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| Sunday, 19 December 2004 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Ho, ho, ho, who's this jolly old man? Santa Claus is the bringer of gifts at Christmas. He is generally depicted as a fat, jolly man with a beard, dressed in a red suit trimmed with white, riding in a sleigh full of toys through the air driven by eight reindeer. On Christmas eve Santa is said to visit houses, entering through the chimney to leave presents under the Christmas tree and in the stockings of all good children. Did you know that if Santa and his reindeer were to visit children throughout the world, he would have to visit over 667 million children in 1,300 houses per second and travel a total of 111 million miles at a speed of 3.6 million miles per hour? Although this familiar image of Santa Claus is a North American invention of the 19th century, it has ancient European roots and continues to influence the celebration of Christmas throughout the world. The historical Santa Nicholas was venerated in early Christian legend for saving storm-tossed sailors, defending young children and giving generous gifts to the poor. The Christian figure of Saint Nicklas replaced or incorporated various pagan gift-giving figures such as the Roman Befana and the Germanic Berchta and Knecht Ruprecht. The saint was called Sanktb Nikalaus in Germany and Sanct Herr Nicholaas or Sinter Klaas in Holland. In these countries Nicholas was sometimes said to ride through the sky on a horse. He was depicted wearing a bishop's robes and was said to be accompanied at times by Black Peter, an elf whose job was to whip the naughty children. The feast of Nicholas, when presents were received, was traditionally observed on December 6. After the Reformation, German Protestants encouraged veneration of the Christkindl (Christ child) as a gift giver on his own feast day, December 25. When the Nicholas tradition prevailed, it became attached to Christmas itself. Because the saint's life is so unreliably documented, Pope Paul VI ordered the feast of Saint Nicholas dropped from the official Roman Catholic calendar in 1969. The term Christkindl evolved to Kriss Kringle, another nick name for Santa Claus. Various other European Christmas gift givers were more or less similar to Saint Nicholas: Pre Nol in France, Julenisse in Scandinavia and Father Christmas in England. Although most adults view Santa as the embodiment of a spirit of giving, some argue that the modern image of Santa Claus conflicts with the true meaning of Christmas and promotes greed and commercialisation. To reconcile the legend of Santa Claus with the religious significance of Christmas, some Christians emphasise that the modern figure is derived from legends about a saint who symbolised love, caring and generosity. |
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