Gifts
Gift-giving at the winter solstice goes back to the Roman festivals of Saturnalia and Colonnades. At first the gifts consisted simply of twigs from a sacred grove as good luck emblems. That soon escalated, however, and food, candles, statues of gods, and small pieces of jewelry became the standard gifts. These presents were called strenae and survive still in France, where gifts called ‘etrennes are exchanged in January. To the early Church, gift-giving at this time was a pagan holdover and therefore severely frowned upon. However, the people would not part with it, and some justification was found in the gift giving of the Magi and later figures such as St Nicholas. So by the Middle Ages, gift-giving was accepted. This was especially true in the courts of kings, where a formal exchange of gifts was often very carefully regulated as to the correct amount to be spent.

Blowing in the Yule
One of the delightfully noisy traditions of Christmas, this custom probably originated in pagan times when noise was thought to drive off evil spirits. It is today found in areas of Germany and the Scandinavian countries. A group of musicians take their instruments to the belfry of the local church and lustily play four Christmas carols, one in each direction of the compass. They finish with a joyful peal of the bells, which announces that Christmas has arrived.