Sullivan Chair in Catholic Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, said depictions of Santa Claus as a white man came about mainly because he was a European import, a blend of the Dutch Sinterklaas and British folklore character Father Christmas, with elements of Saint Nicholas, a 4th-century Greek bishop in ...
Santa Claus may be popularly known as a white-bearded benefactor with Dutch-English origins, but multiethnic versions of Santa are making the rounds out there too — illustrating that in an increasingly diverse United States, Santa takes on whatever color you imagine him to be.
The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around A.D. 280 in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey.
The modern figure of Santa is based on folklore traditions surrounding Saint Nicholas, the English figure of Father Christmas, and the Dutch figure of Sinterklaas.
By all accounts, his story begins in the fourth century AD in what is now modern-day Turkey. A man named Nicholas became the bishop of a village called Myra. He was later canonised, and soon became one of the most popular saints in Christianity.
The figure of Santa Claus had originated in the US, drawing at least partly upon Dutch St Nicolas traditions.
According to the blog Email Santa, Santa Claus is 1,751 years old as of 2022. In fact, the origins of Santa Claus can be traced all the way back to a monk named Saint Nicholas, who was born between 260 and 280 A.D.
Saint Nicholas was bishop of the small Roman town of Myra in the 4thCentury in what is now Turkey. Internationally, there are many variations for the festive figure, as the name has been interpreted and changed in many ways, unique to each country.
Santa Claus Village is located in Rovaniemi, Finland, the official hometown of Santa Claus. Santa Claus has made Lapland in Northern Finland his home for centuries, and the Arctic Circle is close to his heart because many Christmas secrets are rooted in this magical place.
As any Finn will tell you, Santa is Finnish. And while perhaps a few Swedes and Norwegians would beg to differ, thanks to the fact that Lapland also stretches through their countries, there's no question that Finns do Christmas very, very well.
The Santa Claus emoji 🎅 portrays the face of Santa Claus, the legendary Christmas figure.
The real St. Nicholas was born in Lycia, in what is now part of Turkey. At that time, Lycia was a Greek-speaking, and he would have spoken Greek.
Unlike the bloated, red-coated father Christmas of the West, Russia's Santa Claus, known as Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost), is slender with a wizard-like flowing beard and he wears a long robe that comes in different colors, such as blue and white.
While Coca-Cola did not create the legend of Santa Claus completely, it is true that Coca-Cola advertising played a big role in shaping the jolly character we know and love today.
Santa Claus, legendary figure who is the traditional patron of Christmas in the United States and other countries, bringing gifts to children. His popular image is based on traditions associated with Saint Nicholas, a 4th-century Christian saint. Father Christmas fills the role in many European countries.
The original British Father Christmas, as depicted in 17th century, sported a beard, but it wasn't white, and his clothing colour was green, not red. And we can thank Scandinavian myths for his reindeer pulled sled, though the red nosed reindeer leader, 'Rudolph', was another American advertising creation.
Lapland spreads out across northern Finland, with a flight time of around three and a half hours from London. Known as Santa Claus' homeland, this place dishes up the stuff of festive fairy tales – think snow-dusted forests, cosy log cabins and more reindeer than people.
Although it can be argued that our modern Father Christmas is a fusion of ancient myths, legends and folklore, the resemblance and connection to the Norse god Odin has many historians believing he was the original Santa.
Danes, Swedes and Norwegians base their Santa on a mythological figure – a gnome known as a “tomte” or “nisse” in the Scandinavian languages – whereas Finns, who are ethnically and linguistically a different people, know Santa as “joulupukki,” a Christmas buck or goat, derived from old pagan Norse mythology.
Although widely thought to hail from the North Pole, Santa Claus is in fact originally from Turkey. The BBC's Mark Lowen visited the southern Turkish town of Demre to trace the roots of old Santa.
Lapland, the conventional name for the region, is derived from Lapp, the name Scandinavians ascribed to the Sami people, who have sparsely inhabited the region for several thousand years. Today the Sami consider Lapp to be a derogatory term. They call the region Sápmi.
The Sami are an indigenous people who inhabit Sápmi, their preferred name for Lapland, and adjacent areas of northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland as well as the Kola Peninsula of Russia. They are speakers of the Sami languages, which are endangered.
According to History.com, the monk who over time would evolve into Santa Claus was born in what is now modern-day Turkey in 280 A.D., making him a whopping 1,741 years old!
Claus is much more tight-lipped about her age than Santa is. The last time she talked about it, she mentioned she stopped counting when she turned 170. Similar to Santa, the elves believe Mrs. Claus is roughly the same age, around 1,700 years old.
Santa has been heavily influenced by traditions surrounding Odin, the Norse god of the Norse gods, a.k.a. the Allfather.