What did you do for Christmas?
Perhaps you got a few gifts or maybe some coal?
Who did you get it from?
We celebrate Christmas differently all over the world so join us as we count 10 of the
craziest Christmas Legends.
The Ogress Forget Santa Claus and Father Christmas, in
Iceland there’s an ogress, 13 trolls and a vicious cat that has the hold on Christmas.
Grýla is an ogress living in the Icelandic mountains.
She is a dreadful character, described as part troll and part animal and the mother
of 13 boys called The Yule Lads.
Every Christmas, Grýla and her sons come down from the mountains, Grýla is looking
for naughty children to boil in her cauldron and her boys go around towns in search of
mischief.
Every evening, for 13 days before Christmas you should leave a shoe in your window and
you will receive a gift or a rotten potato from each of the 13 Yule Lads and that’s
how you know if you have been naughty or nice.
Now what about that vicious cat?
The Yule Cat or Christmas Cat is an enormous black cat that prowls Iceland on Christmas
Eve.
Old Icelandic folklore states that every Icelander must receive a new piece of clothing for Christmas
and if they don’t, the Cat will eat anyone who doesn’t follow this simple rule.
I hope I get new socks this year too
Ded Moroz and the Snow Maiden.
In the slavic countries of Eastern Europe they have Ded Moroz or Grandfather Frost as
he’s also called and the Snow Maiden.
Like the commonly known Santa Claus he wears red but instead of reindeers and a sled he
drives a troika, a traditional horse drawn sled.
As legend goes, Ded Moroz used to be an evil sorcerer, kidnapping children and demanding
presents as ransom.
However, over the years he’s become nicer and is now said to give children gifts in
order to atone for his previous wickedness.
His granddaughter, the Snow Maiden also accompanies him on all his trips, helping him to give
out presents.
Farmhand Rupert.
Have you been good?
Have you been bad?
Maybe you landed somewhere in between?
No worries, Knecht Ruprecht is here to save the day!
Knecht Ruprecht or Farmhand Rupert as he’s also known originates from Germany and is
one of St. Nicholas companions in the folklore.
His job is to keep track of those that land in the middle of the good-naughty list.
He goes around asking kids if they can pray, if they can he gives them a treat, if they
can’t he just gives them some random junk BUT, if they refuse, he beats them with a
bag of coal!
So, you better be naughty or nice because being in between is not the best option here!
Tomtenisse In Scandinavia the legend speaks about the
Tomte (Swedish) or the Nisse (Norwegian), sometimes combined into Tomtenisse and is
described as a mischievous gnome or sprite.
He’s said to have a white beard, often with a blue or grey coat and is accompanied by
a Julbock (Christmas Goat).
He watches over farms and houses, keeping the people safe and in return the families
give him porridge and butter.
Should you however fail to provide him with these two things or if you don’t treat him
right, he will retaliate.
One story says the a farmgirl once played a prank on a Tomtenisse, hiding the butter
at the bottom of the bowl of porridge.
The Tomtenisse thought that there were no butter at all and went and killed the family’s
best cow.
He then ate the porridge and found the butter at the bottom of the bowl.
He felt so guilty that he went over to the neighbouring farm, stole their best cow to
make up for his mistake.
All's well that ends well right?
Since then the Tomte and the Nisse have become more and more like the American version of
Santa Claus although they are still different in some aspects, for example, he doesn’t
sneak into the chimney, he bangs on the door and gives out a few of the gifts himself and
although he might drive a sled, it does not fly.
It is still tradition to set out porridge and butter though … I guess you can never
be too safe!
Belsnickel.
Belsnickel is a legendary figure who is a companion to St. Nicholas in certain regions
of Europe as well as some small Dutch communities in Pennsylvania, USA.
He visits children one to two weeks before Christmas and he also creates fear amongst
the children because he knows exactly who has misbehaved.
He would also knock on the door or on a window with his wooden stick and have the children
answer some questions or sing him a song.
In exchange he would toss candy on the floor but if the children would go too quickly for
the treats, he’d beat them with his stick.
Nowadays it’s more common that he gives gifts and candy to nice kids and coal to naughty
kids … however … if you are really bad, he might show up himself and tell you off.
Better to stay nice I think!
Sinterklaas and Black Pete.
Sinterklaas is the Dutch version of Santa Claus.
He has red clothes, a flowy white beard and a jolly demeanor, he resembles the more famous
North American Santa.
According to legend he arrives on a steamboat from Spain to hand out gifts and oranges together
with his companion Black Pete.
There are many stories about Black Pete, some say he was an evil demon while some say he
was a black servant boy or even a slave.
His job is to amuse the children and hand out gifts.
According to the stories both Sinterklaas and Black Pete could be quite mean to children
who had been naughty, carrying them out in their burlap sack and taking them to back
to Spain.
Because of the racist overtones of the old Black Peter stories, in recent years schools
and businesses across the Netherlands have begun changing Zwarte Piet's clothing and
makeup or phasing the character out entirely.
Guess Sinterklaas is on his own from now on.
Krampus.
Krampus is one of Santa’s companions in some of the Alpine regions of Europe.
His name derives from the German word for “Claw” and he’s said to have horns and
a long tongue that stretches out of his mouth.
The legend says that St. Nicholas gives gifts to the nice children and Krampus takes care
of the naughty ones.He’s described as a bloodthirsty monster who kidnaps the naughtiest
children, throws them in a burlap sack and throws them into the river.
Although he’s quite popular now and even celebrated, In the 1950s, the government distributed
pamphlets titled "Krampus Is an Evil Man".
Nowadays Krampus is portrayed a bit nicer, not looking so pure out evil but there are
still regions where the old Krampus lives on so beware!
La Befana.
Similar to Santa Claus but very different in style, La Befana is a witch-like character
who plays a big part in Italian traditions.
Like Santa Claus she’s believed to climb down the chimney and leave presents for the
nice and ash or coal for the naughty.
Legend says that she’s a kind woman who once gave shelter to the Three Wise Men when
they were on route to visit baby Jesus.
They asked her if she wanted to come along but she declined as she had too much housework
to do.
She later changed her mind and tried to find the Wise Men and the baby Jesus but had no
such luck.
After this she started to give out gifts to nice children and ash and coal to bad children
as she was searching for baby Jesus.
She’s portrayed as an old hag on a broomstick and apparently does not like to be seen.
If you try to spy on her when she comes through the chimney, she might whack you with her
broomstick so you better stay in bed!
Father Christmas.
Father Christmas is the English version of Santa Claus dating back to the 17th Century.
He, much like Santa Claus are based on the kind bishop St.Nicholas who lived and worked
in what is now Turkey, giving out presents to children.
Father Christmas is said to wear a green long robe with undersleeves and a white beard.
He hasn’t always given out gifts though, in the beginning he was seen as a spirit of
good tidings and the joy of Christmas season.
With time, though, Father Christmas merged with Santa Claus and Sinterklaas into his
more modern role as a bringer of gifts to children.
He rides a sleigh with reindeers, in some countries people leave out snacks for the
reindeers as well.
In some regions he still wears his green robe but the red one is a more common sight nowadays.
Father Christmas is believed to live on the North Pole, on Greenland or in the northern
parts of Sweden or Finland, this varies a bit depending on which country you visit.
Santa Claus.
The most iconic version of a gift giving, jolly man in modern time.
The modern day Santa Claus, sometimes referred to as the North American Santa Claus or simply
just Santa originates from St.Nicholas, Father Christmas and Sinterklaas.
He wears red clothes, has a white beard, gives gifts to children and is just a merry old
guy.
Some people believe that it was Coca-Cola that put Santa Claus in a red suit but it
was actually not.
St. Nicholas was often wearing a red robe and in the poem “Night before Christmas”,
he was described as a warm, friendly and jolly man.
From this poem, Coca-Cola found their inspiration for their version of the modern day Santa
Claus so, you can say that Coca-Cola helped shape the image of Santa Claus but they really
had nothing to do with the color of Santa’s suit.
Santa Claus is said to live at the North Pole together with his elves, his wife and his
reindeers.
Tradition states that he gives gifts to the nice children and coal to the bad.
As this is my last video for 2016 I’d like to thank each and every one of you that has
stuck around to watch my crazy videos.
Be assured that 2017 will see even more content coming out and hopefully you guys will stick
around for that too.
Until then, have a Happy New Year.