Lucy Fest
©1995 by Susan Granquist. All rights reserved.
It begins in the darkest hours of the morning of December 13 during the tide of
Uht (2 a.m. to 4 a.m.). A young woman wearing a white gown, a red sash and a crown
of lingonberry twigs and blazing candles emerges out of the darkness carrying a
tray of rich saffron buns and steaming coffee to wake the family. Throughout
Sweden the feast day of Lucia, or Lucy, is celebrated as a festival of lights.
The Lucia Queen, or Lussibruden (Lucy Bride) leads the processions. Albert
Eskerod, who describes Swedish holidays in Arets Fester (The Year's Holidays),
believes the tradition of honoring Lucia came originally from Germany and
speculates that the festival was originated in Sweden by Vikings who traveled
south on peaceful trading expeditions to Italy and brought back the stories of
the Christian martyr, Lucia.
There are good reasons to question that conclusion. We do know that Lucia is said
to be one of the earliest saints. As early as the sixth century she was venerated
in Rome as a virgin martyr; although her story as it is known today was written by
St. Aldhelm of Sherborne at the end of the seventh century. Included in the evidence
for the authenticity of the celebration of this Christian saint is the note that her
original feast day (day of her martyrdom) was on the solstice which was December 13
by the Julian calendar rather than December 21 which it became with the change to
the Gregorian calendar in the 1300s, linking it with the far older Yule and Winter
festivals of pre-Christian times.
There are two legends which are attributed to "St. Lucia" which are also attributed
to Lucia which are similar but seem to have originated in earlier legends. At one
time Sweden was in the grip of a terrible famine and at the height of winter when
things were their worst a ship sailed across Lake Vannern with a beautiful young
woman dressed all in white at its helm. She was so radiant that there was a glow of
light about her head. It was St. Lucia with a shipload of food. In Syracuse the
people were in the midst of a famine and they gathered in the cathedral to implore
God to help in the name of St. Lucia. A ship loaded with wheat sailed into the
harbor as they prayed. This is the explanation given for the cuccidata, or cooked
wheat which is an ingredient in all festival foods. Similar porridges and puddings
are also prepared for friends, family and otherworldly visitors and as offerings to
household spirits in Northern European and Scandinavian homes.. It is significant
that the Italian/Roman version was an appeal to a "local saint" while the northern
version was of a shining lady on a ship.
The explanation of peaceful vikings taking home a celebration of a saint who
suffered a gruesome martyrdom in order to remain a virgin and serve the poor is
hardly credible to anyone who studies the northern traditions. It seems far more
likely that the not-so-peaceful predecessors of the later vikings took the
traditions that they celebrated at solstice with them when the invasions of Italy
happened in the fifth century. It is likely that the similarities in a solstice
festival of lights and already existed at that time.
The resemblance to feminine deities such as Nehalennia who was depicted with a ship,
fruit and a horn as were others identified with the "Mothers" or matrones who were
worshiped widely among both the Celts and Germanic groups with corresponding to
Roman ancestral deities is also likely to provide another explanation for Lucia.
The Disablot which was held at Winter Nights is identified as being similar to
Mother's Night of Germanic customs. Even in Norway where the festival of lights is
not celebrated, these deities were represented by volvas or "norns" at the birth of
a child as "light mothers" who bore presents to the child and brought first light
in the form of a candle to forsee its future. Eating the nornagreytur or norngroats,
after birth is a custom that still survives in the Faroe Islands. The Romans had
Juno Lucina or Lucetia, the Mother of Light who also carried a tray and a lamp,
bestowing the gifts of light, enlightenment and sight, who as also known as the
opener of the eyes of newborn children. Such wide-spread customs with similar
observance would suggest customs of far greater antiquity then the emerging cult of
Christianity could account for.
Regardless the festival itself is easier to document, at least in Sweden. In
Halland, a lan, or province in Sweden there are records of an old festival that
began on the eve of December 13. Young women there would go from one farm to the
next carrying torches to light their way, bringing baked goods, stopping to visit
a bit at each house and returning home by break of day. The custom of bringing
coffee and food to the rest of the household on December 13 is thought to have
begun in some of the richer farming districts of Sweden. The young women wore
candles in crowns festooned with lingonberry leaves and candles, a custom that
still persists although the crowns are now electric lights.
In the modern version of the Lucia parades, stjarngossar (star boys) join the
procession. The star boys, several sources say, represent the young men who at one
time went from door to door on this longest night, frightening people, singing
songs and begging money. The parallels to other Northern European Yule festivals
with mummers, masqueraders and parades of people going from house to house singing
songs and begging money carrying torches, lamps or candles, while others entered
and brought gifts makes it clear that the Festival of Lights has its roots in
heathen antiquity.
Other Lucia customs link the festival more closely with Winter Nights as well as
Yuletide. Threshing had to be finished by Lucia's Day. In order to do so, the
threshing would go on all night and everyone would be given food and drink when
finished. In Christian times it became the day for butchering the Christmas pig.
Traditionally the butcher (formerly a godhi or head chieftain) would be given the
lussesup (literally a cup of light) which was brandy or another similar drink.
Since lusse means light the name Lucia seems to be far more understandable, and
would probably be more accurate as Lucy, which she is also known as in Sweden.
There is also a remarkable similarity between the lussesup and the bragarfull or
holy cup that oaths were sworn on which were associated with the sonargolt or holy
boar at Yule.
The Church did not always consider Lucy a saint. Because of correlations of the
name with light, not only in the Old Norse but in Latin, Lucia was associated with
Lucifer. In one classic tale she was said to have been the first wife of Adam and
the mother of the vittra people who lived underground rather than Eve, who in a
similar story was said to be the mother of the huldufolk). One account of the
lussikatter (Lucy cats) or the golden saffron rolls that are served by Lucia is
that they were devil's cats which she subdued, and the cats were pictured at her
feet. the traditional shape of the rolls is a crossed shape where the arms are
rolled inward and in the curve are bright pieces of fruit or small candles in the
form of a solar wheel. The association of the cats also suggests an identity with
Freya who was known as the Vanadis, or the shining bride of the gods.
Beginning Yuletide with lighting a candle and greeting Lucy, or the Queen of Light,
would certainly be appropriate for modern heathen families who are seeking to
re-establish the old customs and welcome the gods and goddesses of old back into
their homes as well as ancestral spirits who accompany them on their rounds.
Cleaning and decorating for the Yule festivities should be finished by Lucy Day.
It would likewise seem to be a good idea to set out porridge or pudding for those
who accompany her, or set an extra place for them at the table as well as welcoming
Lucy when she comes bearing gifts.
Permission is granted for publication in kindred or other non-profit newsletters
or magazines as long as the copyright notice is retained and attribution is made
and notification is made to the author.
© 1995 by Susan Granquist. All rights reserved.
