Christmas gift-bringer


A number of Midwinter or Christmas traditions in European folklore involve gift-bringers. Mostly involving the figure of a bearded old man, the traditions have mutually influenced one another, and have adopted aspects from Christian hagiography, even before the modern period. In Eastern Slavic countries, the figure is Father Frost. In Scandinavia, it is an elf-like figure or tomten who comes at Yule.
In Western Europe, the figure was also similar to an elf, developing into Father Christmas in the modern period in Great Britain. In German-speaking Europe and Latin Europe, it became associated with the Christian Saint Nicholas. In some parts of Central Europe, there is a separate tradition of a young child or fairy-like being bringing presents, known as Christkind.
From these European traditions, the North American figure of Santa Claus developed, beginning in the 1820s. The American figure in turn had considerable influence on the various European traditions during the 20th century.

Origins

The origin of the Christian gift-bringer figures in European folklore are clearly pre-Christian, more specifically connected with the Yule festival in Germanic paganism, and are often associated with the figure of Odin, the leader of the Wild Hunt at the time of Yule.
Santa Claus's reindeer has also been compared to Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse of Odin in Norse mythology.
Jacob Grimm traces the threatening or scary companions of Saint Nicholas to Christianized versions of house-spirits.
After Christianization, the benign mid-winter gift-bringer was associated with the 4th-century Christian Saint Nicholas of Myra. This association took place mainly in the territories of the Holy Roman Empire, including German-speaking Europe, the Low Countries, the Czech lands, Hungary and Slovenia.
The basis of this association is that Saint Nicholas was noted for his generous gifts to the poor, in particular presenting the three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes.

European folklore

There are numerous traditions of Christmas gift-bringers in European folklore.
They can be loosely classified in variations of an "Old Man",
and a "child" or "girl" tradition. The "Old Man" is frequently syncretised with the hagiographical traditions of Saint Nicholas and Saint Basil.
In some countries, these traditions co-exist. In Italy, there is Babbo Natale and the Befana besides Santa Lucia and Gesù bambino. In many parts of Switzerland, and in Northeastern Italy, Saint Nicholas is also celebrated on December 6. Saint Lucy brings gifts to children on the eve of her feast day—December 13—in Udine, Bergamo, Brescia, Cremona, Lodi, Mantova, Piacenza, Parma, Reggio Emilia, Verona and Western Trentino.