The legend of Santa Claus appeared in Scandinavia thousands of years ago. In Norse mythology, Odin, the god of wisdom, art, poetry and war, rode on his eight-legged horse to ride around the ends of the earth in winter, punishing evil and promoting good, and distributing gifts.
At the same time, his son, Thor, dressed in red, used lightning as a weapon to fight the gods of ice and snow in the dark and finally defeated the cold. According to pagan legend, Santa Claus is a descendant of Odin. There are also legends that Santa Claus came from St.Nicholas, so Santa Claus is also called St. Nicholas. Because most of these stories promote the Christian spirit, their origins and story plots are mostly forgotten, but Santa Claus lives in people's spiritual world forever. Every Christmas day, Santa Claus rides on the constellation Aries, and the holy boy comes to the world with a Christmas tree. With the change of the world, writers and artists begin to describe Santa Claus as the image we are familiar with today, dressed in red and with a white beard. At the same time, different countries and cultures have different interpretations of Santa Claus.
In Germany, it is said that he dressed as a holy boy and put nuts and apples in children's shoes. He travels around in a two-wheeled carriage and observes people's behavior, especially children. If he behaves well, he will get many prizes such as apples, nuts and sugar. Bad boys get a whip. Parents have a brainwave to use this legend to encourage their children to obey. It has greatly surpassed the New Year and become a national holiday. Santa Claus has become the most popular symbol and tradition of Christmas. The image of a happy old elf who drives reindeer and pulls a sleigh full of toys and gifts from house to house to give gifts to every child has been deeply left in people's memory.
1 1 At the end of the century, religious soldiers from Italy brought back the relics of Saint Nicholas to Italy and built a church in the port city of Bari to commemorate him. Soon Christians from all over the world flocked to make a pilgrimage to the saint. These pilgrims brought the story of Saint Nicholas back to their native land, so the legend about Santa Claus has its own characteristics in various countries.
/kloc-In the 20th century, Saint Nicholas' Day appeared in Europe, which mainly focused on exchanging gifts and charitable activities. Germany, France and the Netherlands regard1February 6th as a religious memorial day to give gifts to children and the poor.
When the Dutch colonists came to America, they took their Bishop Sintirklass with them. Sintirklass was dressed in a red cassock and rode a white horse. The American image of Sintirklass gradually evolved into a happy old elf. At first, American writer Washington Irving described him as a round and fat Dutch old man in his comedy The History of new york. 1823, the poet ClementMoore continued to dramatize the image of Sintirklass/SaintNicholas in his poem Impression of St.Nicholas. This is the Santa Claus you saw at the beginning of this article.
1ThomasNash, a cartoonist in the 1960s, drew a fat and kind Santa Claus as an illustration of Harper's Week. The image of Santa Claus began to take root in the minds of the American people. With the passage of time, the image of Santa Claus has spread back to Europe, South America and all over the world.
Many countries have preserved their own customs and legends about Santa Claus. According to Dutch legend, Santa Claus Sintirklass also took an assistant named BlackPeter and arrived in a boat on1February 6th. He took a big book with him, which described the performance of all Dutch children in the past year. Good children give them gifts, and bad children are taken away by his assistant.
Santa Claus in Germany also carries an assistant named KnechtRuprecht, Krampus or Pelzebock, with a big bag of gifts on his shoulder and a stick in his hand. A good boy can receive his gift, but a naughty boy will teach him a few sticks.
Santa Claus in Italy is called LaBefana；; French Santa Claus is called FatherChristmas or PereNoel；; Santa Claus in Switzerland is called Christkindl or ChristChild；; Santa Claus in Scandinavia is called julenisse or juletomte；; Santa Claus in Britain, like France, is also called FatherChristmas. His image is more solemn and thinner than other Santas. Santa Claus in North America takes a sleigh pulled by reindeer to give presents to children.
There is a story about Santa Claus.
On the night of Jesus' birth, a shepherd who was guarding his sheep in the wilderness suddenly heard a voice coming from the sky to tell them the good news of Jesus' birth. According to the Bible, Jesus came to be the king of the world, so angels spread the news to more people through these shepherds.
Later, people followed the example of angels and spread the news of Jesus' birth everywhere on Christmas Eve. Until today, the good news has become an indispensable program for Christmas. Usually, the good news team consists of about twenty young people, plus a little girl dressed as an angel and a Santa Claus. On Christmas Eve, after about nine o'clock, one family began to give good news.
The origin of Santa Claus story
1. Does Santa Claus really exist
There is no Santa Claus in the world. Santa Claus is a mysterious person who drives a sleigh to give gifts to children on Christmas Eve in western legends. This does not exist, but there are also a group of "Santa Claus" who have undergone strict examination and training and hold licenses in the world.
The legend of Santa Claus originated from European history. In 1882, a poet described him as "with rosy cheeks, cherry nose, always smiling happily, and white beard on both cheeks". The old man would fly around in a sleigh on Christmas Eve to give gifts to children. Later, the legend of Santa Claus was handed down in the expectation of generations of children, and its image was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Legend has it that Finland was the first country to welcome Santa Claus to settle down, so it is the hometown of Santa Claus. Finland also has a special Santa Claus village. Santa Claus Village is located in the Arctic Circle. Malcus, the king of children's stories and legends in Finland, will tell his own children's stories and legends on the radio, saying that Santa Claus lives in Ear Mountain in the Arctic Circle, because Santa Claus can know the wishes of all the children in the world, so that he can give everyone a satisfactory Christmas present. This story and legend are recognized by everyone, and Ear Mountain has become the residence of Santa Claus.
Finland's Santa Claus Village has been recognized by the world. There are more than 50 "Santas" who have been strictly examined and licensed. During the Christmas period every year, major businesses around the world will pay high prices to invite these Santas to appear in their own commercial publicity activities.
Second, the origin of Santa Claus stories and legends
There are two theories about the origin of Santa Claus stories and legends. One is the folklore that originated in Europe; The second is the love from a father.
The first argument is that Santa Claus originated from European folklore. It is said that every night on February 24th/Kloc-0, a mysterious man will fly in the sky in a sleigh pulled by nine reindeer, and enter the house from door to door through the chimney, and then give the prepared gifts to the children, who put them in their socks. When the children pick up their socks and wear them the next day, they will see presents, which is very surprising. It is said that this Santa Claus is making gifts all year round, supervising the children's behavior, and giving more gifts to those who behave well.
But this is just a myth and legend. This story and legend evolved from the deeds of Nicholas, a kind-hearted founder who lived in Asia Minor in the 4th century. It is said that he does good deeds every year and secretly helps the poor without leaving his name, so someone has followed his example and often does good deeds without leaving his name. For now, parents often secretly buy some gifts for their children in order to make them happy, and say that this is from Santa Claus, so that he can behave well and not be naughty.
There is also a saying that it comes from a father's love. It is said that once upon a time there was a kind-hearted nobleman whose wife died of illness, leaving behind three daughters, and his life was fairly rich. However, because this nobleman likes inventing very much, he almost lost all the property in his family. When his daughters got married, there was nothing and there was no way to marry them.
One day, after Santa Claus learned the news, he filled the socks of his three daughters with gold bars at night. When they woke up the next day, they found that there was still so much money in their home, so they took the money to the buyer's dowry and the three daughters got married happily.
Later, children all over the world inherited the tradition of hanging Christmas socks. Every time on the eve of Christmas Eve, they would hang some colorful socks by the fireplace and then wait for it to receive gifts from Santa Claus.
Who is Santa Claus?
Santa Claus is a mysterious man who gives gifts to children at Christmas in western legends. It is generally believed that he is a derivative image of Saint Nicholas.
Santa Claus is a saint. He has eight reindeer with different names. Every Christmas Eve, he drives a sleigh pulled by deer to deliver gifts to all the children. Now the familiar image of Santa Claus is a kind old man with a red coat and a white beard and a round figure. His sleigh is full of toys, sweets and snacks. He will climb into the family's house from the chimney of every household, put down his gifts and then climb out. People can put some gingerbread cookies on the table near the fireplace, which is said to be eaten by the rushing Santa Claus.
It is said that Santa Claus is the incarnation of Saint Nicholas, a bishop who is charitable, kind and kind, especially fond of children. After his death, he was regarded as the god of children. Nowadays, the image of Santa Claus is popular all over the world. His naive and amiable appearance is well known by every child. Foreign children also believe that there will be a legend that Santa Claus will give gifts to themselves at Christmas, and they have followed the example of hanging Christmas socks at the bedside. It can be said that Santa Claus is synonymous with innocence.
Does Santa Claus really exist?