Some Santas that You Used to Know

Holy Watermelon

St. Nicholas' Day has passed, but we're not done with Christmas visitors yet. Santa has taken a few different forms over the centuries, and he's got an army of companions and alternates, too.

Santa Claus takes inspiration from a variety of European folk traditions, and many of these old traditions have survived with modifications in the Christian era. In this episode we talk about a lot of our historically celebrated holiday gift bearers:

- the Krampus of Central Europe;

- the Ded Moroz of Russian winters;

- the Icelandic Jolasveinar (Yule Trolls), the 13 hungry brothers who each stay a fortnight in the darkest part of the winter;

- the truly monstrous Joulupukki (Yule Goat) of Finnish tradition, thankfully he's softened up over the years;

- Mos Gerila, the Romanian Communist holiday hunk;

- the sloppy Christmas poop-log known as Tio de Nadal;

- Germany's less celebrated Belsnickel was made famous by The Office's Dwight Schrute;

- Italy's own Befana, the guide for the three magi;

- and we certainly can't leave out the controversial Black Pete, but we're pleased to report that his image is getting a favourable update.

All these get a special moment in the spotlight in addition to the time we spend exploring the real and imaginary histories of jolly old Saint Nicholas who eventually came to be known as Sinterklaas, or Santa Claus. Naturally, this must include a discussion of the history of Chris Kringle (lit: "the Christ Child").

All this and more....

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