Today's story is The First Christmas Tree by Henry van Dyke. One of my favorite 1880's authors,Van Dyke was a minister who wrote stories to read to his congregation. He presented this one for the first time in 1897.
Set in the year 722 the main characters Prince Gregor and Winfried of England set out to convert the pagan peoples of the German forests on Christmas Eve. Winfried, later known as Boniface, are able to destroy "Thor's Oak" where the people are worshipping. Winfried shows them a fir tree, calling it the tree of the Christ Child, for their new worship of the Christ Child.
Van Dyke was known to have done research for his writing and it shows in his descriptions of medieval Germany. Fans of history will find this book a delight to read. The time period enhances a wonderful tale. If you enjoyed The Other Wise Man you will enjoy this book as well.
This text is under 100 pages in most formats so is easily read in one day. There are free downloads as ebooks from Project Gutenberg, Google Books, the Sony estore and Kindle. A wonderful audio book is available for free as well. It lasts about 55 minutes.
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