Koleda
Encyclopedia
Kolyada or koleda is an ancient
Slavic
winter ritual celebrating the Old New Year
. It was later incorporated into Christmas
. The word is still used in modern Belarusian
(Каляды, Kalady, Kalyady), Bulgarian
, Macedonian
, Serbian
(Коледа, Коледе) and Croatian
, Slovak
(Koleda). Some suppose the word was borrowed the word from the Latin calendae http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?root=%2Fusr%2Flocal%2Fshare%2Fstarling%2Fmorpho&morpho=1&basename=%5Cusr%5Clocal%5Cshare%5Cstarling%5Cmorpho%5Cvasmer%5Cvasmer&first=1&on_word=on&text_word=%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8F%D0%B4%D0%B0&method_word=substring&on_general=on&text_general=&method_general=substring&on_origin=on&text_origin=&method_origin=substring&on_trubachev=on&text_trubachev=&method_trubachev=substring&on_editorial=on&text_editorial=&method_editorial=substring&on_pages=on&text_pages=&method_pages=substring&text_any=&method_any=substring&sort=word];compare "Kalends
". Others believe it derived from Kolo, "wheel". Another speculation is that it derived from the Bulgarian/Macedonian word "коля/колам" (kolia/kolam), which means "to rip, to kill (a man), to cut animal for eating", or from the Serbo-Croatian "коло, колодар" (kolo, kolodar). Some claim it was named after Kolyada, the Slavic god of winter http://www.spellintime.fsnet.co.uk/Folklore_Section_Background.htm or Koliada
, the goddess who brings up a new sun every day.
In pre-Christian Croatia
, "koleda" was a celebration of death and rebirth at the end of December in honour of the sun and god - Dažbog
, whose power once more begins to increase in those days. Krijes, meaning bonfire in Croatian
, is another festival honouring the sun, during the summer at the time of his greatest strength; a celebration for good harvest.
In modern Ukrainian
(koliada), Russian
, Czech
, Croatian
(koleda) and Polish
(kolęda k) the meaning has shifted from Christmas itself to denoting the tradition of strolling, singing, and having fun on Christmas Eve
, same in the Balkan Slavs. It specifically applies to children and teens who walk house to house greeting people, singing and sifting grain that denotes the best wishes and receiving candy and small money in return. The action is called kolyadovanie and is now applied to similar Old East Slavic celebrations of other old significant holidays, such as Generous Eve the evening before New Year's Day, as well as the celebration of the arrival of spring. Similarly in Bulgaria
and Macedonia
, in the tradition of koleduvane (коледуване) or koledarenje (коледарење) around Christmas, groups of boys visiting houses, singing carols and receiving a gift at parting. The boys are called 'koledari
' or rarely 'kolezhdani' who sing kolyadka
(songs).
Croatian composer Jakov Gotovac
wrote in 1925 the composition "Koleda", which he called a "folk rite in five parts", for male choir and small orchestra (3 clarinet
s, 2 bassoon
s, timpani
and drum
). There is also a dance from Dubrovnik
called "The Dubrovnik Koleda."
Old World
The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....
Slavic
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...
winter ritual celebrating the Old New Year
Old New Year
The Old New Year Нова година) or the Orthodox New Year is an informal traditional Slavic Orthodox holiday, celebrated as the start of the New Year by the Julian calendar...
. It was later incorporated into Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
. The word is still used in modern Belarusian
Belarusian language
The Belarusian language , sometimes referred to as White Russian or White Ruthenian, is the language of the Belarusian people...
(Каляды, Kalady, Kalyady), Bulgarian
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
, Macedonian
Macedonian language
Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
, Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
(Коледа, Коледе) and Croatian
Croatian language
Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
, Slovak
Slovak language
Slovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...
(Koleda). Some suppose the word was borrowed the word from the Latin calendae http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?root=%2Fusr%2Flocal%2Fshare%2Fstarling%2Fmorpho&morpho=1&basename=%5Cusr%5Clocal%5Cshare%5Cstarling%5Cmorpho%5Cvasmer%5Cvasmer&first=1&on_word=on&text_word=%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8F%D0%B4%D0%B0&method_word=substring&on_general=on&text_general=&method_general=substring&on_origin=on&text_origin=&method_origin=substring&on_trubachev=on&text_trubachev=&method_trubachev=substring&on_editorial=on&text_editorial=&method_editorial=substring&on_pages=on&text_pages=&method_pages=substring&text_any=&method_any=substring&sort=word];compare "Kalends
Kalends
The Calends , correspond to the first days of each month of the Roman calendar. The Romans assigned these calends to the first day of the month, signifying the start of the new moon cycle...
". Others believe it derived from Kolo, "wheel". Another speculation is that it derived from the Bulgarian/Macedonian word "коля/колам" (kolia/kolam), which means "to rip, to kill (a man), to cut animal for eating", or from the Serbo-Croatian "коло, колодар" (kolo, kolodar). Some claim it was named after Kolyada, the Slavic god of winter http://www.spellintime.fsnet.co.uk/Folklore_Section_Background.htm or Koliada
Koliada
Koliada, in Slavic mythology, is the name of a goddess of the sky stemming from the Greek kalandai and the Latin calendae. She brings up a new sun every day; for that reason, she is hunted by Mara to stop her and cause total darkness...
, the goddess who brings up a new sun every day.
In pre-Christian Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, "koleda" was a celebration of death and rebirth at the end of December in honour of the sun and god - Dažbog
Dazbog
Dažbog , alternatively Dazhbog, Dazbog, Dazhdbog, or Dadzbóg, was one of the major gods of Slavic mythology, most likely a solar deity and possibly a cultural hero...
, whose power once more begins to increase in those days. Krijes, meaning bonfire in Croatian
Croatian language
Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
, is another festival honouring the sun, during the summer at the time of his greatest strength; a celebration for good harvest.
In modern Ukrainian
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
(koliada), Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
, Croatian
Croatian language
Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
(koleda) and Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
(kolęda k) the meaning has shifted from Christmas itself to denoting the tradition of strolling, singing, and having fun on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
, same in the Balkan Slavs. It specifically applies to children and teens who walk house to house greeting people, singing and sifting grain that denotes the best wishes and receiving candy and small money in return. The action is called kolyadovanie and is now applied to similar Old East Slavic celebrations of other old significant holidays, such as Generous Eve the evening before New Year's Day, as well as the celebration of the arrival of spring. Similarly in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
and Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
, in the tradition of koleduvane (коледуване) or koledarenje (коледарење) around Christmas, groups of boys visiting houses, singing carols and receiving a gift at parting. The boys are called 'koledari
Koledari
Koledari is a term that refers to the orthodox Christmas carolers in Bulgaria, Macedonia and Ukraine. The name koledari comes from the Church Slavonic word for Christmas i.e. Koleda...
' or rarely 'kolezhdani' who sing kolyadka
Kolyadka
Kolyadka is a traditional song usually sung in Eastern Slavic countries only on Orthodox Christmas holidays, between the 7th and 14th of January. It is believed that everything sung about will come true....
(songs).
Croatian composer Jakov Gotovac
Jakov Gotovac
Jakov Gotovac was a Croatian composer and conductor of classical music. He is the author of the most famous Croatian opera, the comic Ero s onoga svijeta , which first played in Zagreb in 1935....
wrote in 1925 the composition "Koleda", which he called a "folk rite in five parts", for male choir and small orchestra (3 clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s, 2 bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s, timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
and drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
). There is also a dance from Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
called "The Dubrovnik Koleda."
See also
- KolyadkaKolyadkaKolyadka is a traditional song usually sung in Eastern Slavic countries only on Orthodox Christmas holidays, between the 7th and 14th of January. It is believed that everything sung about will come true....
- KoliadaKoliadaKoliada, in Slavic mythology, is the name of a goddess of the sky stemming from the Greek kalandai and the Latin calendae. She brings up a new sun every day; for that reason, she is hunted by Mara to stop her and cause total darkness...
- Koleda in the Serbian tradition
- Kolęda in the Polish tradition
- Christmas carolChristmas carolA Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.-History:...
- Christmas Waits
- ShchedrykShchedrykShchedryk is a Ukrainian shchedrivka, or New Year's carol. It was arranged by composer and teacher Mykola Leontovych in 1916, and tells a story of a swallow flying into a household to sing of wealth that will come with the following spring...
- KoledariKoledariKoledari is a term that refers to the orthodox Christmas carolers in Bulgaria, Macedonia and Ukraine. The name koledari comes from the Church Slavonic word for Christmas i.e. Koleda...
- YuleYuleYule or Yuletide is a winter festival that was initially celebrated by the historical Germanic people as a pagan religious festival, though it was later absorbed into, and equated with, the Christian festival of Christmas. The festival was originally celebrated from late December to early January...
or "Yuletide" (translated by "Koleda"), celebrated by Germanic people - Yule GoatYule GoatThe Yule Goat is one of the oldest Scandinavian and Northern European Yule and Christmas symbols and traditions. Originally denoting the goat that was slaughtered during the Germanic pagan festival of Yule, "Yule Goat" now typically refers to a goat-figure made of straw...
- ColindăColindaColindă are traditional Romanian Christmas carols.- Origins :Although the text of all colinde is concerned with the events of the Nativity, certain elements of the folk rituals performed around Christmas are probably pre-Christian in origin, having their roots in the Roman Saturnalia and pagan...
, a similar Romanian/Moldovan tradition - BeltaneBeltaneBeltane or Beltaine is the anglicised spelling of Old Irish Beltaine or Beltine , the Gaelic name for either the month of May or the festival that takes place on the first day of May.Bealtaine was historically a Gaelic festival celebrated in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.Bealtaine...
, Gaelic festival in honour of the sun