Wednesday, December 5, 2007

TT: 13 Christmas Gift-Givers from Around the World

Header courtesy of Missy Frye at "Observations from Missy's Window"

Thirteen CHRISTMAS GIFT-GIVERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

In honor of tomorrow Feast of St. Nicholas, here are 13 Christmas gift-givers from around the world.

1. St. Nicholas, 4th century bishop of Myrna in modern day Turkey. Renown for his generosity and love of children.
2. Santa Claus, his secularized, commercialized version in present-day America.
3. Father Christmas, the British version of our Santa Claus. In Roman Britannia, the pagan god Saturn was said to watch over the festival of the winter solstice. After St. Augustine brought Christianity to England in 597 A.D., the gift-giver changed from Saturn to Father Christmas.
4. Dun Che Lao Ren, "Christmas Old Man" in China
5. Pere Noel, Father Christmas in France.
6. Christkindl, the Christ Child in Germany.
7. Nino Jesus, the Christ Child in Latin American countries.
8. Befana, an old woman said to have gotten lost bringing gifts to Gesu Bambino (Baby Jesus) in Italy.
9. Babushka, an old woman said to have felt guilty about steering the magi in the wrong direction on their trip to Bethlehem, in Russia.
10. Jule-tomar, little elves with long white whiskers, in Sweden.
11. Jule-Nisser, elves in Norway.
12. Tel-apo, "winter grandfather" in Hungary.
13. The Grinch, if you live in Whoville :-)


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9 comments:

damozel said...

I've always wondered what sort of gifts the Christ child brings. Hard to imagine a row of Barbie dolls...!

Neat list; I've heard of some of these but not others.

Leah said...

Very informative. Mostly referring to the big GUY!

Jenny McB said...

It so interesting to see the similarities with different cultures.Makes you wonder how the stories all began.

Thanks for sharing the information.

SJ Reidhead said...

You need to read my Pink Flamingo post today about St. Nicholas.

The Pink Flamingo
http://thepinkflamingo.blogharbor.com/blog

Nicholas said...

In England these days the terms Father Christmas and Santa Claus are pretty much interchangeable.

Interesting list.

Secret Agent Mama said...

Hi Fellow Home Schooler!!

Great list!!

Mine's Up Here!

Country Dawn said...

Love the Grinch! :)

I'm doing 13 Television Mysteries this week!

Natalie said...

Cool! I never knew all those different names. :)

My Thursday Thirteen is up too! :)

Alastriona, The Cats and Dogs said...

Thanks for the informative list. I enjoyed learning about the gift givers I didn't know.