Editing Yule (section)

==Etymology==
The modern English noun ''Yule'' descends from [[Old English]] {{wikt-lang|ang|ġēol}}, earlier ''geoh(h)ol'', ''geh(h)ol'', and ''geóla'', sometimes plural.<ref name="OED">{{harvcoltxt|OED Online|2022}}.</ref> The Old English {{wikt-lang|ang|ġēol}} or {{lang|ang|ġēohol}} and {{lang|ang|ġēola}} or {{lang|ang|ġēoli}} indicate the 12-day festival of "Yule" (later: "[[Christmastide]]"), the latter indicating the month of "Yule", whereby {{wikt-lang|ang|ǣrra ġēola}} referred to the period before the Yule festival (December) and {{wikt-lang|ang|æftera ġēola}} referred to the period after Yule (January). Both words are cognate with [[Gothic language|Gothic]] {{wikt-lang|got|𐌾𐌹𐌿𐌻𐌴𐌹𐍃}} ({{lang|got-Latn|jiuleis}}); Old Norse, [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]], [[Faroese language|Faroese]] and Norwegian [[Nynorsk]] {{wikt-lang|is|jól}}, {{lang|nn|jol}}, {{lang|is|ýlir}}; [[Danish language|Danish]], [[Swedish language|Swedish]], and [[Bokmål|Norwegian Bokmål]] {{lang|nb|jul}}, and are thought to be derived from [[Proto-Germanic]] {{lang|gem-x-proto|jehwlą-}}.<ref name="PROTO-GERMANIC YULE">{{harvcoltxt|Bosworth|Toller|1898|p=424}}; {{harvcoltxt|Hoad|1996|p=550}}; {{harvcoltxt|Orel|2003|p=205}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ordbok.uib.no/perl/ordbok.cgi?OPP=jol&ant_bokmaal=5&ant_nynorsk=5&nynorsk=+&ordbok=begge |work=Bokmålsordboka {{!}} Nynorskordboka |title=jol |access-date=11 March 2017 |archive-date=12 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312050638/http://ordbok.uib.no/perl/ordbok.cgi?OPP=jol&ant_bokmaal=5&ant_nynorsk=5&nynorsk=+&ordbok=begge |url-status=live }}</ref> Whether the term existed exterior to the [[Germanic languages]] remains uncertain, though numerous speculative attempts have been made to find [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] cognates outside the Germanic group, too.{{efn|For a brief overview of the proposed etymologies, see {{harvcoltxt|Orel|2003|p=205}}.}} The compound noun ''Yuletide'' ('Yule-time') is first attested from around 1475.<ref name="BARNHART-896">{{harvcoltxt|Barnhart|1995|p=896}}.</ref>

The word is applied in an explicitly pre-Christian context primarily in Old Norse, where it is associated with Old Norse deities. Among many others (see [[List of names of Odin]]), the god Odin bears the name {{lang|non|Jólnir}} ('the Yule one'). In {{lang|non|[[Ágrip]]}}, composed in the 12th century, {{lang|non|jól}} is interpreted as coming from one of Odin's names, {{lang|non|Jólnir}}, closely related to Old Norse {{lang|non|jólnar}}, a poetic name for the gods. In Old Norse poetry, the word is found as a term for 'feast', e.g. {{lang|non|hugins jól}} (→ 'a raven's feast').<ref name="GUDBRAND-VIGFUSSON-326">{{harvcoltxt|Vigfússon|1874|p=326}}.</ref>

It has been thought that [[Old French]] {{wikt-lang|fro|jolif}} (→ French {{wikt-lang|fr|joli}}), which was borrowed into English in the 14th century as 'jolly', is itself borrowed from Old Norse {{lang|non|jól}} (with the Old French suffix {{lang|fro|-if}}; compare Old French {{wikt-lang|fro|aisif}} "easy", Modern French {{lang|fr|festif}} = {{lang|fr|fest}} "feast" + {{wikt-lang|fro|-if}}), according to the ''Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology''<ref name="Hoad672">{{harvcoltxt|Hoad|1993}}</ref> and several other French dictionaries of etymology.<ref>''Dictionnaire historique de la langue française'' (sous la direction d'[[Alain Rey]]), édition Le Robert, t. 2, 2012, p. 1805ab</ref><ref name="CNRTL">{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnrtl.fr/etymologie/joli|title=JOLI : Etymologie de JOLI|website=www.cnrtl.fr|access-date=24 August 2022|archive-date=24 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220824163035/https://www.cnrtl.fr/etymologie/joli|url-status=live}}</ref>
But the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' sees this explanation for {{lang|fro|jolif}} as unlikely.<ref>"[https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/101618 jolly, adj. and adv.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016192715/https://www.oed.com/dictionary/jolly_adj |date=16 October 2023 }}" ''OED Online'', Oxford University Press, December 2019. Accessed 9 December 2019.</ref> The French word is first attested in the Anglo-Norman {{lang|xno|[[Estoire des Engleis]]}}, or "History of the English People", written by [[Geoffrey Gaimar]] between 1136 and 1140.<ref name="CNRTL"/>