The 12 Night of Yule

For stories aligned with the 12 Nights of Yule theme:
From D’Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths by Ingri & Edgar Parin d’Aulaire (for ages 5 and up), read:
•“Frigg and the Goddesses” for Modranecht,
•“Odin’s Eight-legged Steed” for the 2nd night of Yule,
•stories about Thor and Frey for the 3rd night,
•“Njord, Frey and Freya” for the 4th night,
•“The Creation of Man” for the 5th night,
•stories about Thor for the 7th night,
•“Skade, the Ski-goddess” for the 8th night,
•“Odin, the All-father” for the 9th night,
•“The Creation of Man” for the 10th night (Ancestor theme),
•“The Valkyries and Valhalla” for the 11th night, and
•“The Creation of the World” for the 12th night of Yule.
*Equivalent stories may also be found in Gods and Heroes from Viking Mythology by Brian Branston, which has a more Pagan-friendly tone and ending.

There are a couple of different versions of the modern Ásatrú 12 Nights of Yule, but this is the version I’ve seen most often:

1. Modranecht
2. Wild Hunt
3. High Feast of Yule, sacred to Thor and Frey
4. Sacred to Ægir, Njörðr & Freya (or sacred to the Vanir)
5. Sacred to Community
6. Sacred to Eir and Healing
7. Sacred to Thor
8. Sacred to Skadi & Ullr
9. Sacred to Odin
10. Sacred to Sunna & the Ancestors
11. Sacred to the Goddesses & Valkyrie
12. Oath Night

The twelve nights begin on the eve of the Winter Solstice. However, some folks begin to celebrate on December 20th, whether it’s the actual Solstice or not. This provides a standard start day year after year. But also, when starting on the 20th, Oath Night ends up being on December 31st, New Year’s Eve, resulting in it being a significant time in the larger culture as well.

We like to celebrate each night with a simple blót, lighting the candles on our Yule log, then having special foods and activities that follow the theme of the night.

Other things that many Ásatrúar do to commemorate the 12 nights is to reflect on one of the months of the past year for each night, and meditate on one of the Nine Noble Virtues on the first nine nights of Yule.

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