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- This article is about Santa Claus all around the world. For Santa Claus in the United States and Canada, see Santa Claus in Northern American culture. For the astronomical Kuiper belt object see (136108) 2003 EL61.
Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, or simply "Santa" is a fictional holiday character. The popular American form Santa Claus originated as a mispronunciation of Dutch Sinterklaas, which in turn is a contracted form of Sint Nicolaas (Saint Nicholas). Santa Claus has a suit that comes in many colors depending on the country. The most common depiction (red with white sleeves, collar, and belt) originated in Finland.
Overview
Santa Claus is a variation of a Dutch folk tale based on the historical figure Saint Nicholas, a bishop from Myra (modern day Demre) in Asia Minor (the greater part of modern-day Turkey), who used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. His charity became legend when a man lost his fortune and found himself incapable of supporting his three daughters, who would not be able to find husbands as they lacked dowries. This man was going to give them over to a life of prostitution; however, St Nicholas provided them with gold, enabling them to retain their virginal virtues and marry.
This inspired figure of Sinterklaas, the subject of a major celebration in the Netherlands and Belgium, Germany (where his believed date of death, December 6, is celebrated the evening before on December 5), which in turn inspired both the myth and the name of Santa Claus. "Santa Claus" is actually a mispronunciation of the Dutch word "Sinterklaas" by the English settlers of New Amsterdam (later renamed New York).
Despite his origin in the Orthodox East, in Greece Saint Nicholas is celebrated as a distinct character with no affiliation to Christmas; nevertheless, a Santa Claus character is still present. He is identified with Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, Asia Minor (contemporary Turkey), whose feast is celebrated on January 1. According to the Greek tradition, he is supposed to visit children and give presents on New Year's Day. This festival is also marked by the baking of Saint Basil's bread (Gr. Βασιλόπιτα - Vasilópita), a sweetbread with a coin hidden inside.
Depictions of Santa Claus also have a close relationship with the Russian character of Ded Moroz ("Grandfather Frost"). He delivers presents to children and has a red coat, fur boots and long white beard. Much of the iconography of Santa Claus could be seen to derive from Russian traditions of Ded Moroz, particularly transmitted into western European culture through his German folklore equivalent, Väterchen Frost.
Conventionally, Santa Claus is portrayed as a kindly, round-bellied, merry, bespectacled white man in a red coat trimmed with white fur (perhaps remotely derived from the episcopal vestments of the original Bishop Nicholas), with a long white beard and green or white gloves. On Christmas Eve, he rides in his sleigh pulled by reindeer from house to house to give presents to children. During the rest of the year he lives together with his wife Mrs. Claus and his elves manufacturing toys. Some modern depictions of Santa (often in advertising and popular entertainment) show the elves and Santa's workshop as more of a processing and distribution facility, ordering and receiving the toys from various toy manufacturers from across the world. His home is usually given as either the North Pole, in northern Canada, Korvatunturi in Finnish Lapland, Drøbak in Norway, Dalecarlia in Sweden, or Greenland, depending on the tradition and country. L. Frank Baum placed his home in The Laughing Valley of Hohaho. In the original Dutch tradition, Sinterklaas lives in Spain and is accompanied by a great number of black servants, called 'Zwarte Pieten', which means Black Petes.
Historical origins
Main article: Origins of Santa ClausThe figure of Santa Claus has his roots in various cultures, produced by a blend of Christian imagery and Germanic folklore.
See also: Christmas gift-bringers around the world and Christmas worldwide
Santa Claus in popular culture
Santa Claus rituals
Main article: Santa Claus ritualsSeveral rituals have developed around the Santa Claus figure that are normally performed by children hoping to receive gifts from him. Children in America generally leave out cookies and milk for Santa, and carrots for his reindeer. In Britain it is customary to leave out whisky for Santa and a carrot for his reindeer.
Little Jesus
In Poland, Santa Claus gives gifts on the 6th of December. On the Christmas Eve it is the Angel that brings presents, though. In Hungary, Santa Claus (Télapó or Mikulás) brings small gifts (usually candy and chocolate) during the night of the 6th of December and Little Jesus (Jézuska) brings the tree as well as the presents on Christmas Eve.
Christian opposition to Santa Claus
Main article: Christmas controversies
Though Santa Claus has Christian origins, he has become a secular representation of Christmas. As such, a number of Christian churches dislike the secular focus on Santa Claus and the materialist focus that present-receiving gives to the holiday.
Such a condemnation of Santa Claus is not a 20th-century phenomenon, but originated among some Protestant groups of the 16th century and was prevalent among the Puritans of 17th-century England and America who banned the holiday as either pagan or Roman Catholic. Following the English Civil War, under Oliver Cromwell's government Christmas was banned. Following the Restoration of the monarchy and with Puritans out of power in England, the ban on Christmas was satirized in works such as Josiah King's The Examination and Tryal of Old Father Christmas; Together with his Clearing by the Jury (1686) .
Rev. Paul Nedergaard, a clergyman in Copenhagen, Denmark attracted controversy in 1958 when he declared Santa to be a "pagan goblin" after Santa's image was used on fundraising materials for a Danish welfare organization Clar, 337. One prominent religious group that refuses to celebrate Santa Claus, or Christmas itself, for similar reasons is the Jehovah's Witnesses. A number of denominations of Christians have varying concerns about Santa Claus. Some Christians even claim that Santa is a hidden representation of Satan. They note that the name Santa Claus sounds a bit like the term "Satan's claws".
Most Christians believe that their own focus in the Christmas season should be placed on the birth of Jesus and many would prefer this to be the focus of the festival in general , though attitudes to this vary according to country. In addition, some parents are uncomfortable about lying to their children about the existence of Santa. This is a concern which both Christians and non-Christians may have on the general basis that it is wrong to systematically lie to one's children. Christians are also often concerned that the lie suggests, when it is revealed, that Christianity is also a childish belief which one grows out of, thus providing a model for the critics of religion. Those with such concerns may tell their children that Santa Claus is just a sort of game, a "pretend" activity. Those whose objections are more to the materialist nature of the modern festival but still wish to participate in the festive gift-giving atmosphere of "Santa season" will shop for toys to donate to poor children on St. Nicholas's feast day, December 6. This is an opportunity to instill the Christian value of secret charity, which Nicholas was known for. Although feast days are usually not acknowledged in Protestant denominations, this tradition has found acceptance there as well.
The fictional Landover Baptist Church's website satirizes and parodies this viewpoint. The website specifies that Satan is disguising himself as Santa (the same letters used in an anagram) to deceive people into a materialistic celebration.
See also
Related Topics
- Christmas
- Christmas Eve
- Santa Claus parade
- Secularization of Christmas
- Origins of Santa Claus
- Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus
- Secret Santa - a form of gift giving
- SantaCon - mass gatherings of people dressed in cheap Santa suits
- Flying Santa - a northeastern US tradition of pilots delivering presents to families in remote lighthouses
Variations of Christmas around the world
Related figures
- Companions of Saint Nicholas
- Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet - Dutch characters used for celebrations of Saint Nicholas on 5 and 6 December.
- Easter bunny - Character created for the Easter holiday.
- Hanukkah Harry
- Hogfather
- Jólasveinar
- Saint Nicholas of Myra and Saint Basil
- Jack Frost and Old Man Winter - Mythical characters.
- Zanta - a Canadian street performer
- Tomte - Scandinavian mythical character
- Yule Goat - Scandinavian Christmas symbol
- святий клаус or Saint Claus - Ukrainian folk tale equivalent to Santa Claus (Pronounced Svyatiy Klaoos)
- Ded Moroz (Russian: Дед Мороз) plays a role similar to Santa Claus
External links
- St. Nicholas Center Discovering the truth about Santa Claus
- The Original 1860s Thomas Nast Santa Claus Illustrations
- Jenny Nyström, the artist whose Christmas cards inspired Haddon Sundblom when he designed Coca-Cola's Santa.
- Norman Rockwell's Santa and Expense Book
- SantaLand.com, one of the Internet's oldest Santa-related website, founded in 1991 by former Library of Congress archivist Jeff Guide
- Fortean Times magazine pieces together the Santa myth in Lappland
- NORAD Tracks Santa
- North Pole Flooded With Letters - MSNBC
References
- "Bad Disney". Washington Times. November 21, 2003.
- "Santa's Elves in Alaskan Town Reply to Letters". AOL News. Dec. 9, 2006.
- Barnard, Eunice Fuller. "Santa Claus Claimed as a Real New Yorker." New York Times. December, 19, 1926.
- Baum, L. Frank. The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. 1902; reprint, New York: Penguin, 1986. ISBN 0-451-52064-5
- Belk, Russel W. "A Child's Christmas in America: Santa Claus as Deity, Consumption as Religion." Journal of American Culture, 10, no. 1 (Spring 1987), pp. 87-100.
- "Christmas Customs; Are They Christian?". The Watchtower (New York). December 15, 2000.
- Clar, Mimi. "Attack on Santa Claus." Western Folklore, 18, no. 4 (October 1959), p. 337.
- Clark, Cindy Dell. Flights of Fancy, Leaps of Faith: Children's Myths in Contemporary America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995. ISBN 0-226-10778-7
- "The Claus That Refreshes" at Snopes.com.
- "Letter from Santa Clause" at .
- "The Devil Is In Your Chimney!" at Landoverbaptist.org.
- Dini, Paul. Jingle Belle various issues
- Flynn, Tom. The Trouble with Christmas. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1993. ISBN 0-87975-848-1
- Horowitz, Joseph. Classical Music in America: A History of Its Rise and Fall. New York: W. W. Norton, 2005. ISBN 0-393-05717-8
- "Is There a Santa Claus?" New York Sun. September 21, 1897.
- King, Josiah. The Examination and Tryal of Old Father Christmas; Together with his Clearing by the Jury . . . London: Charles Brome, 1686. Full text available here
- Lalumia, Christine. "The restrained restoration of Christmas". In the Ten Ages of Christmas from the BBC website.
- Moore, Clement Clarke. "A Visit from St. Nicholas." Troy (N.Y.) Sentinel. December 23, 1823.
- Nissenbaum, Stephen. The Battle for Christmas. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996. ISBN 0-679-74038-4
- Otnes, Cele, Kyungseung Kim, and Young Chan Kim. "Yes, Virginia, There is a Gender Difference: Analyzing Children's Requests to Santa Claus." Journal of Popular Culture, 28, no. 1 (Summer 1994), pp. 17-29.
- Ott, Jonathan. Pharmacotheon: Entheogenic Drugs, Their Plant Sources and History. Kennewick, Wash.: Natural Products Company, 1993. ISBN 0-9614234-9-8
- Plath, David W. "The Japanese Popular Christmas: Coping with Modernity." American Journal of Folklore, 76, no. 302 (October-December 1963), pp. 309-317.
- Potter, Alicia. "Celluloid Santas" at Factmonster.com.
- Quinn, Seabury. Roads. 1948; facsimile reprint, Mohegan Lake, N.Y.: Red Jacket Press, 2005. ISBN 0-9748895-8-X
- "St. Nicholas of Myra" in the Catholic Encyclopedia at NewAdvent.org.
- Sedaris, David. The Santaland Diaries and Seasons Greetings: Two Plays. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1998. ISBN 0-8222-1631-0
- Shenkman, Richard. Legends, Lies, and Cherished Myths of American History. New York: HarperCollins, 1988. ISBN 0-06-097261-0
- Siefker, Phyllis. Santa Claus, Last of the Wild Men: The Origins and Evolution of Saint Nicholas, Spanning 50,000 Years. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1996. ISBN 0-7864-0246-6
- Twitchell, James B. Twenty Ads that Shook the World. New York: Crown Publishers, 2000. ISBN 0-609-60563-1
- "Why Track Him?" at NORADsanta.org.
