I’ve been buying Advent calendars for years without really knowing what the word means (turns out it’s from the Latin “Adventus,” meaning “coming”).

And to be honest, I only just learned that “solstice” refers to the sun appearing to “stand still” – astrologically speaking, winter solstice is a brief moment in which the sun lies above the Tropic of Capricorn.

This year, the true solstice will happen at 9:21am, December 21, in the UK.

While diving down that rabbit hole, I also learned why we call this time of the year “Yuletide,” where “Yule” comes from to begin with, and what a log has to do with any of it.

Where does the word “Yule” come from?

Many cultures celebrate the winter solstice, as it means the long nights will grow gradually shorter and shorter.

One of those happened in Scandinavia.

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