Most scholars agree that the roots of the beloved Christmas tree lie in pagan beliefs and practice, but a popular story about 8th-century Anglo-Saxon archbishop Saint Boniface puts a twist in the tale:
Saint Boniface cuts down Donar's Oak. Relief on the Statue of Saint Boniface in Fulda, Hesse, Germany. Photo by James Steakley.
According to Saint Boniface's Vitae, while traveling in Hesse, he happened upon some people about to sacrifice a child at Donar's Oak (also known as Thor's or Odin's Oak), an ancient tree sacred to the pagans. Boniface's biographer, Willibald, tells it this way in The Life of Saint Boniface:
(Saint Boniface) attempted, in the place called Gaesmere, while the servants of God stood by his side, to fell a certain oak of extraordinary size, which is called, by an old name of the pagans, the Oak of Jupiter. And when in the strength of his steadfast heart he had cut the lower notch, there was present a great multitude of pagans, who in their souls were earnestly cursing the enemy of their gods. But when the fore side of the tree was notched only a little, suddenly the oak's vast bulk, driven by a blast from above, crashed to the ground, shivering its crown of branches as it fell; and, as if by the gracious compensation of the Most High, it was also burst into four parts, and four trunks of huge size, equal in length, were seen, unwrought by the brethren who stood by. At this sight the pagans who before had cursed now, on the contrary, believed, and blessed the Lord, and put away their former reviling. Then moreover the most holy bishop, after taking counsel with the brethren, built from the timber of the tree wooden oratory, and dedicated it in honor of Saint Peter the apostle.
Somewhere in the centuries after, an extra bit was added to the story above:
After Donar's Oak was blasted, both saint and pagans looked around and saw a tiny fir tree miraculously untouched by the giant felled branches. Saint Boniface knew that the pagans already associated the evergreen fir with magic and immortality, and had a custom of taking it into their homes during winter. Turning this to his advantage, he declared the tree a symbol of Christ, with its top pointing unquestionably to his Father in Heaven. Some stories add that he used the triangular shape of the tree to teach about the triune nature of God. He advised them to bring a fir tree inside at Christmastime as their observance of the season. |
