Christmas traditions Christmas From old English Cristes maesse (Christ's Mass), older still, Yule, from the Germanic root geol. In some languages: English: Christmas, Yule, Noel German: Weihnachten Finnish: Joulu Swedish: Jul Italian: Il Natale Spanish: La Natividad French: Noel The traditional Christmas is not a single day but a prolonged period, normally from 24th December to 6th January. This included the New Year, thus increasing the festival value of Christmas. Magi Fr...