A jolly man in a red and white suit might magically travel through chimneys to place presents under decorated trees on Christmas Eve, but those evergreen trees didn't just magically appear in the lore and traditions of Christmas.

Noble, grand, Douglas and white firs, blue and Norway spruces, Scotch pines and Leyland cypresses are among the arbor friends annually brought into the home and festooned with lights, garlands and ornaments and topped with angels and stars. Just the smell of a fresh-cut pine or spruce often brings holiday memories to the mental surface (thank you, hippocampus and olfactory system!).

Evergreen trees have been a key part of winter festivals, pagan and Christian, for thousands of years. Predating Christianity, pagans used branches to decorate their homes during celebrations on the winter solstice. Fresh green boughs in the home brought to mind the eventual arrival of spring, which offered warming thoughts in the darkness and cold of winter, according to a Michigan State University article, "How did evergreen trees become a symbol for Christmas?"

Romans decorated their homes with fir trees to ring in the new year while Christians considered evergreens a sign of everlasting life with God.

"Fir trees were first used as Christmas trees," the article states. "It probably began about 1,000 years ago in Northern Europe. People in Northern Europe also planted evergreens in boxes inside their houses in wintertime."

A few more facts shared in the article:

• Many early Christmas trees seem to have been hung upside down from the ceiling using chains that were hung from chandeliers/lighting hooks.

• Other early Christmas trees, in many parts of Northern Europe, were cherry or hawthorn plants, or a branch of the plant, that were put into pots and brought inside so they would flower at Christmas time.

• Some people made pyramids of wood and decorated them to look like a tree with paper, apples and candles.

• Two cities argue about the first documented use of a tree at Christmas and New Year celebrations, Tallinn in Estonia and Riga in Latvia. Both claim they had the first trees; Tallinn in 1441 and Riga in 1510. In the town square of Riga, the capital of Latvia, there is a plaque that is engraved with "The First New Year's Tree in Riga in 1510” in eight languages.

• The first person to bring a Christmas tree into a house may have been the 16th century German preacher Martin Luther.

While on the subject of trees, what exactly is a Yule log?

"'Yule' comes from Old English geol, which shares a history with the equivalent word from Old Norse jól," according to an article on almanac.com. "Both these words referred to a midwinter festival centered around the winter solstice, which traditionally marked the halfway point of the winter season. After the solstice — the shortest day of the year — the days again begin to grow longer, so it’s thought that Yule was a celebration of the reappearance of the sun and the fertile land’s rebirth."

Burning a Yule log has been a part of winter solstice traditions since before Medieval times.

"The candles and lights associated with Christmas, meant to symbolize guiding beacons for the Christ child, may have evolved from the Yule log, which was lit to entice the sun to return as part of the jól (Yule) festival in Scandinavia," the article states. "Interestingly, the Yule log was originally an entire tree! Families would bring the trunk of the Yule tree inside and stick the big end of it into the fireplace. The log would feed the fire through the 12 Days of Christmas (from Christmas Day through the evening of the 5th of January — known as Twelfth Night)."

The Yule log has traveled through time to modern day, where it is still traditionally burned in the fireplace in some cultures, or culinarily celebrated as a log-shaped Christmas cake.

Bonus fact: According to a 2011 Coeur d'Alene Press article, The Coeur d'Alene Resort was known for having the tallest living Christmas tree at 162 feet tall for five years. It was celebrated in magazines and media promotions and featured on "Good Morning America."