What’s the Word: Santa is saintly in all his forms
There are many wonderful things about the Christmas season, the spirit of giving, the decorations, all the sights and sounds and music. The splendid Christmas dinners and family get-togethers that make the season what it is for most of us.
Of course, amid all the exchanging of gifts and the feasting with family and friends, it’s important to remember what the holiday is really about, the birth of the baby Jesus and the significance of that event to Christians around the world.
But once we have acknowledged that all important aspect of Christmas, there is another tradition that has endured and become very much a part of the lore of the holiday season. Something that was a big part of my own childhood and the childhood of literally millions of children around the world.
You all probably realize what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the inimitable jolly old elf himself, Santa Claus.
For this column, I thought I would wander around the net and check out our rotund friend and his many iterations, and while he is known by many different names in as many different countries, the legend itself is almost universal.
According to one Web site, the American version originally derived from the Dutch legend of Sinterklaas, brought to New York by settlers in the 17th century.
Sinterklaas took on his Americanized form in Clement Clarke Moore’s 1823 poem “The Night Before Christmas.” This work includes many of the details that are so familiar to all of us in this country; the names of the reindeer; the sound of Santa’s laugh; and the mysterious way he goes up a chimney.
Santa’s traditional look was pretty much the work of illustrator Thomas Nast, who depicted a round-bellied Santa for Harper’s magazine Christmas issues from the 1860’s to the 1880’s. Nast tacked on more details of Santa’s persona by describing Santa’s workshop at the North Pole and how Santa keeps a “naughty and nice” list of children.
An interesting adjunct to all this is that, though the first stories a bout Santa represented him as an elf, he eventually evolved somehow into a more human entity, while his helpers are still depicted as elves.
Another interesting aspect of the legend is the way he is often referred to by alternate names, most prominent among those being Saint Nicholas and Kris Kringle.
Most agree the Kris Kringle moniker came from the Netherlands, but the origin for this one seems to have been lost over the years, while, as mentioned earlier, Saint Nicholas came from the Dutch Sint Nikolaas, which became Sinterklaas, and eventually the Americanized Santa Claus.
While many religious folks have problems including Santa in their celebration of the season, there are actually some religious aspects to the legend and even the traditional costume.
To understand this, one has to know some of the background of the real Saint Nicholas. According to the Northwestern Lutheran Magazine Web site, the original Nicholas was born in AD 270 in Patara, a seacoast town located in what is now Turkey.
Losing his wealthy parents to the plague when he was a child, he later traveled around and enjoyed using his wealth to help people. At 50 he chose to become a minister, and in those days they wore a uniform of sorts which included a long red coat to remind everyone of the blood of Christ which cleanses all sins, and somehow, this evolved into the traditional costume we dress our Santas in today.
Whatever his origins, the character certainly has a benevolent persona in all his many forms, making him a worthy part of the Christmas pantheon for all of us.
(Charlie Johnson is a reporter for the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].)