A Yule log is a large and extremely hard log which is burned in the hearth as a part of traditional Yule or Christmas celebrations in several European cultures. It may also be associated with the Winter Solstice festival or the Twelve Days of Christmas, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or Twelfth Night.
The expression Yule log has also come to refer to log-shaped Christmas cakes, also known as chocolate logs or Bûche de Noël. The Yule log is related to other Christmas and Yuletide traditions such as the Ashen faggot.
Read more about Yule Log: Terminology, Historical Origins
Famous quotes containing the words yule and/or log:
“As I went on Yule day
In our procession,
Knew I jolly Jankin
By his merry tone—
Kyrie eleison.”
—Unknown. Jolly Jankin (l. Chorus.)
“‘T is wonderful how soon a piano gets into a log hut on the frontier. You would think they found it under a pine stump. With it comes a Latin grammar,—and one of those tow-head boys has written a hymn on Sunday. Now let colleges, now let senates take heed!”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)