel) – referring to the changing seasons
like a wheel turning around, In the ancient Nordic times it was a tradition to
roll a burning wheel down a hill as a symbol of the sun.
In the viking period they talked about drikke jul (drinking Yule). Everybody was drinking a
toast to the gods, who could ensure a good and fertile year. The gods were
Njord, Frej and, of course, Odin himself!
It continued in the Christian times. The toasts were now for Christ and
for Virgin Mary. I wonder, if the
tradition nowadays to have a couple of Christmas beers doesn’t come from the
good old habits!
If we look was to the pre-Christian Roman times emperor Lucius Aurelius
decided in 273 AC that a celebration for the oriental god Sol Invictus should take place each year on December 25. This pagan event was already from 300 AC
taken over by the Christians in Rome to celebrate the birth of Jesus. This new
tradition only reached the Nordic countries just before year 1000 with king
Harold Bluetooth – and therefore also reached the Vikings – in the Nordic
region and all the countries they conquered such as England.
An interesting part of that development is that the Catholic church
tried to have the old ord JUL changed to KRISTMESSE. They did not succeed in the Nordic countries,
where the word still to this day is JUL.
But in the Anglo-Saxon world they succeeded to have the old name YULE
replaced by CHRISTMAS. The work YULETIDE
does still exist in English, though, about the Christmas period.
QUESTION FOR TOMORROW:
A fox behind the
ear -
where does that
expression come from? And what does it mean?
47 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT EUROPE:
EUROPE AT WORK www.europe-at-work.be
TODAY’s QUOTE & FAMOUS PEOPLE :
1.
Yesterday’s quote:
A book takes its
time like a child. All books written very quickly give me a certain prejudice against
the author. A respectable woman does not give birth to her child before nine
months either!
This was said by the German poet Heinrich Heine from
Düsseldorf.
2.
Today’s quote:
We did it !
Who among today’s persons said that?
3. Famous
people born on this day:
1503 Nostradamus ( died 1566 )
1546 Tycho Brahe ( died 1601 )
1791 Johan Ludvig Heiberg ( died 1860 )
1911 Spike Jones ( died 1965 )
4. Famous
people died on this day:
1799 George Washington ( 67 years )
1861 Prince Albert ( 42 years )
1956 Juho Paasikivi ( 86 years )
1963 Dinah Washington ( 39 years )
1989 Andrei Sakharov ( 78 years )
1990 Friederich Dürrenmatt ( 69 years )
Niels Jørgen Thøgersen
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