Note (return) — Chapter IV

It is remarkable how common the belief appears to have been that the remains of the Yule-log, if kept throughout the year, had power to protect the house against fire and especially against lightning.676 As the Yule log was frequently of oak,677 it seems possible that this belief may be a relic of the old Aryan creed which associated the oak-tree with the god of thunder.678 Whether the curative and fertilizing virtues ascribed to the ashes of the Yule log, which are supposed to heal cattle as well as men, to enable cows to calve, and to promote the fruitfulness of the earth,679 may not be derived from the same ancient source, is a question which deserves to be considered.