Where did Christmas Carols come from?
Tis the season when Christians around the world engage in singing Christmas carols - the phrase - "Tis the season” comes from the lyrics of the 1862 Christmas carol “Deck the Halls”. Here are nine things you should know about this Christmas tradition. 1. Carols weren’t always spiritual (though they mostly are now). The word carol originated around A.D. 1300 from the Old French word “carole,” which referred to a “kind of dance in a ring, [a] round dance accompanied by singers.” It originally was used to refer to any festive songs and only later became associated with the Christmas holiday and religious music. Today, carols are almost exclusively associated with Christian holidays—especially Christmas, but also Advent and Easter. 2. Carolers caroling the caroled. A person who sings carols is a caroler. Singing carols is known as caroling. And having sung a carol or (having been sung to) is to have caroled or to have been caroled. 3. The first Christmas carol was taken from the Bible