Santa

How did the idea of Santa Claus get started?

Was it a legend, a myth, a story, or a real person that went around delivering gifts? It has variations in different countries, but most of the Christian world has some sort of Santa story. How did that get started?

Public Comments

1. I can't remember his real name, but he was called St. Nicholas after many years. But there was a man that went around his town and gave all the small children gifts, usually home made. That's about all i know though, and his legacy just took off. You can google it though.
2. St Nicholas lived in Turkey and gave toys to the orphanage (I think) it's something along those lines.
3. It is not an idea. He is real. :) Happy Holidays!
4. As the others say Santa Claus was real. His name was Nicholas and later was called a Saint by The Roman Catholic Church. It was a couple weeks ago, but we were discussing him at CCD (Sunday School). He used to give children gifts who were poor and who could not afford to give presents. He actually was a Bishop around AD 325. This is how his legend came along. I have a site where you can read more into it if you would like. This will give you more information for you. I just gave you a summary. Also, not everyone in the world has a Santa Claus. My grandfather grew up in Sicily, and they have something called a La Befana. She is kind of like St. Nick in a way. Happy Holidays!
5. Early Christian origins: Saint Nicholas of Myra is the primary inspiration for the Christian figure of Santa Claus. He was a 4th century Christian bishop of Myra in Lycia, a province of the Byzantine Anatolia, now in Turkey. Nicholas was famous 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. Germanic folklore: Prior to the Germanic peoples' Christianization, Germanic folklore contained stories about the god Odin (Wodan), who would each year, at Yule, have a great hunting party accompanied by his fellow gods and the fallen warriors residing in his realm. Children would place their boots, filled with carrots, straw or sugar, near the chimney for Odin's flying horse, Sleipnir, to eat. Odin would then reward those children for their kindness by replacing Sleipnir's food with gifts or candy Modern Origins: Pre-modern representations of the gift-giver from church history and folklore merged with the British character Father Christmas to create the character known to Britons and Americans as Santa Claus. Father Christmas dates back at least as far as the 17th century in Britain, and pictures of him survive from that era, portraying him as a well-nourished bearded man dressed in a long, green, fur-lined robe. He typified the spirit of good cheer at Christmas, and was reflected in the "Ghost of Christmas Present" in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. The name Santa Claus is derived from Sinterklaas, the Dutch name for the character based on St. Nicholas. He is also known there by the name of Sint Nicolaas which explains the use of the two fairly dissimilar names Santa Claus and Saint Nicholas or St. Nick. Main article: Tomte Folk tale depiction of Father Christmas riding on a goat. Perhaps an evolved version of the Swedish Tomte. Folk tale depiction of Father Christmas riding on a goat. Perhaps an evolved version of the Swedish Tomte. In other countries, the figure of Saint Nicholas was also blended with local folklore. As an example of the still surviving pagan imagery, in Nordic countries there was the Yule Goat (Swedish julbock, Norwegian "julebukk", Danish "julebuk" Finnish joulupukki), a somewhat startling figure with horns which delivered the presents on Christmas Eve. A straw goat is still a common Christmas decoration in Sweden, Norway and Finland. In the 1840s, the Tomte or Nisse in Nordic folklore started to deliver the Christmas presents in Denmark, but was then called the "Julenisse", dressed in gray clothes and a red hat. By the end of the 19th century this tradition had also spread to Norway and Sweden (where the "nisse" is called Tomte), replacing the Yule Goat. The same thing happened in Finland, but there the more human figure retained the Yule Goat name Hope I answered your question!