FAQs concerning Santa

Note: All this information was taken from various web sites at random. In some cases the answers agree and sometimes they don't. I would take anything here with a grain of salt. Happy Holiday, which ever one you celebrate in midwinter, whether you believe in Santa Claus or not.

Who is Santa Claus?

Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or simply Santa) is a character in various cultures who gives presents to children on a particular day in December (usually Christmas Day but not in all countries).

Father Christmas is a well loved figure in , and is now interchangeable with Santa Claus, though the two had quite different origins. The term Santa is as widely used and understood by English children as Father Christmas.

Santa is based on a historical figure, Saint Nicholas, a bishop who once lived in a country that was located in present-day Turkey. His claim to fame was that he gave presents to the poor.

What is the origin of this legendary figure?

The modern Santa Claus is a composite character made up from the merging of two different figures.

The first is Saint Nicholas, a bishop of Myra, a province that is now in Turkey. Nicholas was famous for his generous gifts to the poor, in particular presenting three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes. In Holland, Belgium, Austria and Germany, he is portrayed as a bearded bishop in canonical robes.

An early folk tale, originating in the Germanic states, tells of a holy man (sometimes Saint Nicholas), and a demon (sometimes or a troll). The story states that the land was terrorized by a monster who at night would slither down the chimneys and slaughter children (disemboweling them or stuffing them up the flue, or keeping them in a sack to eat later). The holy man tricked the demon with blessed or magical shackles (in some versions the same shackles that imprisoned Christ prior to the crucifixion, in other versions the shackles were those used to hold Saint Peter or Paul). The demon was trapped and forced to obey the saint who ordered him to go to each house and make amends, by delivering gifts to the children. Depending on the version, the saint either made the demon fulfill this task every year, or the demon was so disgusted by the act of good will that it chose to be sent back to hell. Yet other versions have the demon reform under the saint's orders, and go on to recruit other elves and imps into helping him, thus becoming Santa Claus.

So, depending on which legend you believe, Santa is either a saint or a demon, perhaps a combination.

Why is his sled pulled by eight reindeer?

Some elements of this part of the tradition of Santa Claus can be traced back to the Germanic god Wodan. Santa's appearance is similar to some portrayals of this god, who brought gifts in the winter season and rode a flying horse through the sky. (The horse had eight legs, corresponding to Santa's eight reindeer.) Saint Nick's white horse was probably transformed into eight sleigh-pulling reindeer by the famous poem/story by Clement Moore, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas." Moore gave the eight reindeer their names. Although legend has it that Saint Nicholas climbed on rooftops to drop money down the chimney, Moore decided the reindeer could fly to the rooftop. Maybe this was because the Right Jolly Old Elf had short legs and was unlikely to scale walls.

Why is he called Santa Claus?

When the Dutch still owned New Amsterdam, the city that later became New York, they brought the Saint Nicholas legend with them to North America. The name Santa Claus is derived from Sinterklaas, their name for the mythical character based on the saint. In Europe, the date of celebration is December 6, the supposed birthday of Saint Nicholas, called by the Dutch, Sinterklaasavond ("Sinterklaas Eve") by the giving of presents.

In Washington Irving's History of New York, Sinterklaas was Americanized to "Santa Claus" but lost his bishop's apparel. He was pictured as a thick bellied Dutch sailor with a pipe in a green winter coat. Irving's book was a lampoon of the Dutch culture of New York, and much of this portrait is his joking invention.

Why does Santa wear a red suit?

Santa Claus has appeared in various colored costumes as he gradually became amalgamated with the figure of Father Christmas. Red became popular after he appeared wearing a red suit on a Christmas card. His horse was converted to reindeer and a sleigh, the black Petes (which were in fact slaves) were converted to elves, and the date was moved forward a couple of weeks to coincide with Christmas.

The persona of Santa as most of us probably think of him today, as a larger than life grandfatherly figure in a fur-trimmed red suit, was largely the creation of artist, Haddon Sundblom. He was commissioned in 1931 by the Coca-Cola Company to produce ads that would picture St. Nick promoting their product. This was not a new idea. Santa had been used as an advertising tool since stores had first proclaimed themselves as "Santa's Headquarters," as early as 1841. On the day before Christmas that year, J.W. Parkinson of Philadelphia had a real "Criscringle" descending a chimney above the door of his shop to the amazement of all that passed by, especially the children.

Why does Santa give gifts to children?

Gifts were exchanged in the Roman ceremonies of Saturnalia, the festivities of solstice, the origin of most of our Christmas celebrations. We know the exchanging of gifts best from the three magi mentioned in the Bible. Christmas really became widely popular during the last century and is now really holiday celebrating commercialism.

The figure of Father Christmas (Santa Claus or Sinterklaas) is based on Saint Nicholas (270 - 310), the bishop of Myra. As mentioned previously, Saint Nicholas, clad in red and white bishop's robes and riding on a donkey, bestowed gifts on children. Saint Nicholas became the patron saint of children. During the Middle Ages, many churches were built in his honor throughout Europe. The anniversary of his death, 6 December, became the day to give gifts, especially to children.

Why is Santa Claus's workshop located at the North Pole?

Children naturally want to know where Santa Claus actually came from. Where did he live when he wasn't delivering presents? Those questions gave rise to the legend that Santa Claus lived at the North Pole, where his Christmas-gift workshop was also located.

In 1925, since grazing reindeer would not be possible at the North Pole, newspapers revealed that Santa Claus in fact lived in Finnish Lapland. "Uncle Markus", Markus Rautio, who compared the popular "Children's hour" on Finnish public radio, revealed the great secret for the first time in 1927: Santa Claus lives on Lapland's Korvatunturi - "Ear Fell"

The fell, which is situated directly on Finland's eastern frontier, somewhat resembles a hare's ears - which are in fact Santa Claus's ears, with which he listens to hear if the world's children are being nice. Santa has the assistance of a busy group of elves, who have quite their own history in Scandinavian legend.

Over the centuries, customs from different parts of the Northern Hemisphere thus came together and created the whole world's Santa Claus - the ageless, timeless, deathless white-bearded man who gives out gifts on Christmas and always returns to Korvatunturi in Finnish Lapland.

How did elves become part of the Santa Claus legend?

Mythologist Helene Adeline Guerber presents a very convincing case tracing Santa to the Norse god Thor in Myths of Northern Lands:

Thor was the god of the peasants and the common people. He was represented as an elderly 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 horseback but drove in a chariot drawn by two white goats (called Cracker and Gnasher). He was fighting the giants of ice and snow, and thus became the Yule-god. He was said to live in the "Northland" where he had his palace among icebergs. By our pagan forefathers he was considered as the cheerful and friendly god, 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)

Even today in Sweden, Thor represents Santa Claus. The book, The Story of the Christmas Symbols, records:

Swedish children wait eagerly for Jultomten, a gnome whose sleigh is drawn by the Julbocker, the goats of the thunder god Thor. With his red suit and cap, and a bulging sack on his back, he looks much like the American Santa Claus. (Barth, Edna. Holly, Reindeer, and Colored Lights,The Story of the Christmas Symbols. New York: Clarion Books, 1971, p. 49)

Thor was probably history’s most celebrated and worshipped pagan god. His widespread influence is particularly obvious in the fifth day of the week, which is named after him – Thursday (a.k.a. Thor’s Day).

It is ironic that Thor’s symbol was a hammer. A hammer is also the symbolic tool of the carpenter – Santa Claus. It is also worth mentioning that Thor’s helpers were elves and like Santa’s elves, Thor’s elves were skilled craftsman. It was the elves who created Thor’s magic hammer.

Does Santa really have a wife? When did they marry?

In the 1930s Alice Leedy Mason wrote a poem entitled Jolly Old Santa Claus that was told to her four grandchildren. It features a white bearded Saint Nicholas living at the North Pole with his wife Mrs. Claus. Santa Claus has an army of helpful at the North Pole to help him make presents, open letters, and bake cookies. A Christmas tree room is featured with brownies creating ornaments. The poem ends with Santa arriving home with the brownies at Christmas Eve and falling asleep with a cup of hot chocolate.

Another web site claims that her name is Jessica Mary Claus. No explanation was given as to how this was discovered.

No one seems to know when they got married. Perhaps they are living together without a formal marriage.

Does Santa have any biological or adopted children of his own?

Apparently not.

There are probably a lot more questions that you may have regarding Santa, but that's all the time I had to research this important topic. There are plenty of web sites that claim to give the straight skinny about him. Too bad that don't agree with each other.