Santa Claus has evolved over centuries from multiple influences and folk traditions. Early depictions of Santa were influenced by poems and illustrations in the 1820s, showing him arriving by sleigh pulled by reindeer. These were based on traditions of figures like the 4th century St. Nicholas and Norse gods like Odin and Thor. Over time, Santa absorbed elements from pagan winter solstice celebrations and nature spirits. While modern Santa is typically seen as a cheerful gift-giver, his origins involve more complex and sometimes frightening pagan influences that have been incorporated into Christmas traditions.

1. Merry
Chistmas ‘n’
That

2. Secret Santa...
• Most Christmas motifs have their roots in some kind of folk tradition or
practice, but are trotted out every year with little awareness of their origins.
• Note how every time a Hollywood film tries to meddle with Christmas
folklore, a new generation takes on the previous one‟s traditions and
symbols in a superficial fashion and proceeds to „update‟ them for „modern
times‟ - usually resulting a massively surreal mishmash of nonsensical, ill-
fitting elements that they then have to try to force some kind of sense into.
(Santa Claus the Movie, The Santa Clause, Fred Claus etc.)
• But this doesn‟t just happen in films – it happens in society in general.
When we look at other cultures‟ rituals and traditions they often look
utterly baffling, alien, and relentlessly oddball, and you wonder how they
ever came up with that. Well, Santa Claus is a case in point.
How would you explain Him and his world, in all its glorious absurd detail,
to an alien?

3. Myth 1 # Coca-Cola
invented Santa Claus
Coca-Cola‟s Santa first appeared in 1931, and undoubtedly had a hand in making that
the standard image of Him – but the character had already evolved to look like that,
often (but not always) portrayed in red and white.
1931
Haddon Sundblom 1955
First Coca-Cola Santa Haddon Sundblom

4. One of the earliest known portrayals of what is recognisably “our” Santa was by
German-born illustrator Thomas Nast in around 1869.
ca 1869 1881
Thomas Nast Thomas Nast
Santa Claus and his Harper's Weekly
Works

5. Postcards ca1900
1908
1925
1905 E. Boyd Smith
N. C. Wyeth
Carl Stetson Santa Claus and All
Old Kris
Crawford About Him
The Country Gentleman

6. 1922 1925 1939
Norman Rockwell J. C. Leyendecker Norman Rockwell

7. Sante Claus
• This image (Nast‟s pictures in particular) The
were heavily influenced by two Children's
anonymous poems – one poem from the Friend, 1821
Children’s Friend in 1821 which had
"Sante Claus" arriving from the North in
a sleigh with a flying reindeer, rewarding
good behaviour with educational toys
and punishing bad by leaving birch rods
to beat kids with.
• The other poem, more famous
1848
T. C. Boyd
A Visit from Saint Nicholas
today, was A Visit from St
Nicholas in 1823 – now also
known as The Night Before
Christmas, which has a full
description of “jolly old elf” St
Nicholas, his reindeer and his
nocturnal activities.
1862
F. O. C. Darley
A Visit from Saint Nicholas

8. Myth #2 – Santa Claus is
Dutch
These were in turn influenced by the work of Washington Irving who,
as a member of the New York Historical Society, wrote
Knickerbocker's History of New York – a fictional satirical history of
New York which had numerous references to a jolly St Nicholas
character, portrayed as Dutch burgher with a clay pipe.
It said the first Dutch immigrant ship had a figurehead of St. Nicholas,
that St Nicholas Day was observed in the colony, that the first
church was dedicated to him, and that St. Nicholas comes down
chimneys to bring gifts, but it wasn‟t meant to be taken seriously -
however, there is some truth to it - St Nicholas was an important
figure to many European immigrants and the Society adopted St
Nicholas as their patron saint in the first place to honour New York‟s
Dutch origins.

9. Myth # 3 – Our Santa
is just St Nicholas
• The real St Nicholas was a 4th
Century Bishop from Myra, an area
now part of modern Day Turkey.
His feast day was celebrated in the
medieval church as December 6. He
may have attended the Council of
Nicea, and there are lots of stories
surrounding him as a gift-giver and
protector of children.
• The most famous has him hearing of
a man who could not afford the
dowries for his three daughters, with
the result that he intended -
regretfully - to send them to the
brothel to work. St Nicholas saves
them from this fate by throwing
three bags of gold through their
window at night.

10. So is that it?
• Was all that Lapland/Reindeer/Elves/Flying
Sleigh/Stockings by the chimney stuff just
made up?
• No – a lot of older traditions seem to bear a
striking resemblance to our modern Santa – it
looks like a lot of pagan trappings were
absorbed by Him along the way...

11. Norse Gods:
Odin
Odin was sometimes recorded, at the native
Germanic holiday of Yule, as leading a great
hunting party through the sky. Odin was referred to
by many names in Skaldic poetry, some of which
describe his appearance or functions. These
include Síðgrani, Síðskeggr, Langbarðr, (all
meaning "long beard") and Jólnir ("Yule figure").
According to some traditions, children would place
their boots, filled with carrots, straw, or sugar, near
the chimney for Odin's flying horse, Sleipnir, to eat.
Odin would then reward those children for their
kindness by replacing Sleipnir's food with gifts or
candy.
Georg von Rosen - Oden som vandringsman
1886 (Odin, the Wanderer)

12. Norse Gods:
Thor "Thor was the god of the peasants
and the common people. He was represented
as an eld-erly man, jovial and friendly,
of heavy build, with a long white beard.
His element was the fire, his color red.
The rumble and roar of thunder were said
to be caused by the rolling of his chariot,
for he alone among the gods never rode on
horse-back but drove in a chariot drawn by
two white goats called Cracker and Gnasher.
He was said to live in the 'North-land'
where he had his palace among icebergs.
The fireplace in every home was especially
"Thor was fighting the giants of ice and snow, sacred to him, and he was said to come down
and thus became the Yule-god. He was said to live through the chimney into his element, the fire."
in the "Northland" where he had his palace among - -Francis X. Weiser,
icebergs. By our pagan forefathers he was Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs
considered as the cheerful and friendly god, (New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc., 1958)
never harming the humans but rather helping and
protecting them. The fireplace in every home was
especially sacred to him, and he was said to come
down through the chimney into his element, the
fire."
-(Guerber, H.A. Myths of Northern Lands.
New York: American Book Company, 1895, p. 61)

13. Yule/Father
Christmas
In Scandinavian and Germanic countries, the festival of Yule was
celebrated at the winter solstice with a wild hunt and a bountiful
feast and is tied to traditions such as the Yule log, the Yule goat
or boar. With Christianisation many Yule traditions merged with
Christmas festivities. The folkloric figure of Yule (aka Father
Christmas) certainly predates the modern Coca-Cola Santa, and
has the distinct whiff of a pagan green-man style nature spirit
about him, as alluded to in Dickens’ Christmas Carol with the
Ghost of Christmas Present.

14. Pagan Nature
Spirits
The figure of Yule was in turn almost certainly derived from the kind of wild nature spirits that
inhabit pagan traditions across Europe. There are echoes of the Santa figure in the furry,
bearded, wilderness dwelling, magical wild-men figures of the middle ages, as well as linking
with wild, untamed personifications of nature and fertility such as the “green man”, Dionysus
and Pan – such figures, were of course, demonised in medieval times as the very image of the
devil.

15. Krampus
Which is why “Krampus” looks so alarming.
In many countries St Nicholas (or Sinterklaas) retains the form of a saintly Bishop, but is
accompanied by various “dark helpers” – in some Alpine countries (notably Bavaria) the
figure of Krampus is a frightening-looking wild-man/goat-man figure and direct hang-over
from pagan Yule festivities that was incorporated into Christian celebrations around the 17 th
century.
Krampus is the dark side of St Nicholas – where he brings kindness, blessings and gifts for good
children, Krampus takes children away in his sack to be punished – Our Santa is almost like
an amalgam of the priestly St Nicholas and the pagan beast-man of Krampus – and, in a way,
very possibly is. Variations on Santa‟s “dark helpers” include the decidedly racist “Black
Peter” of Belgium/Netherlands

16. Krampus

17. "In the English-speaking countries, "What may surprise you is that
we combined Santa and his helpers Santa Claus has not always been
(Krampus and Black Peter) into a a jolly ole elf, or even human.
composite which arrives at In fact, he has been depicted
Christmas time to stuff the stockings as an evil gnome as well as a
and reward children who have been goat."
naughty and nice. But the pagan - Will the Real Santa Claus Please
history shows that St. Nicholas is a Stand Up? The Many Faces of
vastly more complex being... Santa
“This ‘Yuletide’ spirit-being Denise Alvarado
is a duality. Part of him is
the kindly priest in flowing robes "Ol Saint Nick as it turns out
and part of him is the evil fiend has a bunch of demonic buddies.
with slashing teeth and claws." You wouldn't know it from the
- The Antinoopolis Gayzette, Meet Christian American Coca Cola
Santa’s Helpers – Krampus and interpretation of Christmas
Antinous/Apollo but there's some really disturbing
stories surrounding that special
time of the year..."
- Monster Brains Presents...
Krampus!
Aeron Alfrey

19. "And, of course, there’s Santa Claus.
As the ancient beast-god of old,
he continues to bring bounty and promise
to us each year. There are gods, religions,
nations and even hominid species that have
risen and fallen - while he somehow persists.
No wonder he winks as he sips his Coca-Cola."
- The Last Wild Man
by PHYLLIS SIEFKER
FT 118 - January 2000
Fortean Times