A Seasonal Book Cover of the Week!

You just have to call this one for what it is- cool Jul!


SynopsisChristmas anthology, SANTA VIKING, by Sandra Hill, containing "Bolthor's Bride" and "A Viking for Christmas." The first one takes us back to the Jul season in tenth century Norselands where Bolthor, the world's worst skald, finally gets his bride. In the second novella, a desperate female dressed as Santa Claus is foiled in her attempt to rob a supermarket. In the end, she needs to take a hostage. Who better than a guy, also dressed in a Santa suit, who looks like a cross between a Norse warrior and Brad Pitt from "Legend of the Falls"? Great fun…and sizzle…guaranteed! 


Did you KNOW we have a lot to thank the vikings for at Christmas? Here's what Sandra (and http://skandland.comsays:

1. Vikings celebrated Jul or Jol (Yule) for 12 days (sound familiar?) beginning with the Winter Solstice. Some even say that Christ wasn't born on Dec. 25 but in the Spring. Early church leaders decided to change the date to coincide with the Nordic celebrations for reasons of expediency (easier to convert heathens).

2. The Viking tradition of a Yulelog, a large decorated oak log was saved to protect the home and lit the following year's yule fire. Here's a modern Yule Log recipe you might enjoy trying.

3. Christmas trees. Okay, I'm not saying the Vikings brought trees inside and decorated them with tinsel, but they did decorate evergreen trees with pieces of food, clothing, statues, runes, etc, to entice the tree spirits to come back in the spring..

4. An old custom was for young people to dress up in goat skins and go from house to house and sing and perform simple plays. They were rewarded with food and drink. (sound like modern carolers to you?)

5. Some even think that Thor and his flying wagon pulled by horned goats was a precursor of Santa Claus.The Yule Goat at one time even brought Yule gifts. This character was later replaced with "jultomten" (Santa Claus).

6. Vikings would dress up as Old Man Winter, who was welcomed into homes to join the festivities. Dressed in a hooded fur coat, Father Christmas traveled either by foot or on a giant white horse and may have represented Odin, who was often depicted with a long beard. When the Vikings conquered Britain in the 8th and 9th centuries, he was introduced there and became the English Father Christmas.

So there you have it- Vikings ARE seasonal

:)

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