Lesser-known legends & folklore of the Christmas tree: from ancient sacred tree worship to modern traditions

I adore Christmas. It’s my favorite time of the year. Friends and family and more food than I can handle (though I give it a good go and this does not end well).

But as we head into the Christmas season (which now usually starts at the beginning of September), it got me thinking about how the Christmas tree came to be. Last year I was set on finding out about Santa’s folklore roots, this year, the tree.

And of course, it turns out to have much more history than I ever realised. Here’s what I found out.

Published: 24th Oct 2025

Author: Sian H.

The ancient worship of sacred trees

Long before the first Christmas, our most ancient civilizations held evergreen trees and plants in a special kind of worship. 

During the darkest days of the winter solstice, when it seemed like the sun might never rise again, the evergreen's ability to remain vibrant - not just alive, but so alive - was seen as a powerful symbol of life's endurance and the promise of spring's return.

This fundamental idea gave rise to traditions across the ancient world.

The most profound (and possibly the most famous) of these was the Norse myth of Yggdrasil, the World Tree. 

Yggdrasil was a colossal, cosmic ash tree whose roots dug into the underworld and whose branches supported the heavens.

It was considered the absolute center of the universe and the axis upon which all of existence turned (and intrinsically linked to the Norse gods and goddesses).

This respect and belief in a sacred tree wasn’t unique to the north. 

In ancient Egypt, people also celebrated the winter solstice by bringing green palm fronds into their homes. A spray with twelve shoots symbolized the completion of the twelve months of the year. 

The Romans later adopted this concept for their week-long festival of Saturnalia. As palm trees weren’t common in Italy they turned to the fir tree because its triangular shape was seen as sacred. 

In honor of Saturn, the god of time, they decorated these trees with twelve lighted candles, placing a radiant sun at the very top to honor Apollo, the sun god.

These traditions establish a crucial and not-very-commonly-known fact.

Long before the birth of Christ, the decorated evergreen was already a widespread tradition - that's not to say it was linked to Christmas of course.

It was a tradition that was mainly used to symbolize life and the cyclical nature of the seasons.

The Christian transformation and early Christmas legends

As Christianity began to spread across Europe, it faced the challenge of these deeply ingrained pagan beliefs and traditions. 

Rather than trying to eradicate them, which often proved impossible, early missionaries employed a strategy of absorption and reinterpretation, the process known as syncretism.

They took the symbols of the old world and gave them new, Christian meanings. This absorption of beliefs through concurrent and subsequent cultures is common throughout ancient history - stories about gods and goddesses are a popular example.

A legend from the 8th century illustrates this transition perfectly. It tells of the missionary Saint Winfred (St. Boniface), who encountered Germanic tribes worshipping a giant oak tree as a living god. 

To demonstrate the supremacy of his faith, Winfred took an axe to the sacred oak on Christmas Eve. As the story goes, a mighty wind miraculously felled the tree, which shattered but left a small, young fir tree standing untouched in its place. 

Winfred seized the moment, declaring the fir the new holy tree. "It is the wood of peace," he proclaimed. "It is a sign of endless life." He encouraged the people to bring the fir into their homes, transforming it from a symbol of pagan worship into one of Christian celebration.

The Christmas tree's German evolution

The tradition of the decorated Christmas tree as we know it today was largely solidified within the German-speaking regions, where specific folklore and medieval customs merged. Alongside St Winfred, some other tree legends:

• Count Otto von Gorgas: One romantic legend from the 7th century tells of a cold-hearted nobleman, Count Otto von Gorgas, who fell in love with a fairy princess. She appeared to him in a room where a magnificent tree stood, its branches glittering with diamonds and pearls. Though she eventually left him, he continued to set up a lighted tree every Christmas Eve in her memory.

• Martin Luther: A more famous piece of folklore credits the 16th-century Protestant reformer Martin Luther with being the first to put candles on the tree, after being inspired by the sight of stars shining through an evergreen forest. It's noted though that there is no definitive proof that he was actually the first, but he is commonly credited with making the practice more popular.

Symbolically, some folklorists also note parallels between this lighting tradition and the Jewish festival of Chanukah, the “Feast of Lights”, but this is considered a thematic comparison and not proof of direct influence.

The Paradise Tree

The most critical development came from the medieval stage.

The Church designated December 24th as the day to commemorate Adam and Eve.

Mystery plays performed on this day featured a “Paradise Tree,” a fir tree decorated with apples (representing the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge) and wafers (representing the Eucharist).

This custom moved the evergreen tree from a pagan symbol to a key part of the Christian narrative. Over time, the apples and wafers evolved into cookies and glass ornaments, and candles were added for light.

While the legends are compelling, the first concrete historical evidence of a widely decorated Christmas tree appears in a 1608 manuscript from Strassburg, Germany.

For the next two centuries, the tradition remained a largely regional custom, confined mostly to the Rhine river valley.

From Germany to the rest of the world - how the Christmas tree went global

It wasn't until the 19th century that the Christmas tree began its journey to international stardom.

England

Its arrival in England was surprisingly late and initially met with curiosity rather than imitation.

The English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, writing from Germany in 1825, described the Christmas tree as a delightful but entirely foreign custom.

The turning point came in 1841, when Queen Victoria's German husband, Prince Albert, set up a decorated tree at Windsor Castle for their children.

An illustration of the royal family gathered around their tree was published in a London newspaper and the image captivated the public.

Royal influence did what years of quiet tradition could not; almost overnight, the Christmas tree became a fashionable and essential part of the British Christmas.

USA

In America, the tree had arrived much earlier with German immigrants, but it had remained a niche custom within their communities for decades.

New York City, a hub of Dutch and German culture, became the launching point for its spread into the mainstream.

The tradition's final step from cultural practice to commercial phenomenon came in December 1851.

A woodsman from the Catskills called Mark Carr recognized a business opportunity and hauled two sleds loaded with fir trees to a street corner in New York City.

He sold them all, becoming the first commercial Christmas tree vendor and solidifying the tree's place as an enduring American institution.

There are many Christmas symbols we've become accustomed to bringing out each year and the tree is undoubtedly one of the most important.

Apart from its literal effect of decorating a space, it's also a physical focal point for gathering together, for placing presents and for generally embodying a place of warmth and light. And that's what we all need at the most wonderful time of the year!

Check out more holiday folklore below.

Explore more holiday folklore