Tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European folk festivals
This article is about the tall wooden pole and its dance. For other uses, see Maypole (disambiguation).
Dancing around the midsummer pole, in Åmmeberg, Sweden
A maypole is a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European folk festivals, around which a maypole dance often takes place.
The festivals may occur on 1 May or Pentecost (Whitsun), although in some countries it is instead erected at Midsummer (20–26 June). In some cases, the maypole is a permanent feature that is only utilized during the festival, although in other cases it is erected specifically for the purpose before being taken down again.
Primarily found within the nations of Germanic Europe and the neighboring areas which they have influenced, its origins remain unknown. It has often been speculated that the maypole originally had some importance in the Germanic paganism of Iron Age and early Medieval cultures and that the tradition survived Christianisation, albeit losing any original meaning that it had. It has been a recorded practice in many parts of Europe throughout the Medieval and Early Modern periods, although it became less popular in the 18th and 19th centuries.[citation needed] Today, the tradition is still observed in some parts of Europe and among European communities in the Americas.
A maypole is a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European folk festivals, around which a maypole dance often takes place. The festivals may...
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folk activities, participated in to this day, such as Morris dancing, Maypole dancing, Rapper sword in the North East, Long Sword dance in Yorkshire...
and maypole dancing. Ickwell is unusual in having a permanent maypole, located on the village green, as well as including adult dancers in its maypole dancing...
the maypole in June because the Swedish climate made it impossible to find the necessary greens and flowers in May, and continued to call it a maypole. In...
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Day in England includes Maypole festivities, culminating in a race by young unmarried men to climb to the top of the Maypole to capture the May Day wreath...
a speech before the dancing begins. Certain age-groups dance around a Maypole celebrating youth and springtime. James George Frazer speculated that the...
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