We are getting close to Christmas and we are going to better understand the symbology of the Christmas Tree, which, at this moment, is in our houses and in our towns.

We realised there are a lot of stories about the origin of the Christmas Tree: some of them send us back to the Celtic Druids and to the Germanic people. These stories were also mingled with Christian cults, creating some different and charming tales.

Among the stories we read, we would report you the one which points out the tree’s features and its preciousness as evergreen.

According to legend on Christmas Eve, a boy from a country village was sent to search for an oak stump that had to be burnt in the fireplace of his house by tradition.

That boy found the firewood, but he tarried in the wood and he lost his way back because of a heavy snowfall. He sheltered from the snowfall under the only tree that was green among a lot of trees without leaves: a fir.

Then the boy curled up close to the fir trunk, which was moved to pity and let down its branches in order to protect him from the snow.

On the following morning the boy woke up with the voices of other villagers, who were searching for him.

They were all greatly astonished when they saw the wonderful view of the fir branches, full of snow and shining in the sun.

So, according to this legend, the fir became the symbol of Christmas we know nowadays and we decorate it in order to remember the bright view of that night.

Is it a fine story, isn’t it? And with this tale we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 21st, 2006 at 9:24 am and is filed under italian culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.