Roots of Santa Claus legend reach all the way to the pagan period in Europe where the head of the Germanic pantheon Odin was also known as Jólfaðr (Yule Father) and Jólnir (Yule Master, leader of the Wild Hunt.) Yule was the winter solstice holiday, lasting for twelve days, which promised the incoming triumph of light over darkness and the rebirth of the sun. He was also known as a gift-giver, teaching and helping humans. In several instances, he flies over the poor people’s houses on his eight-legged horse Sleipnir and leaves bread for them.
There were similar legends all over Europe involving wanderer gods bestowing humans with divine gifts, opening gates of the underworld to retrieve the sun, and so on. Thracian Horseman, Slavic Dajbog, Hellenic Prometheus, just to mention a few of them, but I will focus on Anglo-American Santa Claus whose image spread all over the world as a dominant one in the modern age.
Pagan Saxons honored Frost King, very similar to Odin. With the coming of Christianity, syncretism took place and Yule was connected to Christ’s birth while the leading figure was connected with the Christian bishop of Myra Nicholas, who died close to the holiday if we use the old Julian calendar. By the end of the middle ages, Frost king became Sir Christmas, the chivalric knight. Later on, he was known as Captain Christmas whose job was to make sure everyone got thoroughly wasted at the lavish yuletide feasts. This made Oliver Cromwell outlaw Christmas as “an excuse for unholy drunkenness.” Even the name Captain Christmas was changed to the “more venerable” one Old Father Christmas.
With prohibition, we had similar development as the result of the progressivism movement in the USA, the only totalitarian system out of three which survived the XXth century. And not only survived but thrived in the so-called “war on drugs” which sent millions to jail for non-violent crimes turning them into hardened thugs and starting gang wars on our streets. Just to spite prude Karens who were the core of that movement I replaced the corporate bottle in his hand with a beer mug. This picture is the true spirit of Christmas that was stolen from us – frolicking with no worry in the world and not thinking about tomorrow because the sun is coming back. Cheers!
Don’t forget to register in the UPX store to purchase one of my ornaments!