Mythological & Legendary Figures Codexery

Santa Claus

The Christmas Eve gift-bringer whose legend blends Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas and older lore.

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Santa Claus

via Wikipedia: Santa Claus · see source

Santa Claus is a legendary figure who brings gifts on Christmas Eve, originating in Western Christian culture.[1] His modern image blends folklore traditions of the 4th-century Greek bishop Saint Nicholas with the English figure Father Christmas.[2] According to the cited source, Santa's workshop is where Christmas elves manufacture gifts, and his sleigh is pulled through the air by flying reindeer.[3]

Key facts and history

Saint Nicholas was a 4th-century Greek Christian bishop of Myra in the Roman Empire, now Turkey.[4] He was known for generous secret gift-giving, including providing dowries for three impoverished daughters.[4][5] In 1087, merchants from Bari removed major bones of Nicholas's skeleton from his sarcophagus in Myra.[6] Venetian sailors later took the remaining fragments to Venice during the First Crusade.[6]

Haddon Sundblom's 1930s Coca-Cola advertisements further popularized the red-suited Santa.[5] The remains of Saint Nicholas were transported to Bari by sailors and are currently housed in the Basilica di San Nicola.[6] This poem established the basis for how Santa Claus is portrayed in modern times.[7]

What the cited sources add

An NBC News account states that Santa Claus as known today did not emerge until the 1800s.[5] The same source notes that Washington Irving's 1809 book first described Santa as portly and smoking a pipe.[5] The same report notes that a mountain peak in Kyrgyzstan was named the Peak of Santa Claus to boost tourism.[8][9] An i Paper article states that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer originated in a 1939 story by Robert L. May for Montgomery Ward.[10]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Santa Claus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Santa Claus: History, Legend, & Facts", Encyclopedia Britannica (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Santa Claus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Father Christmas, green or red?", BBC News, 4 December 2009 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Santa Claus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: B. K. Swartz, Jr.; The Origin of American Christmas Myth and Customs ; Retrieved 22 December 2007; Jeff Westover; The Legendary Role of Reindeer in Christmas ; Retrieved 22 December 2007 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Santa Claus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Santa Claus: The real man behind the myth", NBC News, 22 December 2009 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. "Santa Claus: The real man behind the myth", NBC News, 22 December 2009. facts only, no text reused. nbcnews.com
  6. Wikipedia, "Santa Claus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Santa Claus: The real man behind the myth", NBC News, 22 December 2009; "People: St. Nicholas—nearly everybody's saint!", St. Nicholas Center; "Places", St. Nicholas Center (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Santa Claus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Guyoncourt, "The number of reindeer used by Santa Claus and their names", The i Paper, 16 December 2023; "A Visit from St. Nicholas", Britannica, 7 December 2024 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Pannier, "Kyrgyzstan: Central Asian Country Welcomes Santa Claus To His New Home", Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 30 December 2007. facts only, no text reused. rferl.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Santa Claus" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pannier, "Kyrgyzstan: Central Asian Country Welcomes Santa Claus To His New Home", Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 30 December 2007 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Guyoncourt, "The number of reindeer used by Santa Claus and their names", The i Paper, 16 December 2023. facts only, no text reused. inews.co.uk

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Santa Claus (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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