The shortest day of the year: Solstice. It’s when the true rebirth of the year occurs: the Suns Triumph over Darkness. The moment has been celebrated as long as there is recorded and unrecorded history: The sun peeping through particular openings of the standing stones seem to be the epicenter of worship.
In Norse paganism yuletime was held where:
‘…toasts were to be drunk. 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 thirdly a beaker was to be drunk to the king himself. In addition, toasts were drunk to the memory of departed kinsfolk. ” seems fair to me…