![]() ![]() ![]() Though it is never mentioned how the Dwarves celebrated this holiday, if their appetites when they first meet Bilbo in The Hobbit are any indication, it would call for hardy feasting indeed. 5 It is ‘the first day of the last moon of Autumn on the threshold of Winter.’ 5 The timing of this holiday closely coincides with that of Yule. In the morning, he was found frozen but standing erect, ‘a white figure…dead as stone.’ 4 Yet his horn could still be heard at times in the Deep, and it was told that his wraith would walk the land, killing his foes by fear.ĭwarves, it seems, would jump at any excuse for a party, but the only Dwarven holiday mentioned in Tolkien’s work is Durin’s Day, which according to Thorin is ‘The first day of the dwarves’ New Year’. ‘In Helm’s Deep there was a great hunger after Yule.’ 4 King Helm Hammerhand’s son was lost in the snow during a foray, and Helm in his grief, would venture into the land ‘clad in white, and stalk like a snow-troll into the camps of his enemies, and slay men with his hands.’ 4 One night, he did not return. The events take place during the Long Winter, when Rohan lay snowbound for five months. And we all know how much Hobbits like to give presents. One need only imagine the cozy warmth of Yuletide merrymaking in the Shire to have a feeling of cheer inside. ![]() ‘Yule-tide was warm and merry there and men came from far and wide to feast at Beorn’s bidding.’ 3 In The Hobbit, Gandalf and Bilbo celebrate Yule at Beorn’s house on their way back to the Shire from Erebor, The Lonely Mountain. To their surprise, they found the ruffians who had invaded the Shire had left ‘Great stores of goods and food, and beer … hidden away … in sheds and barns and deserted holes, and especially in the tunnels at Michel Delving and in the old quarries …’ 2 The liberation of the Shire was celebrated with a splendid feast, and ‘there was a great deal better cheer that Yule than anyone had hoped for.’ 2 When the Hobbits return to the Shire after the War of the Ring and King Elessar’s coronation, they worry that the tables at the Yule feast will be spread thin that year. This celebration, called Yuletide, lasted six days, with the last day of the year–1 Yule, Old Year’s Day, or Yearsend–and the first day of the new year–2 Yule, New Year’s Day, or Yearsday– being the major days of feasting and merriment. In the Shire, “The Yuledays”, which began with the Winter Solstice, fell between the months Foreyule and Afteryule. ![]()
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