Explained: What is a Carol?

When we describe The Soul Felt Its Worth, we often describe it along the lines of “a 25-day devotional exploring the history and message of your favorite Christmas hymns and carols.”

I’m occasionally asked about what constitutes a hymn or carol, but far more often I’m asked if one song or another appears in the book or why we didn’t include such and such. For The Soul Felt Its Worth, we knew early on we wanted to keep the devotional firmly rooted in older hymns and carols for multiple reasons, which we’ll discuss at a later time, but one big reason was the idea of legacy and tradition.

As it’s come up more than once, I thought now would be a great time to discuss what a “carol” actually is or isn’t. In a later post, we’ll discuss what a hymn is, why they’re different, and why it matters.

History of Carols

Let’s start by defining a carol according to Webster: “a religious folk song or popular hymn, particularly one associated with Christmas” The term carol likely comes from the Old French, carole, which denoted a type of festive dance popular in the 11th and 12th centuries.

The earliest whispers of “caroling” trace all the way back to the 4th century, including one poem by Roman poet Prudentius which is still sung in some churches today, over 1600 years later.

By the 13th century, the practice of singing festive holiday songs became a strong tradition, and the idea of caroling became cemented in cultures around Europe. Carols have always been steeped in festive celebration, the natural outpouring of joy at the exciting seasons of Christmas or harvest.

At first, carols were exclusively sung outside of church, as many early churches up until the Protestant Reformation in the 16th wouldn’t allow anything but Psalms or the Psalter to be sung in church. Carols became a fun and festive way to celebrate the season of Christmas in homes or as communities, rather than only within the church walls.

With the rise in Protestantism came the rise of carols inside the church—early Protestant founders like Luther even wrote and encouraged carols as an acceptable practice of celebratory worship.

When the fires of the Protestant Reformation died down, it seemed the tradition of caroling would fade to ash as well and by the late 1700s, the practice of singing carols had all but faded away.

The Resurgence

It started with the work of an English engineer, Davies Gilbert in 1823, when he published Some Ancient Christmas Carols. He was concerned that we were losing our traditions and letting our history fade away. He worked to find “ancient” carols that had fallen out of tradition, and without his influence, we may have lost carols like The First Noel forever.

The next major step in the resurgence of carols came nearly 50 years later, when John Stainer and Henry Ramsden Bramley compiled the first edition of their work, Christmas Carols, New and Old. This collection reinvigorated the love of festive songs, like The First Noel, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, and more over the course of their 3 editions.

As technology would accelerate into the 20th century, carols became more accessible and mainstream. Tradition holds that O Holy Night was the first song ever broadcast on the radio, by violinist and inventor, Reginald Fessenden.

As music recording became more and more popular, secular carols began to take rise, largely through the work of favorites like Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, and the charm of Hollywood’s golden age holiday classics. Now, the term “carol” is used for either of these genres fairly interchangeably. When we hear “Christmas Carol” in 2019, we may just as easily think of Deck the Halls as Joy to the World.

The practice of singing these festive carols is rich and full of great history, and is a great tradition that connects us to a legacy of faith centuries old. I love the idea that in many cases, we are celebrating the joy of Christ’s coming with the same words that believers have been singing back to God for hundreds of years. Imagine how God delights in the chorus of years lifted up to Him!

What is the first song that comes to your mind when you hear “Christmas carol”?