These rites will be described and discussed in the following
chapters. We shall begin with the annual festivals of fire and shall
reserve the pulling of the mistletoe for consideration later on.
LXII. The Fire-Festivals of Europe
1. The Fire-festivals in general
ALL over Europe the peasants have been accustomed from time
immemorial to kindle bonfires on certain days of the year, and to
dance round or leap over them. Customs of this kind can be traced
back on historical evidence to the Middle Ages, and their analogy to
similar customs observed in antiquity goes with strong internal
evidence to prove that their origin must be sought in a period long
prior to the spread of Christianity. Indeed the earliest proof of
their observance in Northern Europe is furnished by the attempts
made by Christian synods in the eighth century to put them down as
heathenish rites. Not uncommonly effigies are burned in these fires,
or a pretence is made of burning a living person in them; and there
are grounds for believing that anciently human beings were actually
burned on these occasions.
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