As winter comes and the hours of darkness overtake the light, we seek out warmth, good food, and good company. But beneath the jollity and bright enchantment of the festive season, there lurks a darker mood – one that has found expression over the centuries in a host of strange and unsettling traditions and lore.
Here, Sarah Clegg takes us on a journey through midwinter to explore the lesser-known Christmas traditions, from English mummers plays and Austrian Krampus runs, to modern pagan rituals at Stonehenge and the night in Finland when a young girl is crowned with candles as St Lucy – a martyred Christian girl who also appears as a witch leading a procession of the dead. At wassails and hoodenings and winter gatherings, attended by ghastly, grinning horses, snatching monsters and mysterious visitors, we discover how these traditions originated and how they changed through the centuries, and we ask ourselves: if we can’t keep the darkness entirely at bay, might it be fun to let a little in?
Another impulse purchase with my post-Waterstones Triple Points weekend rewards which I thought sounded interesting and perfect to crack open on the cold and windy Winter Solstice. A non-fiction book in which the author explores some of the darker folklore surrounding Christmas traditions.
The book is divided into chapters with the author attending a variety of winter festivals around the UK and Europe including Carnival in Venice and Krampus-runs in central Europe and then explores the origins and develops of these events and what they represent to the people who celebrate them.
On Friday night, my younger daughter and I watched the new Christmas movie starring Dwayne Johnson. Red One it is called and we definitely did not just watch it because I have a bit of a thing for The Rock. NO, not at all, no sir-ee, that was not the reason. It was the nod to some of these ancient midwinter stories in a modern movie that drew me in. It was funny that one thing should follow the other, with me starting g this book the very next day, but it is fascinating that these stories persist, even in the most modern of fairytales. Although I am sure this book has much more accurate takes on the Krampus and Gryla legends.
If you like a darker tale for Christmas and you are interested in the origins of some of the more esoteric celebrations that take place around Europe in winter, you will love this book. The author dives into the history in fascinating detail, but still manages to retain an air of mystery and magic around the stories and the reason people keep on telling them, even to the extent of weaving them into 21st century blockbuster movies. They will send a little shiver up your spine and make you burrow a little further under your duvet as the wind howls around the eaves of the house, as it has been doing this weekend, while teaching you something at the same time. My favourite type of book.
The Dead of Winter is out now in hardback, ebook and audio formats and you can buy a copy here.
About the Author
Sarah Clegg has a PhD in the ancient history of Mesopotamia from Cambridge University. She currently lives in London and works in publishing.
Connect with Sarah:
Website: https://eatingartefacts.wordpress.com
Twitter: @Eatingartefacts
Instagram: @readingartefacts
