YULE FIRES 349 



deep on the ground and the air filled with flying 

 flakes; his hearth may soon glow with comfort. 

 Even from a materialistic point of view the an- 

 cients did well to worship fire. Out of it was to 

 come more or less directly all the material 

 progress of the race toward civilization. 



The pines, whose presence in the woods is al- 

 ways a benediction, stand ready with the best 

 fire kindlings in the world. Their twigs light at 

 the flare of a match. The larger limbs will fire 

 from these and send flames leaping high. On a 

 fire well started thus between backlog and fore- 

 stick he may pile such dry, hard wood as he has at 

 hand. The forest will give him plenty if he is on 

 friendly terms with it. The forest will give him 

 more, too. Out of its mysterious darkness will 

 slip easily into his mind the old-time loved and 

 half-forgotten legends that grew out of the 

 winter night in the twilight of the early days of 

 the Aryan race. At the time of the winter sol- 

 stice it was the custom of the gods to leave their 

 dwellings in heaven and come down to earth. In 

 the shout of the wind in the pines he may well 

 hear Wotan riding overhead in his gray cloak 

 and broad-brimmed hat pressed low over his face. 



