Note 633 — Chapter IV
Reading edition
Footnote 633
:
(return)
"I am pretty confident that the Yule block will be found, in its first use, to have been only a counterpart of the Midsummer fires, made within doors because of the cold weather at this winter solstice, as those in the hot season, at the summer one, are kindled in the open air." (John Brand, Popular Antiquities of Great Britain, London, 1882-1883, i. 471). His opinion is approved by W. Mannhardt (Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrer Nachbarstämme, p. 236).