YULE QUIZ ANSWERS

1. What does the word ‘Yule’ mean? [Wheel]
2. What does ‘solstice’ mean? [Sun stands still]
3. Which day is called ‘Little Yule’? [13th December, St Lucia’s Day]
4. What date is St Stephen’s Day? [26th December, Boxing Day]
5. Which bird was traditionally killed on St Stephen’s Day? [Wren]
6. Which Norse God rode the golden boar at Yule? [Frey]
7. What is the first person over the threshold after midnight on New Year’s Eve called? [First Footer]
8. In Roman mythology, which god guarded the gate of the New Year? [Janus]
9. Which of the following evergreens was banned from church decorations- holly, ivy or mistletoe? [Mistletoe]
10. What wood was the traditional Yule log made from? [Ash or oak]
11. Which bird was traditionally served at Christmas? [Goose or duck]
12. Which date does Twelfth Night fall on? [January 5th]
13. Which date does Twelfth Day fall on? [January 6th]
14. Which plant was used to kill the Norse god of light, Baldur? [Mistletoe]
15. Who flies through the sky at Yule, clad in red skins, to reward the good and punish the bad? [Odin]
16. Who delivers the presents in England [Father Christmas not Santa Claus, who is American]
17. What happens to the Glastonbury Thorn at Christmas? [It flowers]
18. Which of these gods was born on December 25th? Mithras, Sol Invictus, Zeus, Jesus? [All except Jesus]
19. Which day is the Feast of St Nicholas? [December 6th]
20. How many wise men were mentioned in the Bible [not mentioned in Bible, only 3 presents mentioned]
21. What are we supposed to do to apple trees on 12th night? [wassail them]
22. What does wassail mean? [to be whole’]
23. What is the correct response to wassail? [drinc hale]
24. The birth of which god was celebrated on December 25th with the words ‘The Virgin has brought forth’ and the showing of the image of a baby to the worshippers? [Horus]
25. From whose religion did Christians borrow the idea of the twelve days of Christmas? [ancient Egypt, the twelve days of the solstice representing the 12 months of the year]
26. When did the Christian church begin to celebrate Christmas on 25th December? [274 A.D]
27. Germans call the xmas tree tannebaum, what does it mean? [sacred tree]
28. According to the Bible, in what kind of building was Jesus born? [It doesn’t specify]
29. How many ghosts appeared to Scrooge?
30. Name them. [The four ghosts in Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" were the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, Christmas Yet to Come, and the ghost of Jacob Marley.]

Home