![]() In 1809, the novelist Washington Irving wrote a satire of Dutch culture entitled “Knickerbocker History”. Sound familiar? Christmas Presentīut the Santa and Reindeer we associate with now is more recognisable from recent times. Though we can’t be certain about the Celtic and Nordic influence on today’s Santa and Reindeer, mixing all those myths together we have antlers, long white beards, gods riding across the sky as well as an eight-legged horse, which could have a possible link to the eight reindeer. He was also depicted as riding a chariot drawn by two white goats. Thor, the God of Thunder, a cheerful god, was thought to wear red and have a long white beard. Odin was revered by the Vikings who described how Odin led a great hunting party through the sky at Yule time riding on his eight-legged horse, Sleipner. The Norse gods, Odin and Thorare also possible roots for today’s Santa and Reindeer. Together, they were represented as the Horned God who was depicted with antlers growing from his head. ![]() ![]() The Holly King was dressed in leaves and berries and symbolised withdrawal and rest after the fertile spring and summer had ended and before the next cycle began. The Oak King oversaw the summer and the Holly King, the winter. The Druids (or possibly the Norseman depending on what you read) had twin gods, the Oak King and the Holly King. The Celts had a god Cernunnos (or Herne, ‘the horned one’) that bore the antlers of a deer and personified the male life force of animals and nature. What has created that myth? Well, we can find some similarities with the Druids, Celts, Anglo-Saxon and Norse beliefs and symbols of the day. Ellis.Take a look at the reindeer (and Santa, for you can’t think of one without the other). Edna Barth, Holly, Reindeer, and Colored Lights, The Story of the Christmas Symbols. © Anna Franklin, Yule, History, Lore and Celebration, Lear Books, 2010 It was Thor who, in the last days of Heathenism, was regarded as the chief antagonist of Christ. It was the elves who created Thor’s magic hammer. Thor’s helpers were elves and like Santa’s elves, Thor’s elves were skilled craftsman. Swedish children wait eagerly for Jultomten, a gnome whose sleigh is drawn by the Julbocker, the goats of the thunder god Thor. The fireplace in every home was especially sacred to him, and he was said to come down through the chimney into his element, fire. He was fought the giants of ice and snow (i.e., the powers of winter). The rumble and roar of thunder were said to be caused by the rolling of his chariot. Thor was the god of the peasants and the common people and always helped and protected them. He lived in Valhalla, the Far North.Īlong with Odin, many attributes of the god Thor were transferred to Santa: Thor was often portrayed as a large, elderly man with a long white beard he rode through the air in a chariot drawn by two white goats called Cracker and Gnasher he dressed in red his palace was in the northland he was friendly and cheerful. Like Santa, Odin had a long white beard, and a sheaf of grain was left in the fields for his horse. The god Odin rode on a white eight-legged horse called Sleipnir and delivered either gifts or punishments at the winter solstice. Some of Santa’s characteristics are undoubtedly borrowed from Norse and Germanic lore. Modern gift-giving spirits have their origin in much older Pagan legends.
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