JUL, or JOL, a Gothic word, signifying a "sumptuous treat," and particularly applied to a religious festival, first amongst the heathens, and afterwards amongst the Christians. By the latter it was given at Christmas, which is still known under the name of Iul, or Yool, in Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, and even in Scotland; and hence the month of Januarius was by the Saxons styled Giuli, or the "Festival." As this feast had originally been dedicated by our heathen ancestors to the sun, their supreme deity, so the Christians, for the purpose of engaging the minds of their Ethnic or gentile brethren, ordered that it should be celebrated in memory of the birth of Christ; and thus it has been through ages a feast of joy and entertainment. We are indebted to Procopius for the first account of this feast.