Is Christmas......

[amorphous_constellation]

Gift giving was more of an early modern thing too rather than a traditional practice.

People have to had been giving gifts for as long as humans existed, whether to kings, gods (votive offerings), or just for basic social cohesion.

While some pagans presumably did venerate trees, the Christmas tree emerged far too late to be a pagan borrowing. It emerged in 17th C and only became popular in the 19th C.

Does anything come up about cultural views on evergreens in a word search of shakespeare

Elves, reindeer and the modern Santa are late 19th early 20th C Americana, although are evolutions of Saint Nicholas (via Dutch immigrants) who is quite interesting as he was a Crusader icon, paid dowries for women who would have been forced into prostitution (perhaps a link to gift giving) and resurrected the chopped up remains of pickled children (which definitely happened and is not at all made up ).

There's the rather morbid norse poem about volund in the poetic edda, so I guess elves weren't americana, and you can read about merlin, as it might be seen that wizards can be connected to deer

 

[Augustus]

People have to had been giving gifts for as long as humans existed, whether to kings, gods (votive offerings), or just for basic social cohesion.

People have always given gifts sure, but the association between Christmas and gift giving is relatively modern along with the idea its a time for family, etc.

Does anything come up about cultural views on evergreens in a word search of shakespeare

I've no idea, but he predates the use of Christmas trees in England

There's the rather morbid norse poem about volund in the poetic edda, so I guess elves weren't americana, and you can read about merlin, as it might be seen that wizards can be connected to deer

The association between elves and Christmas in modern Americana, rather than being a holdover from pagan times.

Presumably loosely influenced by the Romantic traditions of the 19th C, which is also an origin of the idea of secret pagans preserving their rituals and traditions for 500-1000 years in Christian Europe.

Not sure Santa's elves particularly resemble pagan elves either.