A traditional Christmas tree The Christmas tree is one of the most popular traditions associated with the celebration of Christmas. Normally an evergreen coniferous tree that is brought into a home or used in the open, a Christmas tree is decorated with Christmas lights and colourful ornaments during the days around Christmas. An angel or star is often placed at the top of the tree, representing the host of angels or the Star of Bethlehem from the Nativity story.

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Pre-Christian roots

There has historically been opposition to the custom of the Christmas tree because of its pagan origins. Thus, Oliver Cromwell preached against "the heathen traditions" of Christmas carols and decorated trees.Fact: date=March 2009 In 1851, parishioners in Cleveland, Ohio, USA condemned as a pagan practice the actions of the pastor, Henry Schwan, for decorating what was likely the first Christmas tree in an American Christian church.Fact: date=March 2009

There are various legends regarding the origin of the Christmas tree, often relating to Saint Boniface. Thus, in one version, Boniface disrupted a pagan child sacrifice at an oak tree, flattening the oak with a blow of his fist. A small fir sprang up in place of the oak, which Boniface told the pagans represented Christ.

Christmas traditions in general have often been associated with paganism in 19th century scholarship Fact: date=March 2009, though Francis Weisler, in his book Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs, shows the tradition's true origins, concluding that “It is completely Christian in origin. Historians have never been able to connect it with ancient Germanic or Asiatic mythology.”

Robert Chambers in his 1832 Book of Days asserts that the festivities of Christmas "originally derived from the Roman Saturnalia, had afterwards been intermingled with the ceremonies observed by the British Druids at the period of winter-solstice, and at a subsequent period became incorporated with the grim mythology of the ancient Saxons. Two popular observances belonging to Christmas are more especially derived from the worship of our pagan ancestors—the hanging up of the mistletoe and the burning of the Yule log." Regarding the Christmas tree itself, Chambers assumes that it "seems to be a very ancient custom in Germany, and is probably a remnant of the splendid and fanciful pageants of the Middle Ages." However, Weisler also dismantles the hypothesis of the pagan origin of the Yule log as well, saying, "The Yule tree had no direct pagan connotation, and never acquired any Christian religious meaning in later times." He then goes on to reveal its true origin, devoid of any connection with the Yule tree.

Other traditions relating to Christmas that may derive from Germanic pagan practices include the Christmas ham, Yule Goat, stuffing stockings, elements of Santa Claus and his nocturnal ride through the sky, and elements of Alpine folklore. Siefker, Phyllis. Santa Claus, Last of the Wild Men: The Origins and Evolution of Saint Nicholas, Spanning 50,000 Years (chap. 9, esp. 171-173) (2006) ISBN 0786429585