The concept of Santa Claus as a mysterious figure who brings gifts to children is derived from Saint Nicholas. Nicholas was a kindly bishop who lived in Asia Minor in the 4th century and was imitated by the Dutch on St. Nicholas' Day (Dec. 6) to bring gifts.
In North America, Dutch and English colonists incorporated this tradition into the celebration of Christmas Day, and the Dutch word for St. Nicholas (Sinterklaas) came into the English language as Santa Claus and accordingly became the figure of Santa Claus. In Anglo-American tradition, Santa Claus always arrives cheerfully on Christmas Eve in a reindeer-drawn sleigh, where he climbs down the chimney into the house, leaves presents for the children, and eats the food the children leave for him. He spends the rest of the year busy making gifts and supervising the children's behavior.
A similar figure to Santa Claus in St. Nicholas France is Père Noel, who is almost identical to Santa Claus and whose red-and-white suit once inspired the Coca-Cola Company to paint the image of Santa Claus that spread around the world in the 1930s. In some cultures, Santa is accompanied by Knecht Ruprecht, or "Black Peter" (Dutch: Zwarte Piet). In some versions, gnomes in toy workshops make the holiday gifts, and sometimes Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus are husband and wife. During the Christmas season, Santa Claus, from whom children can ask for gifts, is present in many supermarkets in North America and the United Kingdom.
In Icelandic lore, there is not just one Santa Claus, but ****nine Santas, each with a different personality, some picky and lively, others kind and gentle.
Thomas Nast wrote Santa Claus January 3, 1863, published by Harper's Weekly. In many countries, on Christmas Eve, children prepare empty containers so that Santa Claus can fill them with small gifts, such as toys, candy, or fruit. In the United States, children hang Christmas stockings over the fireplace on Christmas Eve because Santa Claus said he would come down the chimney on Christmas Eve to put presents in the stockings. In other countries, children put empty shoes outside so that Santa can deliver gifts on Christmas Eve (or December 5, St. Nicholas Eve).
The depiction of Santa Claus in the North Pole subtly reflects the image of industry. In the early twentieth century, Santa Claus was somewhat portrayed as making toys by hand himself, like an artisan in a small workshop. Later, the impression became that Santa had many elves making toys under him, but the toys were still handmade by individual elves in the traditional way. By the end of the twentieth century, the Western public had fully accepted the reality of mass machine production. Modern depictions of Santa's house reflect this: it is humorously described as a highly machined production facility, equipped with state-of-the-art manufacturing technology, and run by elves and a manager-like Granny Claus. There are plenty of TV commercials that run this scenario as a corporate comedy, depicting the elves as disgruntled employees, hilarious and poking fun at their bosses.
Hometown
Traditionally, the United States considers Santa Claus to be from the North Pole, however, the Nordic countries consider themselves to be Santa's homeland. At the 40th World Santa Claus Convention, Greenland, a Danish possession, was recognized as Santa's true home.
[edit]Legend
The legend of Santa Claus appeared thousands of years ago in Scandinavia. In Norse mythology, Odin, the god of wisdom, art, poetry and war, rode his eight-legged horse to the ends of the earth during the winter months, punishing evil and distributing gifts. Meanwhile, his son, Thor, dressed in red and armed with lightning, battles the gods of ice and snow in a dark battle to defeat the cold. According to pagan legend, Santa Claus is a descendant of the god Odin. There are also legends that Santa Claus came from St. Nicholas, so Santa Claus is also known as St. Nicholas. Because most of these stories promote the spirit of Christ, their origins and storylines have been largely forgotten, but Santa Claus is always in people's spiritual world.
Every year at Christmas (which is the day of the birth of Jesus, the God of Western Christianity, and is equivalent to the Chinese New Year), Santa Claus rides on a reindeer, and the Holy Child descends to earth with a Christmas tree in his hand, and as the world changes, writers and artists begin to depict Santa Claus in the red suit and white beard image that we are familiar with today. As the world changed, writers and artists began to depict Santa Claus in the red suit and white beard we are familiar with today. At the same time, different countries and cultures have different interpretations of Santa Claus. In Germany, legend has it that he dresses up as a holy child and puts nuts and apples in children's shoes. He roams around in a two-wheeled carriage, observing people's behavior, especially children, and if they behave well, they are rewarded with apples, nuts, candy and many other prizes. Bad kids got a whip. Parents were inspired to adopt this legend to encourage their children to behave. It has greatly surpassed New Year's Day as a national holiday. Santa Claus has become the most beloved symbol and tradition of Christmas. The image of the jolly old elf who drives his reindeer and pulls a sleigh full of toys and presents from door to door to deliver gifts to every child has remained deep in people's memories.
[edit]Santa Claus Nikolai
The first theory
Dressed in a thick red and white robe, Santa Claus, in fact, was not born in the freezing cold Arctic Circle, but rather the Mediterranean coast of the town of Denre, so if he appeared in this outfit in his old home, it must have been hot and straight to bear.
The Santa Claus story reportedly originated with the religious figure of St. Nicholas. He was the bishop of the sunny town of Denre, Turkey, in the fourth century A.D. He was so charitable that people added myths to his life story, which eventually evolved into the gift-bearing, smiling Santa Claus we all know today.
Legend has it that there was a poor family in town who could not afford to buy dowries for their three daughters, and St. Nicholas knew about it and threw a bag of gold through the window of the family's house one night, and then threw another bag the next day. But on the third day, the window was closed, and St. Nicholas had to climb up on the roof and drop the bag of gold down the chimney, which ended up landing right inside the girl's stocking that was drying in the fireplace, and eventually evolved into the tradition of hanging stockings on Christmas Eve and waiting for Santa Claus to deliver the gifts.
The second story
Santa Claus, whose original name was Nicholas, was born in the fourth century in the city of Bardala in Asia Minor, to a wealthy family of dedicated Catholic parents, who unfortunately died young. When Nicholas grew up, he gave all his rich possessions to the poor and needy, but he himself became a monk and devoted himself to the Church, serving the community for the rest of his life. Nicholas later became a priest and was elevated to the rank of bishop. During his life, he did a lot of charitable work, and he loved to help the poor in secret. Santa Claus was his alias later on, and the name came from the story of how he helped three girls by sending them money in secret.
It is said that not far from Nicholas lived three beautiful young girls, who were twenty, eighteen, and sixteen years old. The father was a poor scholar and often lived on borrowed money. Once, because of the inability to pay the debt, had to be cruel to the beautiful and healthy three daughters, sold to the debtor to take to Africa as a maid. The three daughters knew about this, they embraced together and wept bitterly, the sadness of the family situation, can be imagined. When Nicholas learned of this, he ran to their home and comforted them. At night, Nicholas filled three stockings with gold, and secretly hung them in front of the windows of the three maidens. With the gold, they paid their father's debt, and the three daughters were saved from their fate as maids. The next day was Christmas, and they knew that Nikolai had done the good deed, so they invited him to come and celebrate and thank him at the same time. From then on, every Christmas, the three girls told this story. The children were so envious that they wished Santa Claus would come and give them a stocking.
Then the clever parents started to give their children stocking stuffers in the name of Santa Claus. As a result, this custom became popular all over Europe and America. Nicholas later became bishop of the city of Mira, and because he was also an orphan as a child, he became a special protector of orphans. After his death, the Church canonized him as a saint. His love for orphans and his spirit of helping the poor have been passed down with Christmas. Later on, many kind-hearted people in the world followed Nicholas' spirit of love and donated a lot of goods in the name of Santa Claus to bring love to the poor, the poor old people and the orphans. Every year when Christmas comes, Santa Claus always appears all over the world, bringing warmth and happiness to millions of children, lonely old people and abandoned children. We hope that all the rich people in the world will be Santa Claus, and spread the light of love to every corner of the world, not only at Christmas, but also at other times of the year, as far as they are able.
The American version of Santa Claus
The American version of Santa Claus, whose image and name come from a Dutch legend, was brought to New York by immigrants in the 17th century.
The early appearance of "Santa Claus" in American news papers in 1773 was the first time that best-selling American author Washington Irving presented information about the Dutch version of Nicholas (Santa Claus) as an American. According to New York history, Irving, using the pen name Diedrich, described the arrival of Nicholas on horseback (unaccompanied by a black pelt) in an 1809 newspaper.
Different legends about Santa Claus in the northern hemisphere
The origins of Santa Claus go back to the last century, and, as we know, he is a combination of different legends and a mysterious humanoid.
Santa's predecessor was Nicholas, the bishop of the port city of Izmir in western Turkey, who lived in the 4th century A.D. and was a wealthy man who was kind, generous and very good to children. The Orthodox Church honors Nicholas as a miracle worker.
Nicholas was known as "Santa Claus" in central and northern Germany, "Father Christmas" in England, and later "Santa Claus" by Dutch immigrants in the United States. ".
Children want to know where Santa Claus lives and when they will receive their presents. The answer is usually that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole, where his workshop produces Christmas presents. 1927 saw the first revelation from Markus Rautio, a children's presenter who was known to children as "Uncle Markus": Santa Claus lives in Korvatunturi, Lapland.
Korvatunturi, on the eastern border of Finland, is a small town with a large population of children and adults. Korvatunturi, on Finland's eastern border, has been found to have a hare-like ear, which is in fact Santa's ear, which he uses to listen to children's wishes. Scandinavian legends tell the history of Santa Claus and his helper, Elfmon.
At the end of the last century, the different legends about Santa Claus in the northern hemisphere were aggregated into the same version - the white-bearded old man distributing gifts to children before returning to Kornatunturi in Finnish Lapland.
Beginning in 1950, Santa Claus happily sojourned at napapiiri, communicating with children and young people in addition to Christmas. More and more people visited Santa Claus regularly and in 1985 he set up his own workshop, where every day Santa Claus came to the office to listen to the children's Christmas wishes and communicate with them. Santa's Village is Santa's main post office, which receives letters sent to Santa from children all over the world.
Santa's Reindeer
Santa Claus has twelve reindeer in total***, six on each side.
The first one is called Dasher, which means Dasher
The second one is called Comet, which means Comet
The third one is called Cupid, which means Cupid
The fourth one is called Dancer, which means Dancer
The sixth one is called Prancer, which means Jump
The seventh one is called Vixen
The eighth is called Donner, which is Dutch for thunder
The ninth is called Blitzen, which is also Dutch for lightning
The tenth is called Fireball
The eleventh is called Olive
The twelfth is called Rudolph
Santa's original reindeer, Santa Claus, was a reindeer that had been in the family for many years. p>Originally, Santa Claus had only nine reindeer in his reindeer grouping, and it was only in later generations that three more were added, making it a full twelve. That is, the Santa Claus reindeer as we know them today.
The most famous red-nosed reindeer is named ~~ Rudolph
Rudolph was born with a red nose, which was made fun of by the other reindeer, but there was a Christmas Eve blizzard was too big, the reindeer can not see the road clearly and get lost, the red-nosed reindeer with its red nose as a signal to the lost reindeer collection, and later on, Santa Claus will let the red-nosed reindeer to take the lead, and let the rest of the reindeer to follow. The red-nosed moose used his red nose as a signal to gather the lost moose.
As for Rudolph's name, it should have been taken by Santa Claus.
Additionally, there is a piece of gossip: the eighth Ray is actually Rudolph's father!
Santa Claus in different countries
Legend has it that Santa Claus appeared in Scandinavia thousands of years ago. In Norse mythology, Odin, the god of wisdom, art, poetry, and war, rode his eight-legged horse to the ends of the earth in winter to punish evil and distribute gifts. Meanwhile, his son, Thor, dressed in red and armed with lightning, fought the gods of ice and snow in a dark battle and eventually overcame the cold. According to pagan legend, Santa Claus is a descendant of the god Odin. It is also said that Santa Claus came from St. Nicholas, so Santa Claus is also called St. Nicholas, who was originally the bishop of the city of Perla in Asia Minor, named St. Nicholas, and after his death was venerated as a saint, an old man with a white beard dressed in red robes and wearing a red hat. Every Christmas he drove a deer-drawn sleigh from the north, by the chimney into the homes, the Christmas gifts in socks hung on the children's bed or in front of the fireplace. So, when Westerners celebrate Christmas, parents put Christmas gifts for their children in socks and hang them above the children's beds on Christmas Eve. The next day, the first thing the children do when they wake up is to look for the gifts from Santa Claus on their beds. Nowadays, Santa Claus has become a symbol of good luck and is indispensable not only for Christmas, but also for New Year's celebrations. In short, Santa Claus has been immortalized in the spiritual world of mankind because most of his many stories promote the spirit of Christ.
Religious soldiers from Italy brought the relics of the saint back to Italy at the end of the 11th century and built a church in his honor in the port city of Bari. Soon Christians from all over the world were making pilgrimages to the saint. These pilgrims brought the story of Saint Nicholas back to their native lands, so that the legend of Santa Claus is unique to each country.
Saint Nicholas' memorial day appeared in Europe in the 12th century, featuring the exchange of gifts and charitable activities. Germany, France and the Netherlands, on the other hand, used Dec. 6 as a religious observance to give gifts to children and the poor. When the Dutch colonists came to America, they brought with them their Bishop Sintirklass, who wore a red surplice and rode a white horse.The American image of Sintirklass evolved into that of a jolly old elf. At first, the American writer Washington Irving, in his comedy In his comedy "The History of New York," Irving described him as a round, fat old Dutchman.
In 1823, the poet Clement Moore continued to dramatize the image of Sintirklass/Saint Nicholas in his poem "The Impression of St. Nicholas," which is the Santa Claus you see at the beginning of this post. In the 1860s cartoonist Thomas Nash drew a chubby, benevolent Santa Claus as an illustration for Harper's Week. This image of Santa Claus began to become ingrained in the minds of the American people. Over time, the image of Santa Claus traveled back to Europe, to South America, and around the world. Many countries have preserved their own customs and legends about Santa Claus. In the Dutch legend, Santa Claus Sintirklass also brought a helper named Black Peter, who arrived on December 6 on a ship. He carries a large book which describes how all the Dutch children have behaved during the past year. The children who had done well were given presents, and the children who had not done well were taken away by his helper. Santa Claus in Germany also carries a helper called Knecht Ruprecht, Krampus or Pelzebock, with a big sack with presents on his shoulder and a stick in his hand. Good children could receive his gifts, while naughty children had to be taught a few lessons with the stick.
The Italian Santa Claus is called La Befana; the French Santa Claus is called Father Christmas or Pere Noel; the Swiss Santa Claus is called Christkindl or Christ Child; the Scandinavian Santa Claus is called julenisse or juletomte; and the British Santa Claus, like the French, is called Father Christmas. Santa Claus and France is also called Father Christmas (Father Christmas), his image than the other Santa Claus is more solemn, more thin some. In North America, Santa Claus rides in a reindeer-drawn sleigh to deliver gifts to children and add joy to the holiday season. Nowadays, Western Christmas beliefs are slowly spreading to China, and on Christmas Eve in December, a Christmas tree is set up by the side of the road, while Santa Claus on the window has become a symbol of joy.
[Edit]Other
Every year near Christmas, there are always (believe in Santa Claus) small children send letters to Santa Claus, such as informing him of their wish to receive Christmas gifts and so on, and in some countries, in order to avoid disappointment, the post office, there will be a person to reply to these letters.
Santa Claus in the Chinese-English dictionary:
1. Santa Claus; Father Christmas; Kriss Kringle
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