Giant Wreath on the old Bank of the Metropolis

"In Scandanavian countries great fires were kindled to defy the Frost King.

These early peoples gathered around the fires to warm themseves and to

quaff great horns of mead, looking forward to the breaking of the ice when

their ships might again embark. They spent their time telling strange stories

and considered the period as being the time of the longest nights, when men

were transformed at will to savage beasts, werewolves -- fierce, ravisihing,

and thirsty for blood; and Valkyrie, maidens who searched for souls and

conveyed them to Valhalla. These strange spirits were heard in the winds

and the the passage of birds."

-- from 1001 Christmas Facts and Fancies by Alfred Carl Hottes

 "Our Wassail Cup is made

Of the Rosemary tree,

And so is your beer

Of the best barley...

Call up the butler of this house,

Put on his golden ring;

Let him bring us up a glass of beer

And better we shall sing..."

-- from Wassail Song, North of England

The Oxford Book of Carols, 1928

  Days 'til Christmas