Local Mistletoe growing on cedars. Photo by Cindy Bellinger
Mistletoe and Other Winter Words
By Cindy Bellinger
As I walked through the Garden Center the other day, I noticed packages of mistletoe. It's a powerful plant. All it takes is a little sprig to get kissed. There are 1,300 species of mistletoe and the origin of the word has everything against romance.
People noticed that mistletoe tended to take root in trees and assumed it was because of bird droppings. The word mistal is early Anglo-Saxon for "dung" and the word tan means "twig." So mistletoe translates to "dung on a twig." Considering it's a parasite, the term sounds appropriate. It also used to be called Allheal because of its medicinal properties.
In Scandinavia mistletoe was considered "the plant of peace" and if enemies met by chance beneath it in a forest, they maintained a truce until the next day. Celtic priests used to divide mistletoe branches and distribute the sprigs among villages who hung them over doorways as good luck.
Now here's the serious question. The mistletoe we traditionally hang is Phoradendron, Greek for American mistletoe and means "thief of the tree." Another appropriate name. Anyway, it's not at all like the mistletoe that clings to our local juniper trees. So…can you get kissed under any kind of mistletoe?
Other Winter Words
- 'Tis the season for yule logs…the word yule derives from 'hiaul' and 'huul' --Old English words for wheel and sun. And these connect with an old Scandinavian word jul, which is where our word 'jolly' comes from.
This is the cleverness of language. Dig back far enough and word origins just seem to make sense. You light the Yule log to celebrate the sun wheeling back around, and it's a jolly time dancing around the fire.
- Then there is Tauvikjuag. It's what the people in the Arctic call the seven weeks between late November and mid-January. It means "long darkness." And here we are, right in the middle of it again.
The other night as I lit some red and green candles, I was reminded how much we value light this time of year. So many winter stories from around the world reflect the return of the sun, and the earliest winter celebrations did, indeed, include candles or bonfires.
- Now we come to wreath, from an Old English word wriða meaning band, an Old High German word writhon meaning to turn and twist. For a centerpiece this season I'm laying out branches of evergreens twisted around a small tree.
It's amazing how long our history is of everyday words and probably just as long for our winter traditions. But I still want to know if I can get kissed under any kind of mistletoe.
Read My Little Garden Patch - gardening column by Cindy Bellinger.
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