This is how most of us the UK think of Santa Claus; a rotund old man with a white beard and rosy cheeks wearing the classic red and white suit. The modern toy-bringer is as much a corporate salesman as he is a symbol of hope. The annual Coca Cola advert on TV seems to signify the start of the festive season both commercially and domestically.
But Santa wasn't always like this. A much earlier incarnation of Father Christmas shows him as a holly-crowned man in green, much more reminiscent of the green man cult of medieval England. This more sinister man of the forest is centuries old and recalls the darker pagan roots of an ancient winter festival. Dickens's Christmas Carol from the last century contains this illustration:
Which Father Christmas character have you got in your neck of the woods readers? What's his name and what's he or indeed she look like?
over here it's the jolly, rotund guy of the Coke ads.
ReplyDeleteBear but a touch of my garment and you shall be upheld in more than thus. Mines the green guy from Scrooge!
ReplyDeleteI'll be talking about this in my Christmas Day show which is on Air at Midnight on the 25th. There is an old custom here called the Mari Lwyd (or Grey Mare) which is unique to Wales.
ReplyDeleteIts a midwinter tradition, which takes place over a period stretching from Christmas to late January. It is a form of visiting wassail, or a luck-bringing ritual in which the participants accompany a person disguised as a horse from house to house (including pubs) challenging the residents at each door to a singing contest in Welsh in the hope of gaining admittance and being rewarded with food and drink.
In some areas they actually use the skull of a real horse! So you can see we're all a bit balmy here...
In Finland, his name is Joulupukki and he looks like this (3rd pic, scroll down):
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Merry Christmas!
My impression of Santa was largely created by the ones in Department stores at Christmas- they used to have great (cheap) Hong-Kong produced "presents".
ReplyDeletearto - thats left me scarred!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to catching up on your Xmas Day show when I get back from Europe Bill. I love old Christmas customs. And Arto, that's a sinister take on Father Christmas for sure, a mythological being trapped in the ice. I may just have to watch that film!
ReplyDeleteArto, he looks like a Krampus in training :-) (Krampus: talk about one freaky Christmas tradition - don't wanna meet up with him in a dark alley!)
ReplyDeleteWho the hell is Krampus Ed?
ReplyDeleteHe is a half demon-half goat horrible looking creature who, believe it or not, accompanies Santa Claus on 6 Dec/St. Nicholas Day and gives the bad kiddies coal while St. Nick gives the good kiddies candy/presents. Krampus is a Christmas tradition in Southern Germany, Austria, and in the northern Tyrol and there's several variations on the theme. He's cool - look him up :-)
ReplyDeleteThat's our guy Ed, ten points! Must add that in the film in question, there's even more Santa to come. Not for the faintly-hearted!
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