Yule

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Yule was the two days in the calendars of the Hobbits that marked the end of one year and the beginning of the next.[1][note 1] Around them, the six-day festival of Yuletide was held, running from 29 Foreyule through 2 Afteryule.[2]

Due to a peculiarity of the Shire Calendar, the Yuledays always fell on the same days of the week. The last day of the year, 1 Yule, was always a Highday (Friday), while the first day of the following year, 2 Yule, was always a Sterday (Saturday).[1]

The formal use of Yule in the Shire calendar cannot, by definition, predate the foundation of the Shire in T.A. 1601. However, its appearance there represents a survival of an older tradition, and the name 'Yule' for a midwinter festival was known as far from the Shire as Rohan and Gondor.

Etymology

"Very best wishes for Yule - J. R. R. Tolkien"
― Tolkien to Richard Jeffery[3]

Yule is a translation of a Hobbitish word, not occurring in Westron.[4]

However it's possible that it derives from a form of Northern Mannish and later used in Rohirric. Since Gondorians of the Third Age were in part Northmen, the word was recognisable as a 'northern name' for the midwinter festival.[4]

In Gnomish, one of Tolkien's early conceptions of an Elven language, the word for "Yule(night), i.e. Log-night" is durufui. Tanfui means "Yule night".[5]

  1. On a modern calendar, they fell on the 21 and 22 December.

References