Whoever, wherever you are, Merry Christmas

Guardian of the Christmas Tree ....

 

Comment by Kris Kringle

portrayed by Edmund Gwenn

in the 1947 motion picture

"Miracle on 34th Street"

 

"Oh, Christmas isn't just a day, it's a frame of mind ... and that's what's been changing. That's why I'm glad I'm here, maybe I can do something about it."

 

Peace and happiness to you

 

Believe it or not, I have put considerable time and thought into what I would post for Christmas. Now, here we are, it is Christmas and I still am walking in a never-ending circle, indecisive and undecided, having come to the proverbial "now or never" point. I am tempted to write the words, "Merry Christmas," and let it go at that, but I will add a few more -- largely because it is in my nature to write and to write ....

 

A few weeks ago, I made the following observation: "I like Thanksgiving, and have many good memories of it from years past and hope to create many more in the years ahead."

 

The only word which needs to be changed now, today, is replacing the word "Thanksgiving" with the word "Christmas." I could easily fill a book reciting happy memories from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day .... actually, two books -- one from childhood memories and another for the years since then. I suppose it is not beyond the realm of possibilities that I will write such a book or books in future times, but I will refrain from beginning such tales now for fear of boring readers into sleep. Instead, I will bore you with something else -- a bit of commentary about the evolution of language.

 

Many people are aware -- but many are not -- that all languages are evolving. British writer and bureaucrat Geoffrey Chaucer wrote the "Canterbury Tales" between 1387 and 1400 in Middle English -- the language of his times.

 

Here is the opening of the Prologue to the tales as it was written by Chaucer:

 

"Whan that Aprille with his shoures sote the droghte of Marche hath perced to the rote ...."

 

Here is the same opening after a translation to contemporary English:

 

"When April with its showers sweet has pierced the drought of March to the very root ...."

 

Most languages, if not all, have a similar history: There is Old Norse, Old French, Old Latin, Old Greek and on and on and on. The reason I mention this is because one of the songs here today, "Als I lay on Yoolis Night," dates back at least to the Fourteenth Century and is composed in Middle English with subtitles provided in both the "middle" and the "contemporary" languages. The singers are Donna Deam and Kristine Szulik.

 

Another of the musical compositions is, "Veni, Veni, Emmanuel," sung in Latin with both Latin and English subtitles. The singer is Hayley Westenra.

The final song is by Joan Baez. She is singing the, "Coventry Carol," a Christmas song which dates to Sixteenth Century England and tells the story from Biblical Matthew about the birth of Jesus. Again, we have a transitional language piece from medieval to modern.

 

So, for whatever it is worth, here are three Christmas songs you might never have heard before and a brief lesson in the evolution of languages .... Merry Christmas ....