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2007-02-06 01:38:27 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities History

10 answers

Santa Claus is a variation of a Dutch folk tale based on the historical figure Saint Nicholas, a bishop from Myra in Asia Minor (the greater part of modern-day Turkey), who used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. His charity became legend when a man lost his fortune and found himself incapable of supporting his three daughters, who would not be able to find husbands as they lacked dowries. This man was going to give them over to a life of prostitution; however, St Nicholas provided them with gold, enabling them to retain their virginal virtues and marry.

This inspired figure of Sinterklaas, the subject of a major celebration in the Netherlands and Belgium, Germany (where his believed date of death, December 6, is celebrated the evening before on December 5), which in turn inspired both the myth and the name of Santa Claus. "Santa Claus" is actually a mispronunciation of the Dutch word "Sinterklaas" by the English settlers of New Amsterdam (later renamed New York).

Despite his origin in the Orthodox East, in Greece Saint Nicholas is celebrated as a distinct character with no affiliation to Christmas; nevertheless, a Santa Claus character is still present. He is identified with Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, Asia Minor (contemporary Turkey), whose feast is celebrated on January 1. According to the Greek tradition, he is supposed to visit children and give presents on New Year's Day. This festival is also marked by the baking of Saint Basil's bread (Gr. Βασιλόπιτα - Vasilópita), a sweetbread with a coin hidden inside.

Depictions of Santa Claus also have a close relationship with the Russian character of Ded Moroz ("Grandfather Frost"). He delivers presents to children and has a red coat, fur boots and long white beard. Much of the iconography of Santa Claus could be seen to derive from Russian traditions of Ded Moroz, particularly transmitted into western European culture through his German folklore equivalent, Väterchen Frost.
Conventionally, Santa Claus is portrayed as a kindly, round-bellied, merry, bespectacled white man in a red coat trimmed with white fur (perhaps remotely derived from the episcopal vestments of the original Bishop Nicholas), with a long white beard and green or white gloves. On Christmas Eve, he rides in his sleigh pulled by reindeer from house to house to give presents to children. During the rest of the year he lives together with his wife Mrs. Claus and his elves manufacturing toys. Some modern depictions of Santa (often in advertising and popular entertainment) will show the elves and Santa's workshop as more of a processing and distribution facility, ordering and receiving the toys from various toy manufacturers from across the world. His home is usually given as either the North Pole, in northern Canada, Korvatunturi in Finnish Lapland, Drøbak in Norway, Dalecarlia in Sweden, or Greenland, depending on the tradition and country. L. Frank Baum placed his home in The Laughing Valley of Hohaho. In the original Dutch tradition, Sinterklaas lives in Spain and is accompanied by a great number of black servants, called 'Zwarte Pieten', which means Black Petes

2007-02-06 01:52:11 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa is an eminent character in the hearts and minds of millions of children and adults around the world who believe in him. The popular American form Santa Claus originated as a mispronunciation of Dutch Sinterklaas, which in turn is a contracted form of Sint Nicolaas (Saint Nicholas). Santa Claus has a suit that comes in many colors depending on the country (commonly red with white sleeves, collar and belt).

Santa Claus is a variation of a Dutch folk tale based on the historical figure Saint Nicholas, a bishop from Myra in Asia Minor (the greater part of modern-day Turkey), who used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. His charity became legend when a man lost his fortune and found himself incapable of supporting his three daughters, who would not be able to find husbands as they lacked dowries. This man was going to give them over to a life of prostitution; however, St Nicholas provided them with gold, enabling them to retain their virginal virtues and marry.

This inspired figure of Sinterklaas, the subject of a major celebration in the Netherlands and Belgium, Germany (where his believed date of death, December 6, is celebrated the evening before on December 5), which in turn inspired both the myth and the name of Santa Claus. "Santa Claus" is actually a mispronunciation of the Dutch word "Sinterklaas" by the English settlers of New Amsterdam (later renamed New York).

2007-02-08 20:34:37 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

based on a laplander mushroom cult (amaniat muscara )
which they collected by catching the urine from the raindeer who ate it ,
the drug gave a floating/flying sensation and the feeling of the loss of limbs
many people got into the chimnee to get to the roof

hence the flying raindeer,and the chimnee
there still is a kind old man living in lapland who says he is Santa claus (guees when he dies another old man will take over),the real name is the christmas man
the Americans named him mistakingly Santa Claus and he wore artic clothes ,this was a pagan cult

Saint Nicolas is another guy altogether ,he came on the 5 of december wore religious robes and a miter ,the story was based on a turkey´s bisshop and he travelled with two moorish slaves who beat bad children with twiggs and give sweets to the good ones,this was a Christian

the two are often confused as one ,but the only thing they share is the color red

2007-02-06 01:52:37 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

Do you people really like history?! I absolutely hate it. The only thing I like about history is our teacher because he's really funny but we're getting a new teacher soon anyway. I just find it insanely boring. And yes, I prefer maths to history. All my friends are doing history for their exams, I seem to be the only one who isn't. I know some people might find it interesting, but I'm definitely not one of those people :)

2016-05-23 23:19:14 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

Santa Claus is a variation of a Dutch folk tale based on the historical figure Saint Nicholas, a bishop from Myra in Asia Minor (the greater part of modern-day Turkey), who used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. His charity became legend when a man lost his fortune and found himself incapable of supporting his three daughters, who would not be able to find husbands as they lacked dowries. This man was going to give them over to a life of prostitution; however, St Nicholas provided them with gold, enabling them to retain their virginal virtues and marry.

This inspired figure of Sinterklaas, the subject of a major celebration in the Netherlands and Belgium, Germany (where his believed date of death, December 6, is celebrated the evening before on December 5), which in turn inspired both the myth and the name of Santa Claus. "Santa Claus" is actually a mispronunciation of the Dutch word "Sinterklaas" by the English settlers of New Amsterdam (later renamed New York).

Despite his origin in the Orthodox East, in Greece Saint Nicholas is celebrated as a distinct character with no affiliation to Christmas; nevertheless, a Santa Claus character is still present. He is identified with Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, Asia Minor (contemporary Turkey), whose feast is celebrated on January 1. According to the Greek tradition, he is supposed to visit children and give presents on New Year's Day. This festival is also marked by the baking of Saint Basil's bread (Gr. Βασιλόπιτα - Vasilópita), a sweetbread with a coin hidden inside.

Depictions of Santa Claus also have a close relationship with the Russian character of Ded Moroz ("Grandfather Frost"). He delivers presents to children and has a red coat, fur boots and long white beard. Much of the iconography of Santa Claus could be seen to derive from Russian traditions of Ded Moroz, particularly transmitted into western European culture through his German folklore equivalent, Väterchen Frost.
Conventionally, Santa Claus is portrayed as a kindly, round-bellied, merry, bespectacled white man in a red coat trimmed with white fur (perhaps remotely derived from the episcopal vestments of the original Bishop Nicholas), with a long white beard and green or white gloves. On Christmas Eve, he rides in his sleigh pulled by reindeer from house to house to give presents to children. During the rest of the year he lives together with his wife Mrs. Claus and his elves manufacturing toys. Some modern depictions of Santa (often in advertising and popular entertainment) will show the elves and Santa's workshop as more of a processing and distribution facility, ordering and receiving the toys from various toy manufacturers from across the world. His home is usually given as either the North Pole, in northern Canada, Korvatunturi in Finnish Lapland, Drøbak in Norway, Dalecarlia in Sweden, or Greenland, depending on the tradition and country. L. Frank Baum placed his home in The Laughing Valley of Hohaho. In the original Dutch tradition, Sinterklaas lives in Spain and is accompanied by a great number of black servants, called 'Zwarte Pieten', which means

2007-02-09 04:14:16 · answer #5 · answered by Aaditya D 1 · 0 0

his name is nicolas,he was a rich man ,he used to drop money in the houses of needy people at night.and then it became a story.

2007-02-06 02:00:47 · answer #6 · answered by toploser 5 · 0 0

just kidding he was born in italy and moved to the north pole

2007-02-06 01:46:33 · answer #7 · answered by Cole H 1 · 0 0

i was told that he wore green suit and that Coca-Cola changed it to red to use in their advertisements,unsure of truth to this

2007-02-13 23:58:41 · answer #8 · answered by buddybottle_australia 2 · 0 0

Santa Claus , legendary bringer of gifts at Christmas . He is generally depicted as a fat, jolly man with a white beard, dressed in a red suit trimmed with white, and driving a sleigh full of toys drawn through the air by eight reindeer. Santa (also called Saint Nicholas and Saint Nick) is said to visit on Christmas Eve, entering houses through the chimney to leave presents under the Christmas tree and in the stockings of all good children. 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.

Origins of the Legend ,The historical Saint Nicholas was venerated in early Christian legend for saving storm-tossed sailors, defending young children, and giving generous gifts to the poor. Although many of the stories about Saint Nicholas are of doubtful authenticity (for example, he is said to have delivered a bag of gold to a poor family by tossing it through a window), his legend spread throughout Europe, emphasizing his role as a traditional bringer of gifts. The Christian figure of Saint Nicholas replaced or incorporated various pagan gift-giving figures such as the Roman Befana and the Germanic Berchta and Knecht Ruprecht. The saint was called Sankt Nikolaus in Germany and Sanct Herr Nicholaas or Sinter Klaas in Holland.

American Origins. The American version of the Santa Claus figure received its inspiration and its name from the Dutch legend of Sinter Klaas, brought by settlers to New York in the 17th century. As early as 1773 the name appeared in the American press as St. A Claus, but it was the popular author Washington Irving who gave Americans their first detailed information about the Dutch version of Saint Nicholas. In his History of New York, published in 1809 under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker, Irving described the arrival of the saint on horseback (unaccompanied by Black Peter) each Eve of Saint Nicholas. This Dutch-American Saint Nick achieved his fully Americanized form in 1823 in the poem A Visit From Saint Nicholasmore commonly known as The Night Before Christmas by writer Clement Clarke Moore . Moore included such details as the names of the reindeer; Santa Claus's laughs, winks, and nods; and the method by which Saint Nicholas, referred to as an elf, returns up the chimney. (Moore's phrase lays his finger aside of his nose was drawn directly from Irving's 1809 description.)

The American image of Santa Claus was further elaborated by illustrator Thomas Nast who depicted a rotund Santa for Christmas issues of Harper's magazine from the 1860s to the 1880s. Nast added such details as Santa's workshop at the North Pole and Santa's list of the good and bad children of the world. A human-sized version of Santa Claus, rather than the elf of Moore's poem, was depicted in a series of illustrations for Coca-Cola advertisements introduced in 1931. In modern versions of the Santa Claus legend, only his toy-shop workers are elves. Rudolph, the ninth reindeer, with a red and shiny nose, was invented in 1939 by an advertising writer for the Montgomery Ward Company.

Modern Influences. The fully detailed modern image of Santa Claus plays a part in Christmas celebrations around the world. People are reminded of Santa Claus through advertising, greeting cards, decorations, and the annual appearance of Santas in department stores and shopping malls (in some cases accompanied by Mrs. Claus and Santa's elves). The figure of Santa Claus occurs in motion pictures for example, Miracle on 34th Street 1947) and in songs such as Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, 1932) and Here Comes Santa Claus, 1947). Children write letters to Santa Claus and set out milk and cookies on Christmas Eve as a snack for Santa.

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 commercialism. To reconcile the legend of Santa Claus with the religious significance of Christmas, some Christians emphasize that the modern figure is derived from legends about a saint who symbolized love, caring, and generosity. "Santa Claus

2007-02-11 19:38:17 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

i do not know

2007-02-06 17:47:09 · answer #10 · answered by Sky lark 3 · 0 0

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