I look into the darkness and origins behind the Alpine folkloric being that is Krampus and I also look into the origins of why coal for Christmas is now a negative thing.

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Post author By Charlie April 7, 2022
A Look at Dark Items #4 – The Binding of Isaac – A
Lump of Coal and Krampus
theweeklyrambler.com/a-look-at-dark-items-4-the-binding-of-isaac-a-lump-of-coal-and-krampus/
On this next part of the series, I look into one of the mini-bosses – Krampus, as well as
one of the items that it can drop, A Lump of Coal. If you’re wondering why I am talking
about Krampus when it is not an item, well I am using a loophole via the existence of the
Head of Krampus item to talk about Krampus itself.
Neither are exactly dark. But I thought it would be interesting to take a look into them
anyway. Dark undertones certainly exist and I’d say Krampus is definitely dark for
children.
Krampus

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Photo in the Public Domain
Krampus is a folkloric entity that originates from Central Europe, in particular within the
Austrian and German Alpine regions. Only since the mid-1980s has it become more
globally popular due to its presence in a number of American Christmas horror flicks,
mostly where Krampus is portrayed inaccurately. At the same time many have also
complained of Krampus becoming over commercialized due to this.
The entity is a half-man, half-goat, or half-goat, half-demon with prominent horns
protruding from the head. Some depictions have Krampus looking more demonic and
beastly with dark body fur and imp-like proportions and comparisons can also been made
to the Satyr from Greek mythology, while other depictions give him a more human-like
appearance. He often also has fangs, a long tongue, and cloven hooves.
One depiction I found of Krampus showed him with one cloven hoof and one clawed foot,
as well as a dark beard and tail.

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Image is in the Public Domain.
Some legends also have him carrying a chain and bells that he swings about as well as a
bundle of birch sticks that he uses to hit naughty children with.
It is believed that Krampus came from pagan beliefs. Krampus might even be the son of
the Norse god Hel, who is the god of the underworld, or at least connected to that legend
in some way. Krampus could also originate from pre-Germanic pagan customs in Alpine

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Austria, casting out Winter and evil spirits. Some challenge these origins though, saying
they had been deliberately disseminated by folklorists during the 20 Century.
Krampus has also been associated with the Perchtenlauf, a pagan procession from the
17 and 18 Centuries, in this people dressed up as an anthropomorphic goat figure
called Percht, who is a pagan goddess from Alpine Upper Germany and Austria.
It is said Percht rewarded good children with a silver coin, and bad children would be
disemboweled and stuffed with straw and pebbles. You know, nothing too graphic.
As Christianity overtook paganism the Krampus entity eventually transitioned to being
associated with Christmas, to the detriment of the Catholic Church who tried to ban the
figure, possibly seeing it as blasphemous.
From then on Krampus was said to travel with St. Nicholas, the patron Saint of children.
St. Nicholas would give gifts to the children who were good while Krampus would punish
the bad children by beating them with a branch, this would take place on the night of the
5 December, known as Krampus Night (Krampusnacht).
The good children would then awake on St. Nicholas Day to find their presents while the
bad children woke up to sore bruises, or worse, they may wake up in some hellish
nightmare or they may never awake at all…
Other lore claims that Krampus may instead eat naughty children or drag them to Hell by
placing them in a sack or basket on his back or locking them in chains attached to
himself, he may also torture or drown them, I do wonder if this part was added on by
parents wanting to pacify particularly troublesome children, or it could possibly be
bastardization of the original legend.
It seems Christianity probably played a role in adding these elements, such as the
addition of chains, and the basket/sack to carry children to Hell. One theory for the
addition of the chains is that it evoked the binding of the Devil.
One of the big festivals that involves Krampus in Austria and Germany is the Krampus
Run held in various communities during the Christmas period, it is something that has
especially become more popular in the modern day. The Krampus Run sees people
dressing up as Krampus, drinking lots of alcohol, and parading through the streets, trying
to scare people watching and also now and again chasing them.
If you do happen to get chased you may be hard pressed to find a place to get away, as
many times the Krampus will chase people into public buildings and shops, laughing at
the person foolishly believing they would be safe there. Some of those taking part may
also give quite a heavy hit with their sticks, although hits are usually aimed at the legs.
So, I would not go to one of these events and expect an easy time.
One of the areas that holds annual Krampus Processions in its communities is the
western Austrian alpine state of Tyrol. The website says that the tradition dates back
centuries in the area, and that the region’s towns and villages play host to wild
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Photo in the Public Domain.
ceremonies in early December. Not each is the same either with communities putting their
own spin and touches on to the events through their own traditions.
One of the processions in East Tyrol sees young local men taking on Krampuses to see
who is strongest and most courageous, in what is known as Tischziachn. Groups of six to
eight men try to stop the Krampuses from flipping over a heavy wooden table. Another
procession in Tarrenz is known for its decorated masks, some over a century old. The
procession in Rattenberg sees Krampuses marching down narrow streets as they bang
fuel canisters.
A lot of time and effort also goes into the creation of masks and costumes, they are not
merely cheaply mass-produced items, but things that have been hand-crafted through
skill and time, the intricate carving of masks from wood and the creation of costumes from
real animal hide.
So, from possible pagan symbol, to childhood boogeyman, to Christianisation, to
commercialized popularity, an anti-Christmas figure, Krampus has come a long way from
its mysterious origins. And with some of the things it is said to do to some of the most
vulnerable in our society, I think we can say there are dark elements to it.
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
A Lump of Coal
You might be interested to know
that once upon a time coal was
actually considered a gift, giving it
to someone as a present for
Christmas or even for winter time
served as a token to ward off the
cold of the season. It has only
been since the beginning of the
20 Century did it become an
insult and a token of having been
naughty to children.
Before that time Santa was not
betrayed as delivering coal to
naughty children, instead he may
deliver something like a birchen
rod, implying that such naughty
children should be lashed rather than get any gifts.
That time was only really beginning to see the adoption of coal over wood in the domestic
household, other than that it was largely absent. As well as an implement for lashing,
naughty children may have instead received something such as stones, ashes and cold
potatoes, at least in the US anyway.
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It was not until coal started appearing in abundance within domestic households that it
begins to show up in various Christmas stories. You have stories that point towards coal
being a good gift for adults but a disappointing gift for children, while other stories show
the glee and happiness brought to poor families who receive coal as a present.
It was when coal became more plentiful that it really started to be seen as a poor gift,
something that is so easily obtained is pointless to gift. Stories begun replacing stones
and potatoes with coal, likely as it was so abundant and quicker to access within the
home, leading to it becoming the new naughty children gift.
So, the spread of it through stories brought it to general popularity and then once mass
media came along, such as more books, magazines, newspapers, and television it
became ever more prominent and spread into the cultural fabric of Christmas.
Now coal is not so easily accessed anymore as once again infrastructure has long since
improved and moved beyond it.
The tradition has nonetheless been kept alive in the modern era, especially in the age of
the internet and world wide web where it has become more of a humour-making digital
joke gift or gag, especially parents who choose to prank their kids with it and post the
results on to social media and Youtube. There are even joke-products of other things that
incorporate coal in some fashion.
But above is mostly the story for the US. What about elsewhere? It seems that gifting coal
to children may indeed originate further back. 16 Century in the Netherlands had
children put out clogs in hopes of sweets or other goodies, bad children may instead find
coal in their clogs.
Italy has an old tradition that predates Santa Claus, known as La Befana, who is an
elderly woman or witch who delivers presents to good children on the eve of Epiphany.
She will leave something lesser for bad children which may include coal, but can also be
onion or garlic.
At the same time for these above things, it could also be that coal was once again
substituted at a later time rather than earlier on.
It is also possible that it may have originated from Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol
novella in 1843.
Of course, no one is quite sure exactly how or where it originated. Just as with the origins
of Krampus, it is shrouded in a degree of mystery.
(1) (2) (3)
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