Welcome to the British History Podcast. My name is Jamie and this is Episode 336.

The end is the beginning is the end.

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Christmas is old. Older than Christianity, in fact. And as a consequence, there's a lot

to it. Symbols and traditions that come from all over the world and from all across

time. It's a complex event that, predictably, can provoke a complex set of emotions from

people. But when you look past the trees, in the logs, in the stockings, in the manger,

in that guy in red, in those scary monsters punishing kids, and all the other things that

have been added into it, when you boil it down to its essence, what you find at that

ancient root of the holiday is a very simple and clear root. It's a winter feast. And

like any good feast, we don't just eat and drink. We celebrate our lives, and we celebrate

each other. And if you're lucky enough to be able to celebrate and feast with the people

you love, I'm sure you understand why mid-winter celebrations are so central to cultures that

have long winters. You probably also understand why canoe and his forces took a break from

their looting and pillaging. It wasn't just that it was cold out there. It was time to engage

in holiday merry-making. It was time to partake him beloved traditions that canoe and his

followers had probably practiced since they were children. And we're told that they stopped

to spend this festive season somewhere in Wessex, which, let's be honest, can be a pretty

...