Survive the Jive: All-feed

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In advance of Yule I shall just remind people that although in the past I pointed out that Odin's epithet JÓLFAÐR "yule father" sounds like Father Christmas, that is in fact just a coincidence. Odin was indeed the principle god of the Yule festival, but he is not related to Santa Claus.

Father Christmas and Santa Claus are two separate figures who got merged together recently. The latter was mainly in West Germanic speaking continental Europe and was based on Saint Nicolas, while the former was in France and the British Isles and is literally a personification of Christmas itself. Neither existed in Scandinavia or Iceland until recently. The Nordic equivalent was a goat and it is perhaps of relevance that early English depictions of Father Christmas depict him riding on a goat so there may be a connection between the Julbok and Father Christmas but maybe not.

The reindeer and North pole stuff is all modern invention from USA so any resemblance to Odin is coincidence.

Also, as a heathen father, I don't consider it pious to tell my children that the fat purveyor of plastic toys is our god. It isn't. I also refrain from referring to the small pointy hatted servants as "elves" since in our religion this term is reserved for honoured ancestral spirits. I prefer to say gnome so as to avoid confusion. The Nordic countries call them nisse but this may derive from a term meaning "ancestor" which raises similar concerns.

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3.3K viewsDec 25, 2024 at 09:16

In advance of Yule I shall just remind people that although in the past I pointed out that Odin's epithet JÓLFAÐR "yule father" sounds like Father Christmas, that is in fact just a coincidence. Odin was indeed the principle god of the Yule festival, but he is not related to Santa Claus.

Father Christmas and Santa Claus are two separate figures who got merged together recently. The latter was mainly in West Germanic speaking continental Europe and was based on Saint Nicolas, while the former was in France and the British Isles and is literally a personification of Christmas itself. Neither existed in Scandinavia or Iceland until recently. The Nordic equivalent was a goat and it is perhaps of relevance that early English depictions of Father Christmas depict him riding on a goat so there may be a connection between the Julbok and Father Christmas but maybe not.

The reindeer and North pole stuff is all modern invention from USA so any resemblance to Odin is coincidence.

Also, as a heathen father, I don't consider it pious to tell my children that the fat purveyor of plastic toys is our god. It isn't. I also refrain from referring to the small pointy hatted servants as "elves" since in our religion this term is reserved for honoured ancestral spirits. I prefer to say gnome so as to avoid confusion. The Nordic countries call them nisse but this may derive from a term meaning "ancestor" which raises similar concerns.

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