The First Christmas Tree: A Story of the Forest

In Short

Set on Christmas Eve in the year 722, this historic tale follows the English missionary Winfried (Saint Boniface) as he journeys into the deep wilderness of central Germany to confront the pagan worship of Thor. Arriving at the sacred Thunder-Oak of Geismar just as the old priest lifts a stone hammer to sacrifice the chieftain’s young son, Winfried boldly intervenes. He chops down the ancient oak, saves the child, and points the tribe toward a young fir tree as a clean, living symbol of peace and light.

The Story

The narrative opens on Christmas Eve in the year 722 at the cloister of Pfalzel along the Moselle. Inside the quiet walls, excitement reigns because of a distinguished guest: Winfried of England, known as Boniface, the Apostle of Germany. Having given up ease, scholarship, and high ecclesiastical office in Wessex, Winfried travels the wild frontiers preaching to heathen tribes. At the evening meal, the stately Abbess Addula calls upon her young grandson, Prince Gregor, to read St. Paul’s description of the Christian warrior’s armor. Winfried gently challenges the lad to understand the words in his native tongue and translates the apostle's military metaphors into the real-world trials of a missionary fighting dark forest superstitions. Inspired by Winfried's passionate vision, Gregor defies his grandmother’s protective fears and vows to join the missionary on foot.

Two years later, on another Christmas Eve, Winfried and Gregor—now a tall, hardened woodsman wielding a broad axe—lead a small, armed band through deep snowdrifts in the endless German wilderness. They hurry toward Geismar, where the pagan tribes have gathered at the legendary Thunder-Oak to perform winter solstice rites to Thor. Emerging into a glade bathed in moonlight and firelight, they find a vast crowd clad in white robes and armor surrounding a great bonfired oak. The old priest, Hunrad, announces that Baldur is dead and that Thor demands the ultimate sacrifice to end war, pestilence, and famine: Bernhard, the beloved young son of Chieftain Gundhar.

The boy willingly kneels on the altar stone, blindfolded. As Hunrad swings the black stone hammer high to crush the child’s skull, Winfried leaps forward and strikes the handle with his heavy wooden staff. The hammer deflects and splits against the altar stone, leaving the child unharmed in his mother Irma’s arms.

Facing an astonished and divided assembly, Winfried reads a letter from the Pope commanding an end to bloody sacrifices. Declaring that Thor is dead, Winfried and Gregor take up their axes and strike the ancient oak. A sudden, miraculous wind gust tears through the treetops, snapping the giant tree into four pieces as it crashes down. Pointing to a small, green fir tree standing unharmed among the ruins, Winfried declares it the tree of the Christ-child. The travelers carry the fir to Gundhar's hall, decorate it with lights, and share the story of Bethlehem, establishing a peaceful tradition for generations to come.

How It Unfolds

The call to battle In the quiet cloister of Pfalzel, Winfried listens to young Gregor read St. Paul's words about holy armor. Winfried reframes the passage as a summons to fight real darkness in the wilderness, inspiring Gregor to abandon his comfortable future and march into the forest on foot.

The march through the snow Two years later, Winfried and Gregor lead a small, cold expedition along an old Roman road buried in snow. Despite the threat of wolves and the bitter cold, Winfried pushes the tired group forward to reach the Thunder-Oak of Geismar before the pagan solstice rites conclude.

The shadow of the oak The travelers enter the glade to find a solemn crowd gathered around a towering oak before a fiery blaze. The old priest Hunrad declares that Thor's wrath can only be appeased by sacrificing Bernhard, the chieftain's young son.

The falling hammer As Hunrad raises the sacred stone hammer over the blindfolded boy, Winfried steps up to the altar and strikes the handle with his staff. The hammer shatters against the altar, saving the child and throwing the assembly into confusion.

The timber of peace Winfried and Gregor cut into the oak with their axes until a sudden wind sweeps over the forest and tears the tree down. Winfried presents a small, green fir tree growing in the ruins as a bloodless symbol of life, carrying it to the chieftain’s hall to celebrate the first true Christmas.

The People

• Winfried (Boniface): A scholar and missionary from Wessex who abandons church prestige to preach in the German forests. Driven by a desire to conquer pagan superstitions and protect the vulnerable, he acts as a bold spiritual leader, wielding both gentle wisdom and physical courage to alter the course of the tribe.
• Gregor: The young grandson of Abbess Addula, who begins as a convent student fascinated by tales of chivalry. Eager to reconcile faith with action, he joins Winfried, transforming over two years of hard travel into a strong, resilient woodsman and loyal lieutenant.
• Hunrad: The elderly pagan priest of Thor, who fears the decay of his religion and the ruin of his people. Desperate to regain the favor of the old gods, he insists on human sacrifice as the only cure for the tribe's misfortunes.
• Gundhar: The chieftain of the forest tribe, torn between his duty to the gods and his love for his child. He yields to the priest's demands out of fear for his people, but readily grants Winfried a hearing once the sacrifice is disrupted.
• Irma: Gundhar’s wife and Bernhard's mother, who suffers in silent agony as her son is led to the altar. Her instinctual love drives her to cry out and offer her own life to save her child.
• Bernhard: The young prince, innocent and brave, who trusts his elders completely and faces the blindfold and altar without fear.

In Its Own Voice

"The boots of a warrior, a hunter, a woodsman,--these are my preparation of the gospel of peace."

Winfried explains to the young student Gregor why real faith in the wilderness requires rugged endurance rather than soft monastic slippers.

"Hide me no cross, for I have come to show it, and to make these blind folk see its power."

Approaching the gathered pagan tribe around the bonfire, Winfried rejects his companion's cautious advice to conceal his identity.

"The thunder-oak has fallen, and I think the day is coming when there shall not be a home in all Germany where the children are not gathered around the green fir-tree to rejoice in the birth-night of Christ."

Standing beside the felled giant of the forest, Winfried points to the young fir tree and defines its new purpose.

What It's Really About

The story presents a dramatic confrontation between fear-driven paganism and a religion of love and mercy. Hunrad’s faith requires blood, terror, and the destruction of what is most precious to appease an angry deity. Winfried offers an alternative: a faith that builds rather than destroys, replacing human sacrifice with domestic joy. The narrative also examines the true nature of courage and service. For Winfried and Gregor, religious life is not an escape into quiet cloistered safety, but an active, outdoors adventure requiring physical toughness, moral resolve, and a willingness to step between the oppressor's hammer and the innocent victim.

Why Read It Today

This short Victorian novella offers a vivid, atmospheric peek into early medieval European history through the lens of late nineteenth-century romanticism. Readers who enjoy historical legend, Scandinavian and Germanic lore, or classic holiday traditions will appreciate Henry Van Dyke's rich, poetic prose. The narrative moves at a brisk pace, balancing quiet monastic reflections with tense woodland confrontations. Illustrated originally by Howard Pyle, the text retains a strong visual sense of place, from the rose-tinted snows of the Moselle to the shadows of the German forest.

The story does carry the formal, somewhat elevated tone typical of 1890s religious fiction, along with a romanticized, black-and-white portrayal of early Christian missionaries versus native pagan traditions. Modern readers will easily spot the period's idealistic view of history and formal speech patterns. Yet its core core narrative—the transformation of a dark midwinter rite into a cheerful home celebration around a lit tree—remains a warm, engaging myth about the origins of a familiar Christmas custom.