Project Gutenberg 2005-06-25 Public domain in the USA. 86 Van Dyke, Henry 1852 1933 Dyke, Henry Van Dyke, Henry Jackson Van Dyke, Henry I. Van The First Christmas Tree: A Story of the Forest Reading ease score: 86.9 (6th grade). Easy to read. E-text prepared by Michael Gray (Lost_Gamer@comcast.net) "The First Christmas Tree: A Story of the Forest" by Henry Van Dyke is a fictional narrative written in the late 19th century. This book blends elements of historical and religious storytelling, likely focusing on the early Christianization of the Germanic tribes during the time of Boniface, who is depicted as a key character. It explores themes of faith, sacrifice, and the significance of the Christmas tree within the context of a significant cultural transition. The narrative follows Winfried, also known as Boniface, a missionary from England, who embarks on a perilous journey through the forests of Germany to convert pagan tribes to Christianity. Alongside a young prince named Gregor, Winfried confronts a barbaric tradition of sacrifice at the Thunder-Oak, a sacred site for the worship of Thor. With courage and faith, he interrupts a ritual meant to sacrifice a child, attempting to replace the old pagan beliefs with the message of Christ. The pivotal moment occurs when he persuades the people to abandon their old ways and instead, embrace the fir tree as a symbol of new life and hope in Christ. The story ultimately showcases the triumph of faith over fear and the birth of a new tradition that we now associate with Christmas. (This is an automatically generated summary.) en Christmas stories PZ Text Christmas Browsing: Culture/Civilization/Society Browsing: Literature Browsing: Fiction 72342 70626 2024-10-07T08:55:12.215116 2023-09-07T09:48:38.430483 text/html text/html 67231 2020-12-11T12:10:32 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 759270 2020-12-11T12:10:32 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 850827 2024-10-07T08:55:18.409114 application/epub+zip 848284 2024-10-07T08:55:15.427082 application/epub+zip 92559 2024-10-07T08:55:14.143088 application/epub+zip 966177 2024-10-07T08:55:20.595112 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 953682 2024-10-07T08:55:17.519098 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 157160 2022-09-08T03:41:01.558503 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 62505 62466 2024-10-07T08:55:11.862115 2023-09-07T09:48:38.156485 text/plain; charset=us-ascii text/plain 62271 2020-12-11T12:10:32 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 24939 2020-12-11T12:10:32 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 19944 2024-10-07T08:55:20.730089 application/rdf+xml 14742 2024-10-07T08:55:14.719096 image/jpeg 3456 2024-10-07T08:55:14.417100 image/jpeg 838016 2024-10-07T08:55:12.246140 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia