The tree, of course, has been supplied anew with candles, fruit, and
candy. The first are blown out and the last two struggled for while
the tree is drawn slowly toward the door out of which it is finally
pitched by the merry crowd.

The Swedes have four legal holidays at Yule, beginning the day
previous to Christmas, and they make merry while they last. Besides
having the _Jul-gran_ or Christmas tree, each family places in the
yard a pole with a sheaf of grain on top for the birds' Christmas
dinner, a pretty custom common to many countries.

Business is very generally suspended during Christmas, the day
following, Twelfth Day, and the twentieth day.

"Do as your forefathers have done, and you can't do wrong," is said to
be the motto of the Swedes. So the customs of their forefathers are
strictly observed at Yule-tide.

_Svea_, the feminine name of Sweden, the "Queen of the North,"
contains what is popularly believed to be the burial-places of Wodin,
Thor, and Freya. The mounds are about one mile from Upsala and are
visited by travelers from all parts of the world. Antiquarian
researchers, however, have recently had a word to say in doubt whether
these mounds contain the remains of the renowned beings, those ancient
travelers. The Swedes, however, still cling to the belief that the
bones of Wodin, the Alexander of the North, rest beneath the sod at
Upsala. In these mounds have been found the bones of a woman and of a
dog, a bracelet of filigree work, and a curious pin shaped like a
bird, but no sign of Wodin's presence. Yet peasants believe that Wodin