Trivia Christmas:Before becoming tied up with Christmas what was Yule?

A pagan midwinter festival

It was celebrated by Germanic peoples and was connected to Norse mythology. With Odin being the Yule Father who led the Wild Hunt across the sky. Yuletide is about two months long and falls roughly mid-November to early January. In the middle of Yuletide is Yule.

As a fun side note, jolly most likely has its origins in Yule.