Verre de Noël

 Bon, on dirait bien que Noël s'en vient, même dans cette maison. Je trouve ça encore tôt un peu mais bon, ma femme a acheté ce verre de Noël. Avec des Pères Noëls, ou en tout cas des gnomes de Noël (des petits lutins?), du gui et des arbres de Noël. Ma femme s'en sert maintenant à chaque fois qu'elle veut boire un verre d'eau. Je crois que nos décorations des Fêtes vont sortir avant peu de temps.

Balder and the Mistletoe

'Tis the season to be reading and troll the ancient Yuletide carols, and so on. It is not Christmas without a healthy dose of Norse mythology, so every year I try to read at least one story from Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology, usually more. I did not have the chance to read one so far since the beginning of December, but I intend to do it soon. There is one in particular, the story of the death of the god Balder (or Baldr, or Baldur, but the book uses the spelling Balder), which is particularly appropriate for Christmas as the mistletoe is instrumental in Balder's murder. Not exactly cheerful, but the Season does have a dark side.

The Mistletoe Bough

 As 'tis the season to be reading, I have a new read to suggest you. It is a recent discovery for me: I found it yesterday in A Literary Christmas. It is a poem/song by Thomas Haynes Bayly, music by Henry Bishop, based on the Legend of the Mistletoe Bough. I blogged yesterday about the dark side of Christmas. Well, Yuletide cannot get any darker than this. It is more a horror tale than anything else. You can read the poem/song here. I have also put a performance of the song below. In the story, there is no spirit, no ghost, no devil, not even an evil man, only tragic irony. And there is also the presence of the mistletoe bough, which, like in the old lore (see here), is an omen of tragedy.

Une chandelle de Noël

J'ai lu quelque part qu'il fut un temps où le Temps des Fêtes était décoré de chandelles. Parce que Noël est à la baise une fête plein de symbolisme lumineux. Il y en avait dans les sapins, dans les couronnes, dans pleins d'affaires. L'életricité a changé ça. Noël est devenu plus sûr parce que moins un facteur d'incendie. Mais Noël y a peut-être perdu un peu de son charme. Dans ma famille, il y a toujours des chandelles à Noël (vous a-je montré le chandelier suédois sur ce blogue?), mais on ne les allume plus guère. Il y a cette chandelle dans l'appart familial à Montréal. Une chandelle avec une image de vitrail qui représente... une chandelle et du gui. Mignon et pas trop quétaine.

Mistletoe

This is an authentic mistletoe. I took the picture in Brittany when I went there back in April. I wouldn't have noticed it had it not been from my mother in law. As mistletoe is of course associated with Christmas, I wanted to publish the picture here for Christmastime. But you might not know why it is associated with it. There are a few reasons dating back from Pagan times, but this one is my favourite: mistletoe was used by the evil Norse God Loki to murder the god Balder, an event that was an omen for the Ragnarok. Another of the many reasons why I find Norse mythology so fitting for Christmastime. Anyway, so this small plant committed deicide. Ironic isn't it?