Yule

This year, the Yule or Yuletide, is from 21 December to 1 Jan. Yule is said to be one of the oldest traditional pre-Christian celebrations in Northern Europe.
 
The word Yule and the meaning and practices of Yule can be traced back to the traditions of ancient Indo-European peoples. For example, ancient Persian yaldag means yule day. Yalda is now the name for the Persian winter solstice festival.
 
Some sources suggest that when ancient Indo-Europeans migrated into what is now Scandinavia about 4,000 years ago, they displaced or became integrated with the original indigenous peoples. One theory suggests that one of the aboriginal words which was taken into the Indo-European languages was Yehwla, the name for the midwinter solstice.
 
Yehwla is thought to be the source of Old Norse jol which in turn is the source of Old English geol, geola (Christmas Day, Christmastide) and the English word Yule. Some sources suggest that Old Norse jol is also the source of Old French jolif which later became the word jolly (which originally meant festive).
 
So, there are many theories for the ancient origins of the word Yule—all interesting in themselves but none that are known for certain.
 
In Anglo-Saxon Christianity, the word Yule came to mean the twelve-day December feast of the Nativity. Does the song, “Twelve Days of Christmas” come to mind? By the 11th century, the word Christmas replaced Yule except for places in northeast English where the predominant Danish settlers continued to use the word Yule.
 
The word Yuletide is from the late 15th century. The first reference to a Yule log is from the 17th century. The word Yule referring to Christmas was revived in England in the 19th century.
 
Yule logs and yule log cakes? Traditionally, families would put one end of a very large log into the household fireplace and keep it burning during the 12 days of Christmas. As this tradition became increasingly impractical, families turned instead to the production of yule log cakes which I suspect most would agree is a much better (and tastier) idea.
 
Reference: Online Etymological Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule