Yule is attested early in the history of the Germanic peoples from the 4th century. In the 8th century, the English historian Bede wrote that the Anglo-Saxon calendar included the months geola or giuli (Yule) which were either modern December or December and January.
The Old Norse name jól is mentioned in the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál. Here different names for the gods are given and one of the names provided is "Yule-beings". The skald Eyvindr Skáldaspillir uses the term which reads "again we have produced Yule-being's feast [mead of poetry], our rulers' eulogy, like a bridge of masonry".
In the Saga of Hákon the Good, King Haakon I of Norway, who was responsible for the Christianisation of Norway, rescheduled the date of Yule to coincide with Christian celebrations held at the time. The saga describes how toasts were to be drunk, and it is also stated that King Haakon had a law passed that everyone was to have ale for the celebration with a measure of grain, or else pay fines. The Norwegians also had to keep the holiday while the ale lasted.
The oldest written source of the Viking Yule celebrations is Hrafnsmál, which means "raven speech" in Old Norse. This poem was composed around the 9th century by the Norwegian skald Þorbjörn Hornklofi. Hrafnsmál is mainly about a conversation between an unnamed valkyrie and a raven, who discuss the life and martial deeds of Harald Fairhair. Because of this, the poem is sometimes referred to as Haraldskvæði.
Toast in Old Norse: Úti vill jól drekka, Ef skal einn ráða, Fylkir enn framlyndi, Ok Freys leik heyja; (Drink out Yule, if one will advise, the fame-seeking ruler, and perform Frey's game). The first toast was to be drunk to Odin "for victory and power to the king", the second to the gods Njörðr and Freyr" for good harvests and for peace", and third, a beaker was to be drunk to the king himself. In addition, toasts were drunk to the memory of departed kinsfolk. These were called "minni [memorial toast]".