Skip to main content
  • Search
    • Regions
    • Cities and places
    • See and do
    • Events
    • Food and drinks
    • Accommodation
    • Transport
    • Tourist information
  • Inspiration
  • Fjord Norway logo
    Fjord Norway logo
  • Search
  • Explore map
    • Regions
    • Cities and places
    • See and do
    • Events
    • Food and drinks
    • Accommodation
    • Transport
    • Tourist information
    • Inspiration
    • Explore map
Culture and history

Christmas Viking style

Last updated: 30.01.2024

The fire in the longhouse was lit, and friends and family gathered to enjoy good food and drink. Christmas, or Jòl as it was called, was one of the Vikings’ most important festivals.

The Viking calendar

The Viking calendar was drawn up around and reflected their relationship with nature and the work that had to be done at the different times of the year. They divided the year into the summer months and the winter months. A Viking’s age was not calculated in years, but in winters, a custom that is still used to calculate the age of livestock. The Vikings divided the year by the phases of the moon, from full moon to full moon. They had 12 months in their calendar, but the number of days was probably not exact, and it was particularly difficult to observe the moon during the long light evenings of the summer months in these northerly climes.

The third month was called Mörsugur, which lasted from mid-December to mid-January. The name literally means ‘fat-sucker’, i.e. the fat-sucking month. It was important to eat rich, fatty fare during this period, a custom we have incorporated into our own Christmas traditions.

Kokekar i langhuset på Avaldsnes
The viking farm at Avaldsnes|© Daniel Schulze Ardey

Sacrificial festival in honour of the Gods

The word ‘jul’ (English: Yule) comes from the word ‘jólablót’ or ‘Jòl’. During the Viking Age, there was little outdoor work to be done during ‘Mörsugur’, and the yuletide celebration or the custom of ‘drinking Yule’ was a welcome change during an otherwise uneventful time of the year. This type of event was often held in the longhouse, where there was plenty of space. Like today, the celebration back then also involved friends, family and good food and drink.

Yule lasted a month during the Viking Age, and ‘drinking Yule’ was synonymous with the celebration. The God Odin was also called Jólnir, and honouring Jólnir by ‘drinking Yule’ was every good Viking’s duty. The Vikings made sacrifices to honour the Norse Gods. Researchers disagree on whether the Viking celebration of Yule was intended to honour the return of the sun or a sacrificial festival to ensure the fertility of the earth, people and animals in the new year.

The Vikings enjoyed getting dressed up for big occasions, as we do today. Artefacts that have been found show that the Vikings enjoyed wearing large brightly coloured pieces of jewellery for big celebrations like Yule.

Produkter vikingene brukte i sin matlaging.
© Daniel Schulze Ardey

A celebration with lots of good food and drink

Eating and toasting to honour the Gods were important elements of the Yule celebration. Although beer was the most important component of the celebration, meat also played an important role. Different types of animal were sacrificed and eaten, and the most popular dish was pork. Pork had a high status among the Vikings, and being able to eat it every day was one of the rewards of the afterlife.

Related articles

Norwegian Vikings - bloodthirsty plunderers?

Norwegian Vikings - bloodthirsty plunderers?

Fjord Norway has a rich historical heritage and many visible traces of the Vikings, who ruled the country for an era between AD 750 to 1100.

What does a star chef eat for Christmas?

What does a star chef eat for Christmas?

Torill and Sven Erik Renaa and the team have put Stavanger on the culinary map. The restaurant was the first in Norway, except for the capital, to receive a star in the MICHELIN Guide Nordic. In 2024, the restaurant achieved three stars from the famous guide.

Norwegian food traditions and recipes

Norwegian food traditions and recipes

In earlier days, before WWII, and to a certain extent in the years following the war, the majority of Norwegians lived very much in tune with nature; we were farmers and fishermen and therefore totally dependent on nature’s resources to put food on the table. Being a country surrounded by the North Sea, a lot of the food supply came from the sea, in addition to the land.

A journey in the footsteps of the Vikings from Oslo to Nordfjordeid and Bergen

A journey in the footsteps of the Vikings from Oslo to Nordfjordeid and Bergen

Discover the myths and rituals of the Vikings among the fjords and mountains where they once ruled.

  • Image shop
  • Meetings and conference
Fjord Norway's secondary logo
About Fjord NorwayFrequently asked questionsData protection