Christmas carols are more than just festive melodies. Christmas carols are rich linguistic time capsules, preserving words and phrases that have long fallen out of common usage. From archaic pronouns to poetic verbs, these festive songs offer a unique glimpse into the history and evolution of the English language. Words like nigh, don, trod, and yore echo from Old and Middle English, while phrases such as “God rest ye merry, gentlemen” and “troll the ancient Yuletide carol” reflect linguistic structures and meanings that might confuse modern listeners. Explore the fascinating etymology behind these fossil words and phrases, tracing their origins and explaining their contexts in beloved Christmas carols. By unpacking the linguistic past, modern speakers can develop a deepened appreciation for the songs that continue to connect contemporary celebrants with the traditions of the season.

Nigh

The adverb and adjective nigh meaning “near, nearby, close together, adjacent” comes from the Old English nēah and nēh. Both Old English variations come from the Proto-Germanic *naehwa-, which developed into similar words denoting nearness in other Germanic languages such as Dutch na and German nah. Historically, the comparative of nigh was nēar and the superlative was nīehst (nigh~near~next). Both the comparative and superlative developed into modern near and next, which developed into separate, albeit related, words. The word nigh gradually fell out of common usage in modern English, being largely replaced by near. The use of nigh persisted in literary, biblical, and poetic contexts, lending an archaic or elevated tone. Today nigh survives as a fossil word primarily in idioms like nigh impossible and in traditional texts including older hymns and Christmas carols such as “Away in a Manger.”

The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes
But little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes
I love thee, Lord Jesus! look down from the sky
And stay by my cradle till morning is nigh

Don

The verb don comes from the contraction of the phrase do on, meaning “put on, dress oneself in.” This usage dates back to the fourteenth century when English commonly formed verbs by combining do with another word to indicate an action. Another example is doff, which comes the contraction of the phrase do off and means “take off, remove.” While don was once a common verb for dressing, the word gradually fell out of everyday speech, replaced by the alternative phrasal verb put on. However, don has survived in poetic, formal, and ceremonial contexts, lending an air of elegance or antiquity to its use. The preservation of the verb in Christmas carols like “Deck the Halls” helps maintain its association with festive or celebratory dressing, underscoring the joy and splendor of the holiday season.

Deck the hall with boughs of holly
‘Tis the season to be jolly
Don we now our gay apparel
Troll the ancient Yuletide carol

Gay

The word gay still maintains broad usage in contemporary English but with a different meaning from the origin. In the phrase “don we now our gay apparel,” the adjective gay comes from the Old French gai meaning “joyful, merry.” In Middle English, gay retained its positive connotation of being happy, carefree, or bright in appearance and was often used to describe cheerful moods, vibrant clothing, or festive occasions. This meaning is preserved in “Deck the Halls” in which “gay apparel” refers to colorful, festive garments worn to celebrate the season and in “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” in which “make the Yuletide gay” implores listeners to create joy and merriment during the Christmas holiday. Not until the twentieth century did gay begin to acquire additional meanings related to sexual orientation, first as a slang term within LGBTQ+ communities before becoming more mainstream. Despite this semantic shift, the original sense of gay as “joyful, bright” remains intact in traditional songs and literary contexts such as Christmas carols, offering a glimpse into the linguistic past.

Deck the hall with boughs of holly
‘Tis the season to be jolly
Don we now our gay apparel
Troll the ancient Yuletide carol

Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the Yuletide gay
Next year all our troubles will be miles away

Troll

In the phrase “troll the ancient Yuletide carol” (sometimes “troll the ancient Christmas carol”), the verb troll has no relation to the supernatural being in Scandinavian mythology and folklore or provoking others online. Modern troll comes from Middle English trollen, which comes from Old French troller, a hunting term that means “stroll, wander, roll.” By the sixteenth century, troll had developed a musical sense, referring to singing in a carefree, rollicking, or merry manner, often with a round or a repeated refrain. In “Deck the Halls,” troll means to sing or chant joyfully, evoking the image of carolers spreading festive cheer with lively songs, a now-archaic sense that aligns with the celebratory and communal spirit of traditional caroling during the holiday season.

Deck the hall with boughs of holly
‘Tis the season to be jolly
Don we now our gay apparel
Troll the ancient Yuletide carol

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

The phrase “God rest ye merry, gentlemen” in the song of the same name is an often misunderstood line due to the evolution of English syntax and morphology. First, the phrase expresses the subjunctive mood. The subjunctive mood expresses commands, doubts, guesses, hypotheses, purposes, requests, suggestions, and wishes that are contrary to fact at the time of the utterance. The phrase implores, but does not command, God to grant a wish or blessing. The subjunctive mood was much more commonly used in earlier English especially in blessings, prayers, and formal expressions like “God save the King” or “God bless you.” Modern English more often uses auxiliary verbs like “may” or “let” for the same purpose as in “May God keep you merry.” Distinct subjective forms have also merged with indicative forms in Modern English, making the subjective less obvious in form.

The verb rest comes from the Old English ræstan and restan, which originally meant “remain, continue in a particular state, keep, continue, be still.” The meaning “lay down, repose” has been influenced by the Old French rester meaning “to remain, stay,” which comes from the Latin restare meaning “stand back, be left,” which comes from re- meaning “back” and stare meaning “to stand.” By Middle English, rest also denoted a sense of “keeping, maintaining,” which is the meaning expressed in this Christmas carol.

Ye is an archaic second person plural personal pronoun, which comes from the Old English ge, the nominative plural of second person personal pronoun þu, which developed into the modern you. In Middle English, ye evolved into a formal plural pronoun, distinguishing the pronoun from the singular informal subject thou and singular or plural object you. Over time (and despite protests from language pedants), you became the second person pronoun in both subject and object positions, rendering ye archaic. However, the forms survives in poetic, liturgical, and traditional contexts such as religious texts and Christmas carols and religious texts, preserving its historical role as a marker of formality or plurality.

Though many modern renditions of the lyrics place the comma after ye, moving the merry to describe gentlemen, the comma originally followed merry. In the context of “God rest ye merry, gentlemen,” the merry is an adverb that modifies the verb rest and describes the way in which the singer implores God to keep the gentlemen (in a state of merriment). The use of merry as an adverb feels unfamiliar to many modern speakers because modern English rarely uses merry in an adverbial sense, instead using morphologically obvious adverbs such as merrily or joyfully. In earlier Englishes, many adjectives and adverbs shared the same form without the adverb taking the -ly suffix. For example, a candle could shine bright, a sentence in which the adverb bright describes the way in which the candle shines. Modern English offers less flexibility, preferring distinct adverb forms. For example, a candle might shine brightly. Modern English does retain some adverbs that share the same form as adjectives as in a fast car (adjective) and he drove fast (adverb). The older flexibility of adverbs survives as a fossilized form in expressions like “God rest ye merry, Gentlemen,” which preserves the linguistic norms of the time of its writing.

If a song like “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” were written today, the title and initial line might be “May God Keep You All in a Merry State, Gentlemen,” though the modern translation lacks the musicality of the original.

God rest ye merry, gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
For Jesus Christ our Savior
Was born upon this Day
To save poor souls from Satan’s power
Which long time had gone astray
Which brings tidings of comfort and joy

Yore

In the bridge of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” the second line of the bridge references days of yore. Modern English speakers may mistake the final word for the homophone your. The noun yore originates from Old English geāra, a genitive plural form of geār meaning “year.” (In Old English, the grapheme <g> had a range of pronunciations depending on its position in a word and the surrounding sounds. In geāra, the <g> was pronounced like the modern consonantal <y>.) The Old English adverb geāra referred to “years long past” or “former times.” By the Middle English period, the world developed into the form yore and came to mean “a long time ago” or “of old.” The word is now considered archaic, surviving primarily in literary or poetic contexts such as the phrase “days of yore,” which evokes a nostalgic sense of bygone eras. The fossilization of the word in traditional songs, stories, and idioms preserves its connection to the English-speaking past.

Once again as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Will be near to us once more

Hither and Thither

The song “Good King Wenceslas” is full of words, phrases, and grammar less familiar to speakers of Modern English. For example, the words hither and thither appear in the second and third verses. The words hither and thither both come from Old English and are part of a set of directional adverbs that were used to describe motion or position. Hither meaning “to here” comes from Old English hider. Similarly, thither meaning “to there” comes from Old English þider. (The spelling with <th> instead of <d> in the fifteenth century reflects a widespread phonetic shift in Middle English that turned <der> to <ther> in many words including mother from Old English modor and father from Old English fæder.) Both hither and thither are closely related to the adverbs here and there, which described position rather than motion. Both terms were commonly paired in Middle English with whither meaning “to where” to form a logical system of describing movement relative to a location. By the Early Modern English period, however, the directional adverbs hither, thither, and whither began to fall out of everyday use, replaced by here, there, and where. Today, the older forms survive in poetic or archaic contexts, preserving their historical elegance and specificity.

Hither, page, and stand by me,
If thou knowst it, telling
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?
Sire, he lives a good league hence,
Underneath the mountain
Right against the forest fence
By Saint Agnes fountain

Bring me flesh and bring me wine
Bring me pine logs hither
Thou and I shall see him dine
When we bear them thither.
Page and monarch, forth they went
Forth they went together
Through the rude winds wild lament
And the bitter weather

Trod

The final verse of “Good King Wenceslas” includes the word trod, which is not common in Modern English. The word trod is the past tense of the verb tread, which comes from the Old English tredan meaning “go by feet, walk, traverse, pass through or over.” Tread has been replaced in Modern English by the more common walk on. Though found in contemporary usage, the word tread has more specific uses such as tread water, which the tread refers to the movement of the arms and less in a manner similar to walker, and the tread of a tire, which leaves a footprint of the wheel on the ground. The base trod also survives in the adjective downtrodden meaning “stepped on, trampled upon, oppressed.” By the time “Good King Wenceslas” was written, trod was well-established in English as the poetic and formal past tense of tread, lending a sense of solemnity to the depiction of following in the footsteps of the saint in the Christmas carol.

In his masters step he trod
Where the snow lay dinted
Heat was in the very sod
Which the Saint had printed
Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing
Ye, who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing

Tidings and Tide

Both “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” contain the word tidings. “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” and “Deck the Halls” both include the word tide compounded in the words Yuletide. The noun tidings comes from Old English “tidung,” meaning ” event, occurrence, piece of news, announcement,” which is a verbal noun (gerund) that comes from the Old English tidan meaning “to happen.” The verb tidan is related to the noun tīd meaning “point or portion of time, due time, period, season,” which developed into the modern tide as in Yuletide and Christmastide. Over time (joke intented), the word tidings evolved to specifically denote important or joyful news as preserved in traditional Christmas carols.

Good tidings we bring
To you and your kin
Good tidings for Christmas
And a happy new year

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up like Eskimos

Deck the hall with boughs of holly
‘Tis the season to be jolly
Don we now our gay apparel
Troll the ancient Yuletide carol

Conclusion

The archaic words in Christmas carols not only add a touch of timeless charm but also serve as linguistic artifacts, offering a window into the history of the English language. These fossilized terms connect modern speakers to centuries-old traditions, enriching the understanding of the ways in which language evolves while preserving the beauty of the past.