Yule or Yuletide ("Yule time") is a winter period and event that was initially celebrated by the historical Germanic peoples and some neighboring peoples as a religious festival, though it was later absorbed into, and equated with, the Christian festival of Christmas (December 25). The earliest references to the event are by way of indigenous month names (lasting between what is now mid-November and early January), whereas the event may have been centered on or around Midwinter (winter solstice). Scholars have connected the celebration to the Wild Hunt, the god Odin, increased supernatural activity, and the pagan Anglo-Saxon Modranicht.