My ancestors fearing that the sun would go away forever

Every December I think about my ancestors in what is now called northern Europe, and England. And as the sun sank lower and lower in the southern sky every day, and the days got shorter and colder, I imagine that they were frightened that the sun would just keep getting lower and lower and never return. The days were cold and short and mostly dark.

Of course nowadays, even people who reject science, believe in a flat earth, consider history to be "bunk", etc., aren't really worried. They know that the sun will return. We have recorded history (which my ancestors didn't have) and we also have elders who remember prior years.

But just a grey beard isn't enough to make young people believe you. But they had a trick, and it's something that most people never even think about - they looked at shadows, and measured them.

We can just Google "Winter Solstice" and know that after that day sun begins to return, describing a higher arc every day. But if you were just standing there looking at it, you wouldn't see much difference in a day or two, or even three. You could put a stick on the ground and measure the shadow coming from the south, and make marks in the snow, and they would seem just as long day after day. But after about four days it's convincing, and you can see the marks that you've made in the snow that the shadows are definitely getting shorter, and the sun is returning.

This day, which fell about four days after the winter solstice, was the biggest celebration my ancestors had. The sun will return for another year!