Who is older: Santa Claus or Santa Claus? How St. Nicholas became Santa Claus (7 photos) Where did Santa Claus come from.

Our New Year is not conceivable without the kind Santa Claus and his granddaughter Snegurochka. Not a single Western Christmas (Europe, England, USA and others) is complete without the most important character - Santa Claus. But who is this kind-hearted gift giver? Is this a real character or fictional? Why is he called that and where does he live? I will try to answer all these questions for you today. Santa Claus I can say for sure that Santa Claus is a very real person who lived in antiquity. True, his name was different, he looked different and he was not born in Lapland, as is commonly believed, but in the place of Myra Lycian in 253 AD, in modern Turkey. And then they called him Saint Nicholas. He was a simple bishop who was ready to accept death for his faith and always fought for good.

There were legends that St. Nicholas himself was very prosperous, but not greedy. He helped all the unfortunate and poor, at night imperceptibly tossing coins into their shoes, which they left at the door, and putting delicious pies on the windows. So St. Nicholas became the favorites of children. However, merchants, bakers, prisoners and sailors also chose him as their intercessor and saint.

But how did it become a symbol of Christmas? Saint Nicholas Day is celebrated on December 6th. In the 10th century, in the cathedral of the German city of Cologne, students of a Christian school began to distribute pastries and fruits on this day. Very quickly, this tradition has become widespread in other cities and countries. Remembering the legend, people began to hang special festive stockings or shoes at night so that Nikolai would put his gifts there.

It is generally accepted that the Saint, who enters houses at night, descends the chimney, brings gifts to obedient children, and rods to mischievous people, naughty people and pranksters. Therefore, long before the holiday, children try to behave well, and parents, in case of their bad behavior, immediately remind that rods can be received as a gift. Sometimes, even with presents, children are given small twigs.

How did Saint Nicholas become Santa Claus? This character came to the USA from Holland in the 17th century. In 1626, a frigate of several Dutch ships arrived in the New World. On the prow of the main ship "Goede Vrove" stood the figure of Nicholas, who, as I said, was also the patron saint of sailors.

The sailors bought land from the native American Indians for $24 and gave the settlement the name "New Amsterdam". Today, this "village" has become the largest city in the United States and one of the most famous cities in the world - "New York". The Dutch removed the figurine of the saint from the ship and moved it to the main square so that Nikolai would protect the village.

Only now the Indians and new residents spoke their own language, and not English. They could not clearly pronounce the name of the saint and the phrase sounded like "Sinter Klas", then it changed into "Santa Klas", and over time into the familiar "Santa Claus" to us. This is how St. Nicholas was miraculously transformed into Santa Claus, who on Christmas Eve brings gifts home.

However, the story of the transformation of Santa Claus does not end there. Clement Clarke Moore's poem "The Coming of St. Nicholas", published on Christmas Eve 1822, was an important step in the reincarnation. 20 quatrains describe the meeting of a child with Santa Claus, who brought him gifts. In the poem, there was practically nothing left of the former saint; he was completely devoid of rigor and seriousness. Santa on a sleigh By K. Moore Santa is a cheerful, cheerful elf with a pipe in his mouth and a round paunch. As a result of this metamorphosis, Nicholas forever lost his episcopal appearance and moved to a team with deer. In 1823, in the poem "The Night Before Christmas", the names of 8 Santa's reindeer were listed:

• Blixem (Lightning)
• Dunder (Doodle)
• Cupid (Cupid)
• Comet (Comet)
• Vixen (Spiteful)
• Pranser (Prancing)
• Dancer (Dancer)
• Dasher (Awesome)

It wasn't until 1939 that the ninth reindeer, Rudolph, appeared, with a large and shiny reddish nose. Rudolf Meanwhile, the illustrator Thomas Nast completed the image of Santa Claus in detail in 1860-1880. in Harper's magazine. Santa has such irreplaceable attributes as a list of bad and good children, the north pole. But this is not the end of the transformation.

Klaus, completely devoid of the holy halo, was dressed up in all sorts of colorful clothes. But in 1931, the well-known brand Coca Cola launched an advertising campaign, the face of which was Santa Claus. Haddon Sundblom, an American artist, depicted a white-bearded, good-natured old man in red and white clothes and holding soda in his hands.

As a result, Santa Claus acquired the image that we can all see today. This is a plump, cheerful old man delivering presents on Christmas night. He must have a red jacket or short fur coat, a white beard, a red hat and trousers with a white trim. Santa Claus travels on a sleigh pulled by 9 reindeer and filled to the brim with gifts for obedient children around the world.

In the UK, it is customary to call it "Father Christmas", which means "Father Christmas". But our Russian Santa Claus has nothing to do with St. Nicholas. Our Grandfather Frost is a folk ritual character living in the forest or, as it is believed today, his residence in Veliky Ustyug. Winter is his wife. Together they rule the earth from November to March. In very old tales, he is sometimes called Morozko or Grandfather Treskun.

Where does Santa Claus live today?

The closest relative of Santa Claus is Yolupukki, who lives in Lapland, where Santa Claus also lives. Since 1984, by decision of the UN, Lapland has been officially proclaimed the Land of Santa Claus. Here is also the residence of Santa, in which he, along with the gnomes and elves, lives all year round. It is there that children from all over the world write letters with wishes to the address: Arctic Circle, 96 930, Finland or to the Internet site: santamail.com.

The Finnish government elevated Santa Claus to a cult rank, built a house for him on the slope of Mount Korvatunturi, made advertisements, created a website and announced his email address to the whole world. It is Yolupukki from Lapland (Finland) who receives the most daily letters from adults and children from all over the world.

Every year on December 24 at noon, he arrives on his reindeer in the oldest Finnish town of Turku, accompanied by a tontu, his young assistants - girls, boys in red overalls and caps. Here, from the city council building, the arrival of Christmas is proclaimed and New Year's songs are sung.

But thanks to American advertising and perseverance, Western Santa Claus gradually replaced the English Father Christmas, the Finnish Yolupukki, and the French Santa Claus. And even our beloved and dear Santa Claus. I will say even more, the Turks erected a monument to St. Nicholas in the city of Demra, but it is not the bishop who stands on the pedestal, but a cheerful bearded man with a huge bag of gifts!

However, apparently, these are not the final changes in the image of the saint. For example, in Israel, where religious traditions are strictly observed, Christmas is not celebrated. And if you want to buy Christmas cards or other accessories there, then it will be very problematic for you to find them.

But then they and the Jews will find a way out of any situation! On the shelves of Israeli stores on Christmas Eve, postcards began to gradually appear with the image of Santa Claus, who flaunts a Jewish kippah on his head instead of the traditional red cap. So far, there are no holiday greetings on the postcards, but something tells me: there will still be Tolya!

Well, seriously, it seems to me that it doesn’t matter who knocks on your door on New Year’s or Christmas night: Santa Claus, Santa, Nikolai, Father Christmas or Yolupukki. The main thing is to believe in magic and kindness, so that a cheerful wizard brings smiles and joy along with gifts. And what is his name, you ask him yourself when you meet on a magical night.

Have you ever thought that Santa Claus was once a real person, that is, he had a historical prototype? I recently thought about it and decided to look into this issue.

Who is Santa Claus?

Santa Claus(English) Santa Claus ), that is Saint Nicholas, - in the late North American tradition - a Christmas grandfather who gives gifts to children on Christmas. In England he is called Father Christmas- Father Christmas.

History of Santa Claus.

The prototype of Santa Claus is a common Christian saint (Santa is a saint, Claus is Nikolai). This Nicholas, Bishop of the city of Myra in the Asia Minor province of Lycia, was not at all like a smiling old man in a red cap and fur coat. Little is known about the life of this man, revered as a saint by both Catholics and Orthodox. Even the years of his life are set approximately.

He was probably born in 260 and possibly died in the 345th. His native province of Lycia was in the southwest of present-day Turkey. It is known that in his youth he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and Egypt, that upon his return he became the head of the Christians of the city of Peace. In general, Christians attribute to Nicholas of Mirlikiy immeasurable kindness and love for people, and with or without occasion he showered them with gifts.

It was from this philanthropy that already in later times in Germany and Holland, where St. Nicholas ( Nikolaus - Klaus) was also highly revered, the custom went on the day of this saint, December 6, to make gifts to children on his behalf. After some time, the custom of giving gifts to children shifted for three weeks, to the Christmas holidays, but Saint Nicholas remained responsible for their presentation, Santa Claus in German.

Santa Claus in New York.

In 1626, several Dutch ships, led by the frigate Goede Vrove, on whose bow stood figure of saint nicholas arrived in the New World. Seekers of happiness bought land from the Indians for $24 and named the village New Amsterdam (now this village is called New York). The Dutch moved the figurine of the saint from the ship to the main square.

Yes, that's bad luck, the new inhabitants of the new land spoke not in English, but in their own way. And the phrase "Saint Nicholas" sounded like "Sinter Klass" - Sinterklaas. Then, over time, our character's name changed into "Santa Claas" and a little later in "Santa Claus".

Santa Claus by Thomas Nast

The image of modern Santa Claus.

An important stage in the reincarnation was the poem "The Parish of St. Nicholas", written Clement Clark Moore and published before the Christmas holidays of 1822. In twenty quatrains, it was told how on the eve of Christmas the baby met with the saint who brought him gifts.

The American poet depicted Santa Claus as cheerful, cheerful elf-buoyant with a round belly and a pipe in his mouth, from which he constantly emitted snow-white clouds of fragrant tobacco smoke.

In 1863, the famous American artist Nast Thomas, who worked for the publication of Harper Weekly ( Harper Weekly, based on the book by Clement Clark Moore, used the character of Santa Claus in a series of his political cartoons, in the form of a gift-giving hero.

The artist first mentioned that Santa lives at the North Pole, that he keeps a special book where he writes down the deeds of good and bad children, etc. In Nast's drawings, there was a gradual transformation of the appearance of Santa from a character in the form fat old elf in a fur suit to a more realistic and cheerful character in a sheepskin coat. And the red color of the coat and cap of Santa Claus was inherited from St. Nicholas, who was depicted in European icons in a red episcopal robe and in the same color headdress.

Transport Santa Claus.

1. Dasher ("Awesome")
2. Dancer ("Dancer"),
3. Prancer ("Prancing"),
4. Vixen ("Evil"),
5. Comet ("Comet"),
6. Kupid ("Cupid"),
7. Dander ("Doodlehead") and
8. Blixem ("Lightning").

These names first appeared in 1823, when the poem "The Night Before Christmas" was written:

Rudolf Red'Nosed Reindeer

Now Dasher!
Now, Dancer!
Now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On Cupid!
On Dunder and Blixem!
To the top of the corruption!
To the top of the wall!
Now, dash away!
Dash away!
Dash away all!"

In 1939 appeared Rudolf- the ninth deer with a large shiny red nose.

Where does Santa Claus live?

Lapland officially proclaimed "Santa Claus Land" by the UN since 1984. There is also the residence of Santa Claus, where he lives all year round with dwarf helpers. Children from many countries write there at: Finland, 96930, Arctic Circle- or via the Internet: www.santamail.com

Christians have long suspected that Santa Claus is an evil plan of Satan to distract people from Jesus to his brainchild**. Some have compared the name "Santa Claus" to "Satan claws" (claws of Satan) and does not mark the birth of Jesus at all.

Satan came up with Santa and gave him his name, rearranging one letter (santa = satan), in order to replace Jesus with him, to draw people's sympathy from Jesus to him. Therefore, Santa appears during the expected Christmas (Christmas).

He sometimes carpenters and loves children, like Jesus; he administers his judgment, like God, deciding which child is worthy of a good gift, which one is worse; he travels through heaven like an angel; children should pray to Santa for gifts, and they will receive them only if they believe in him as in God;

But besides this, his house is in the north, like that of Satan (Is. 14:13); his assistants are elves and gnomes, who are nothing but devils and demons; he comes into the house, like a brownie, through the stove and only at night, like all evil spirits; parents put gifts and lie to children that Santa Claus left them, because where Satan is, there there is always a lie. When children grow up, they think that Santa Claus is a fairy tale for children, and Jesus is a fairy tale for adults. This is exactly what Satan wants.

Very strange and suspicious fact. It has long been noticed that Santa constantly imposes the Coca-Cola brand. Today it has already been proven that this drink is practically a poison for the human body. Initially, the original composition of Coca-Cola included a few mg of cocaine. Hence the "Coca" in the name.

According to a Coca-Cola company representative, cocaine is no longer included in the composition of the drink. However, this is hard to believe because. the very recipe for modern Coke is known to only two people on the planet (why such secrecy?) + to this day, the Coca-Cola company imports coca leaves, which are used to make cocaine in the United States.

Coca Cola is the only American corporation legally authorized to import coca leaves into the United States, suggesting the presence of drugs in Coca-Cola.

For example, the Interregional Public Organization of Consumers “Open Association of Consumers” demanded through the court to ban the sale of Coca-Cola because The Coca-Cola Company - specifically does not indicate the full composition on the label of its product.

There is another interesting point. In the production of Coca-Cola, a certain secret ingredient X7 is used. This is a white powder that is brought ready to the cola factories and added to the finished product. The management of factories and technologists are not informed about the composition of the powder. What is there, no one knows.

There is definitely some element in the composition of Coca-Cola that provokes buying this poison again. Many claim that they add coca, in other words, something like synthetic cocaine, otherwise it is impossible to explain the huge number of people who are addicted to this drink.

The meaning of the name santa

We hope that no one will doubt the fact that Santa Claus is not even a product of the devil, but the DEVIL HIMSELF.

For example, in the East In Germany, he is widely known as the Shaggy Goat (what would it be for?), As well as the Scavenger and Rider. In the Netherlands, he is Zanta Klaus, who is meekly served by the "Black Peters" (devils).

Also, if you look at his name as if through a looking glass, then his name is transformed into SATAN-LUCAS (lucas is a shortening of the devil). "Santa" is an incomplete anagram for "Satan". And take my word for it, it's not just a coincidence.

And what about KLAUS, Claus in the permutation of letters is read as LUKAS - L-U-C-A-S, and LUKAS is an abbreviated form of LUCIFER. For example, in 1929, one New Age Organization changed its name from Lucifer Trust at Lucas Trust. Do you think it's a coincidence?

The devil bears that name old Nick

In The History of the Hobgoblin, author Allen W. Wright writes: "The name Robin itself was a medieval nickname for the devil, and his distinctive laugh was "Ho ho ho!"

- Around the 1600s, Robin Goodfellow played the devil in many, many plays. And the performances were then very popular, because they did not have such theaters and cinemas as they do today. So theatrical productions were an essential part of the society of those times, and before the devil appeared on the stage, he declared himself with his trademark "ho ho ho." And that, ladies and gentlemen, is where Santa's "ho ho ho" came from.

Let's move on to the Oxford English Dictionary, in which the definition of the devil is indicated ... this is incredible! It says here: "The Devil" - bears such names as Satan, Lucifer, Beelzebub, ... and in common colloquial speech is known as ... Old Nick.

Yes, yes ... the same old Nick who we talk about, whose hands we let our kids sit on in malls, we watch movies revolving around old Nick.

But if you look at him in the ancient days, that's what that old Nick looked like! That's old Nick used by ha-satan... satan... that's what the devil's name is, old Nick. And again: "But it doesn't mean that to me at all!"

And I hope by now you have understood that it does NOT matter what it means to me. ONLY what it means to Him matters. All these things are very difficult to swallow at once... there is no doubt about it!

The Second Vatican Council officially declared

In 1970...let's continue... The Second Vatican Council...listen to this!...officially declared that a Roman Catholic priest named Nicholas never existed!

They demoted St. Nicholas, took away his sainthood, because the Vatican received obvious evidence that it is quite possible that he never even existed ... along with many other saints.

Further, the Second Vatican Council recognized, that the legends associated with this "saint" are not of Christian origin and may have come from pagan traditions themselves! Thus we see that Saint Nicholas was most likely a fictional saint who was associated with the sun god, later known as Odin.

They needed to Christianize it, make a saint out of it...over time the colors have been changed, we see elves appearing on the horizon, transforming from vicious into cute little creatures making toys...all this is an American modernization of a very satanic evil pagan holiday in origin .

Helpers and friends of Santa, and what!

By the 1500s in Holland...there Saint Nikolaus became "Sinter Klaas". Okay... so Saint Nikolaus turned into Sinter Klaas - a kind and wise old man, with a white beard and in white clothes, in a red robe and with a staff... and he rode across the sky and over the rooftops on his white horse in the company of their black jacks, who were the Krampus we just saw, leaving gifts for the people under their sacred tree, which was the YOLKA!

He will visit you on his birthday - December 25th, of course... and give you gifts if you were good, or if you were bad, then his black jacks will beat you.

To be honest, Santa Claus also has helpers, and what kind of helpers! In different countries - these are angels and devils, as well as Black Peter, Shaggy Goat, Beelzebub, Black Prankster, Hans Muff, Knecht Ruprecht.

The latter, for example, portrayed the devil, wore a white cloak (later red) with a hood, rattled chains, flogged delinquent and disobedient children with rods, and put the really bad ones into a bag and took them away.

Krampus the Christmas demon is Santa's best friend

Krampus was a purely pagan creature that came from Scandinavian mythology, but the Catholic Church decided to associate him with the Christian tradition and make him friends with Saint Nicholas (now Santa Claus). Since the 17th century, Santa Claus and Krampus have become a kind of Catholic Christmas yin-yang. Santa Claus brings gifts, but Krampus appears in front of him bringing pain.

Krampus has many different looks. He can be the twin brother of the devil, a bat, a goat, a creepy snowman... As a rule, horns and animal skin are used in the image.

Krampus traditionally has a long tongue, almost to the stomach, and one human leg and one goat (Satan) leg.

When Austria was under the rule of Nazi Germany, Krampus became a symbol of sin, anti-Christian ideals. The newspaper of the Austrian Catholic Union called for a boycott of Krampus. The Krampus holiday (December 5) was banned, and anyone who dressed up as Santa's friend went to jail for violating the law. After the war, in 1953, the head of the Vienna kindergarten system published a pamphlet calling Krampus an "evil man".

The idea is to leave milk and cookies for Santa Claus.

Encyclopedia WorldBook says the following: “The belief that Santa enters the house through a chimney comes from a Norwegian legend. The Scandinavians believed that the goddess Herta appeared in the fireplace and brought good luck to the house.

From here, in general, the English word Hearth came from - a fireplace, it comes from Hertha, who was the goddess northern peoples. So you see again, straight out of the WorldBook encyclopedia, that Santa Claus coming into the house through the chimney has nothing to do with anything good, but again it has to do with god coming through the fire. Ladies and gentlemen, I know of only one god who comes through fire, and that is Satan himself, and one day he will be thrown into the lake of fire.

And here we continue: “Druid householders left a treat of milk and pastries to appease this deity. coming through the chimney into their fireplace." That's where the idea of ​​leaving milk and cookies for Santa Claus came from. We think we made it up ourselves, which is funny, but it all comes from a long time ago, ladies and gentlemen, from the Druids, when they left milk and pastries for their god, who came through the fire in the fireplace on December 25th, on the day his birth.

“The spruce tree was considered magical because it remained green all year round. In some cultures it was decorated with fruit to symbolize new life, while in other cultures it was decorated with 12 candles in honor of their sun god. ... --Because the feast of Saturnalia lasted 12 days, that's where the 12 Christmas candles came from... --Today we even sing songs to him! Exactly as they did in their pagan rituals."

It seems that the good old Santa Claus, who gives gifts to good children and grants their wishes, has existed since ancient times.

In fact, this is not entirely true - the progenitor of this fairy-tale character really really existed in antiquity, but Santa Claus, known to us in his current form, was “born” by the standards of historical science recently - no more than 200 years ago.

The kind grandfather swam across the ocean twice before becoming famous all over the world. The real prototype of Santa Claus is Saint Nicholas, a real character who lived in Asia Minor during the time of Rome and later became the archbishop of the city of Mir Lycian in the Roman province of Lycia.

Coming from a family of wealthy Christians, Nicholas devoted himself entirely to the service of God and gave his inheritance to the church. In the Orthodox tradition, he is considered Nicholas the Wonderworker, the patron saint of travelers and seafarers, a benefactor who gives gifts to children.

He is well known to us on the feast of St. Nicholas of the Winter on December 19, when obedient children find gifts from St. Nicholas under their pillows.

In Catholicism, there is a legend about three dowry sisters who could not get married because of poverty and the only way they could go to a brothel was to sell themselves for money. Saint Nicholas found out about this situation and secretly threw a bag of gold coins to two older sisters.

Their father found out about this and decided to track down the donor. The saint found out about the insidious plan and threw a bag of money into the chimney. The bundle landed safely in the youngest daughter's stocking, which was drying by the fire. It was this episode that formed the basis of the traditional idea of ​​Santa Claus bringing gifts through the chimney on Christmas Eve and hiding from people.

This legend was very popular in the Netherlands and, together with the Dutch settlers, crossed the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. Founded by emigrants from Holland, New Amsterdam became New York after a while, and the kind grandfather from the tales of the Old World took root in a different society and was overgrown with fresh legends and myths.

This is especially interesting because Puritan New England did not celebrate Christmas at all. Legends about Santa Claus existed in the form of oral tradition and were passed on as the population mixed from the descendants of the Dutch to new immigrants.

Only at the beginning of the 10th century, in 1809, did a written mention of this character appear.

The American writer Washington Irving ("The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", "Rip Van Winkle"), now considered the father of American literature, wrote "History of New York", where he spoke about the veneration of Santa Claus during the existence of New Amsterdam. With this, he laid the foundation for the popularity of this character.

The baton was picked up by Clement Moore, who wrote a poem about Santa Claus, and then the artist Thomas Nast first depicted him as we are used to seeing him today. It is believed that Nast portrayed himself in the guise of Santa - a cheerful, full, elderly man with a full beard and lush mustache.

Santa Claus got his final look in 1931 under the brush of Haddon Sundblom - it was a red suit and cap with white fur trim. It was in this guise that the good miracle worker crossed the Atlantic for the second time and returned to Europe in order to finally take possession of the entire planet.

The popularity of this hero among the general population began to actively exploit various commercial enterprises in their advertising campaigns.

On Coca-Cola ads on Christmas holidays, Santa still delivers drinks and gifts around the world, now not on reindeer, but on a large truck. Deer, elves and other supporting characters are always present in the stories about Santa, helping him in all good deeds.

It is very difficult to answer the question "Who is Santa Claus" unequivocally, because many peoples have their own analogue of a kind grandfather who brings gifts to obedient and well-mannered children in winter and lives somewhere far away at the North Pole.

For the French, this is Pere Noel, for the Russians, Santa Claus, and for the Finns, Joulupukki. All these characters are united by common features - they appear in winter, live somewhere far away at the end of the world, are middle-aged, plump and very kind.

It doesn't matter what his name is - Santa or Ded Moroz, what is more important is that with him joy, fun and hope for a happy future come to the house.

10 questions about Santa:

1. How old is Santa Claus?
Even he doesn't remember it exactly. One day, as he sat in his favorite rocking chair in front of the fireplace at our home on the Korvatunturi mountain in Finnish Lapland, he decided to count how many Christmas nights he could remember. Santa counted to 364 and fell asleep.

2. Does Santa Claus have a family?
- Certainly! All people in the world have a family. He is equally affectionate towards adults and children.

3. Can people visit Korvatunturi?
- Of course they can, if they know how to get here. But it is a long and difficult road. And if you ask for directions, everyone will send you in different directions. Remember that you need to turn left behind a small Christmas tree, and if you are coming from the west on a narrow path, then you need to turn right if you have already passed Spruce Pond.

4. Does Santa Claus always have to be in a good mood?
- Santa is always kind. Sometimes he has to be strict, but he is always fair. From time to time he happens to be angry or sad. He becomes especially upset when he learns that there are places in the world where the well-being of children is not taken care of.

5. What does Santa Claus think about how people celebrate Christmas in different cultures?
- Each culture has its own customs that are worthy of respect, and that's how Santa Claus treats them.

6. Was Santa ever a child and did he go to school?
- Santa Claus still feels like a child. Life has taught him everything. The modern world is constantly changing, so you need to study all the time. Santa has been to many schools. Once he even attended an elementary school.

7. How tall is Santa?
- It depends on whether he is walking in deep thought, or looking at the branches on the ground in the forest, or looking into the distance. He is taller than the tallest elf, but shorter than the tallest spruce in Lapland.

8. What hobbies does Santa have?
- Santa loves to go to the sauna, especially the old-fashioned smoke sauna. And he also loves to take a nap for an hour or two.

9. Does Santa Claus live in Korvatunturi?
- Korvatunturi is his permanent residence and the place he loves the most, but during the year he goes to different places around the world and stays where he feels good.

10. How many names does Santa Claus have?
- It seems to me that in every country he has his own name. Here, in Finland, his name is Joulupukki, in America - Santa Claus, in Germany, if I'm not mistaken, Weinakhtsman, and in neighboring Holland - Kerstman. He has so many names because people all over the world love him very much.

10 questions about elves

1. How many elves live in Korvatunturi?
- Nobody knows for sure. Elves move quickly and are rarely all in the same place. But when the sun sets behind Korvatunturi, there are as many elven heels hiding under the blankets as there are stars in the sky, and maybe even more.

2. Are elves Santa's children?
- Santa Claus believes that everyone should be someone's child, and that being a child is the most important thing in the world.

3. Are new elves still being born?
- New Christmas elves and other types of elves are born quite often. When the last rays of the evening sun meet the aurora, the north wind blows and the stars shine, elves are born.

4. Is it possible to become an elf?
- Certainly. And you can still be an elf. Taking care of the younger and weak is the job of an elf. Making happy someone who has so little to be happy or giving toys and clothes to children who really need them is the best way to become an elf.

5. Does Santa read all the letters he gets?
- The elves help him read letters and make lists. Santa still gets a lot of Christmas cards.

6. What kind of elves does Santa Claus have?
- He has elves who drive deer. They respect deer because they have learned to live in harmony with humans and elves. He has elves-cartographers and elves-explorers. And then there are elves-professors who study all sorts of different things.

7. Do all elves have names?
- Yes, almost everyone.

8. What does Santa do with his elves in his spare time?
- They play different games. One of their favorite activities is to sit by the fireplace and talk about everything in the world. They reminisce about past travels and interesting people they have met over the years.

9. Can a human see an elf?
- Elves are good at staying undetected. Children often notice a branch moving or someone peeking at them through a window or behind a curtain. Then they realize it's their personal elf tiptoeing around.

10. Do Christmas elves have different names?
- Yes, I have. The Finns call them Tonttu, the Swedes and Norwegians - Tomte or Nisse, the Germans - Heinzelmännchen, and the British also call them gnomes.

10 Questions About How Santa Delivers Gifts

1. How does Santa travel?
- Differently. He has a sled and a reindeer team, as well as a team of dogs, a car, an airplane, a snowmobile and a helicopter.

2. Are all gifts made in Korvatunturi?
- Not all. Some are made at home and are especially valuable. There are also small workshops that help Santa make gifts.

3. How does Santa manage to deliver all the presents?
- He takes advantage of the difference in time zones. When children in Finland wake up, children in Japan fall asleep and vice versa. Not without magic in this matter. Sometimes Santa instructs the elves to deliver gifts. The most important thing is that the gifts are delivered on time.

4. Has Santa ever got stuck in a chimney?
- If this happened, the delivery would have to be suspended. And this cannot be allowed. Santa is a big chimney-downer.

5. Is it possible to receive gifts even if you have not behaved well?
- Santa Claus is sure that deep down all children are good. If the child is hungry or tired, he may start acting up. It has nothing to do with whether the child is good or not.

6. What does Santa do when he's not delivering presents?
- He relaxes by walking in the forest and listening to the sounds of the wild. He also spends time preparing for next Christmas by reading the children's letters. Most of all he likes to read books.

7. Santa gets presents?
- Often. The best gifts, according to Santa, are the happy smiles of children and the joy in their eyes.

9. How does Santa know how to get to all of his recipients?
“It goes like this: secretary elves write down the detailed addresses of all children, including country, state, province, province, city, village or district, house number and apartment, and even bedroom and bed. This is a very responsible job, 284 elves are working on it all year.

10. Where does Santa get the money to go to, say, Japan?
- Shh! We don't use the word "money" here. Santa is very lucky because money does not exist in his world. He just gets on a plane, and that plane flies to Japan when Santa needs to go there.