It is that time of year when the media publish lists. You know the sort of thing: recommended books, best Christmas puddings, annual weather data and gongs to people you’ve never heard of. So I thought I’d list the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree donated by the people of Oslo.
Common name: Norway Spruce
Scientific name: Picea abies
Symbolism: Greek mythology devoted to Artemis, goddess of the hunt and the Moon
Common title: The Queen of the Forest
Height: 70ft
Age: 70 years
Sourced location: Nordmarka, a heavily forested area north of Oslo
Felled: Mid-November
How long we’ve received the tree: 76 years
Lights: 500 halogen bulbs
Lighting ceremony: Thursday 7th December
Number of branches: Well over 100, just guessing!
Needles: Pointy evergreen glossy dark green, less than 2 inches long
After Twelfth Night: The tree is taken down, and turned into mulch, which is then used in gardens around London
The story behind the tree: The tradition of cutting down a tree and putting it up in Oslo’s Universitetsplassen is a long-held tradition. So sacred is it, that even when Norway was occupied by the Nazis during the Second World War, members of the Royal Norwegian Navy snuck back into their own country to cut down a tree each year, bringing it back to London for King Haakon in exile there. (now THAT is a Christmas film waiting to happen). Today, the tree symbolises not just what Britain did in the war, but also a respect for democracy, human rights, peace — and solidarity between the two countries and cities.