Carol of the Bells, the Christmas classic heard everywhere from social media clips to shopping malls, began life as Shchedryk, a Ukrainian folk carol composed more than a century ago by Mykola Leontovych. | Reuters

🎄 Merry Christmas, Carol of the Bells (Shchedryk) performed by a Swedish choir — entirely in Ukrainian! The choir is conducted by a Ukrainian director, with the pianist and several young participants also from Ukraine. The rest of the choir learned Shchedryk in Ukrainian. Beautiful! The History Behind the Song: Shchedryk is a traditional Ukrainian folk song, originally sung as a “shchedrivka” to celebrate the New Year and bring wishes of prosperity to households. The song tells of a swallow fly