Santa Claus was St Nicholas (pictured) when he was a living man
IN SEACH OF SANTA CLAUS
The mysterious Yuletide gentleman loves to keep us guessing
This is the time of year when children all over the world anticipate the arrival of Santa. In fact he is an indispensable aspect of Christmas.
My first encounter with Santa Claus was before I migrated to the United Kingdom when my parents told me one evening in my tropical homeland that a Mr Claus from Finland had heard of me and was minded to give me a Christmas present or two but first I must honour him with a letter all the way to the Finnish Arctic telling him what I wanted.
Well, I wrote the letters several years running and the presents deposited on my counterpane on Christmas mornings were not quite what had been requested but nevertheless were highly welcome.
One of the problems with Santa is that nobody is really completely sure where he resides. There are several suggestions:
v He lives in Finnish Lapland
v He lives in Norwegian Lapland
v He lives in Greenland
v He lives at the North Pole
Well, of the above four I think we may almost safely discount the last for with global warming the pack ice has been melting on hot summers all the way to the pole so poor Santa, if he ever resided there, would have to have found somewhere else during the heats of the high Arctic summers.
Unless he lives on a boat or on a ship, but more of that later.
Another characteristic of Santa is that he is remarkably versatile. During the late Advent and Christmas days he is to be seen simultaneously in all sorts of public places sitting youngsters on his lap and listening to their little hopes and fears.
Clearly Mr Claus has the ability to project himself in several corporal manifestations while retaining his unique identity.
It was only a few years ago that Santa turned up in person (all the way from where?) at my local Alexandra Park Library bearing a strange resemblance to one of the borough council staff members above his beard and spoke and entertained the local children.
I worked out that the youngsters’ mothers had in fact brought the little darlings to the library in order for them to meet Mr Santa Claus. But then adults have mysterious ways of finding out things, such as for instance where Santa is going to turn up, don’t they?
There are all sorts of reports about Santa Claus but these are the most usual ones:
ü He lives somewhere in the Earth’s frigid zone (the northern one.)
ü He spends all year making lists of good children and excludes the naughty ones
ü He travels through the air by reindeer power on a sleigh with runners
ü He is the owner and manager of a giant factory manufacturing presents all year round
ü He personally visits the homes of good children most usually by flying down the chimney
ü He is extremely stout (how does he get down narrow chimneys?)
ü He loves kindness and hates cruelty
Although my parents in the 1950s had told me that Mr Claus lived in Finland that is a minority opinion. More popular is the belief that he lives in Norwegian Lapland or in Greenland (presumably at or near the North Cape thereof) or at the North Pole despite summer ice melts.
Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen are the most commonly cited names of Santa's reindeer. Donner and Blitzen are Dutch words meaning “thunder” and “lightning” and Rudolph is the best known of all, possibly because of the song Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
The most notworthy aspects of all the above animals is that they can fly although they do not go down chimneys as does Santa. I really do not know what their operational ceilings or top speeds might be. It would be interesting if they could travel to the edge of the atmosphere or fly supersonically.
So mysterious is Santa that different people have different accounts of him and his doings. This is the view from Finland:
“Far, far away in the north, amid the endless wilderness of Finnish Lapland, is a mysterious mountain called Korvatunturi. Right at the foot, hidden from human eyes and ears, lives Santa Claus with his wife, his elves and his reindeer. He’s in fact been living there so long that he can’t quite remember when he first moved in. He doesn’t actually say much about his home, but he does let on that, as its name - Ear Mountain - suggests, it’s an excellent place for hearing and receiving the hopes and dreams of people of all ages.
IN SEACH OF SANTA CLAUS
The mysterious Yuletide gentleman loves to keep us guessing
This is the time of year when children all over the world anticipate the arrival of Santa. In fact he is an indispensable aspect of Christmas.
My first encounter with Santa Claus was before I migrated to the United Kingdom when my parents told me one evening in my tropical homeland that a Mr Claus from Finland had heard of me and was minded to give me a Christmas present or two but first I must honour him with a letter all the way to the Finnish Arctic telling him what I wanted.
Well, I wrote the letters several years running and the presents deposited on my counterpane on Christmas mornings were not quite what had been requested but nevertheless were highly welcome.
One of the problems with Santa is that nobody is really completely sure where he resides. There are several suggestions:
v He lives in Finnish Lapland
v He lives in Norwegian Lapland
v He lives in Greenland
v He lives at the North Pole
Well, of the above four I think we may almost safely discount the last for with global warming the pack ice has been melting on hot summers all the way to the pole so poor Santa, if he ever resided there, would have to have found somewhere else during the heats of the high Arctic summers.
Unless he lives on a boat or on a ship, but more of that later.
Another characteristic of Santa is that he is remarkably versatile. During the late Advent and Christmas days he is to be seen simultaneously in all sorts of public places sitting youngsters on his lap and listening to their little hopes and fears.
Clearly Mr Claus has the ability to project himself in several corporal manifestations while retaining his unique identity.
It was only a few years ago that Santa turned up in person (all the way from where?) at my local Alexandra Park Library bearing a strange resemblance to one of the borough council staff members above his beard and spoke and entertained the local children.
I worked out that the youngsters’ mothers had in fact brought the little darlings to the library in order for them to meet Mr Santa Claus. But then adults have mysterious ways of finding out things, such as for instance where Santa is going to turn up, don’t they?
There are all sorts of reports about Santa Claus but these are the most usual ones:
ü He lives somewhere in the Earth’s frigid zone (the northern one.)
ü He spends all year making lists of good children and excludes the naughty ones
ü He travels through the air by reindeer power on a sleigh with runners
ü He is the owner and manager of a giant factory manufacturing presents all year round
ü He personally visits the homes of good children most usually by flying down the chimney
ü He is extremely stout (how does he get down narrow chimneys?)
ü He loves kindness and hates cruelty
Although my parents in the 1950s had told me that Mr Claus lived in Finland that is a minority opinion. More popular is the belief that he lives in Norwegian Lapland or in Greenland (presumably at or near the North Cape thereof) or at the North Pole despite summer ice melts.
Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen are the most commonly cited names of Santa's reindeer. Donner and Blitzen are Dutch words meaning “thunder” and “lightning” and Rudolph is the best known of all, possibly because of the song Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
The most notworthy aspects of all the above animals is that they can fly although they do not go down chimneys as does Santa. I really do not know what their operational ceilings or top speeds might be. It would be interesting if they could travel to the edge of the atmosphere or fly supersonically.
So mysterious is Santa that different people have different accounts of him and his doings. This is the view from Finland:
“Far, far away in the north, amid the endless wilderness of Finnish Lapland, is a mysterious mountain called Korvatunturi. Right at the foot, hidden from human eyes and ears, lives Santa Claus with his wife, his elves and his reindeer. He’s in fact been living there so long that he can’t quite remember when he first moved in. He doesn’t actually say much about his home, but he does let on that, as its name - Ear Mountain - suggests, it’s an excellent place for hearing and receiving the hopes and dreams of people of all ages.
”Santa is anxious to keep his secrets; they are, after all, an important part of the Christmas story. But a traveller who happened to be passing about a hundred years ago brought news that soon spread of the mountain and its inhabitants. Santa wanted to make sure his hiding place was not invaded with visitors and hit upon a brilliant idea that would allow all his friends and anyone who loved Christmas to come and meet him. About half a century ago he began making regular visits to the Arctic Circle just outside the town of Rovaniemi.
”Korvatunturi lies far, far away in the wilds of Lapland, but then if you live down south, the Arctic Circle may seem a long way away. And because Santa doesn’t want anyone to be disappointed, he has promised to be at his Office on the Arctic Circle every single day of the year, ready to receive friends from near and far.”
This is the view from Norway:
“Santa Claus is not from Finland, the North Pole or any other cold place. He is from Norway.
“In the beginning, Santa Claus was just an ordinary guy who accidentally began delivering gifts for Christmas, and thereafter got his nickname Santa Claus. Hereafter we will call him by his right name, Julenissen (the Yule elf).
This is the view from Norway:
“Santa Claus is not from Finland, the North Pole or any other cold place. He is from Norway.
“In the beginning, Santa Claus was just an ordinary guy who accidentally began delivering gifts for Christmas, and thereafter got his nickname Santa Claus. Hereafter we will call him by his right name, Julenissen (the Yule elf).
“Julenissen has helpers who live all over Norway in their own farmhouses with their own tool sheds. Julenissen himself lives in Drøbak Although he also has his own tool shed, he does not have much time to make gifts because he is busy in his post office, which has its own postmark. Each year Julenissen receives thousands of letters from kids all over the world. These letters often contain a wish list. Julenissen is very busy answering them.
“Transporting the gifts is a big job and makes the main thoroughfares in Drøbak very congested at times. Julenissen uses every means of transportation, from horse-drawn sleigh and sledge to trains and planes. Because of the traffic, highway authorities in Norway have posted road signs around Drøbak saying "Watch out for Santa Claus."
“Each November Julenissen invites all his helpers from all over Norway to a party, actually a pep rally of sorts. This is to raise everyone's spirits for the coming month of hard work. The main activity at the party is lifting bags and practicing techniques for Christmas Eve delivery. There is a competition in which Julenissen and his helpers jump into hay and race on the sledge.
“After Christmas, Julenissen is so exhausted that he can barely walk. He sleeps for weeks to regain his strength for next year.”
“After Christmas, Julenissen is so exhausted that he can barely walk. He sleeps for weeks to regain his strength for next year.”
Regarding the North Pole, this is the view from Canada and the USA:
“For more than 50 years, NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) have tracked Santa. The tradition began after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. store advertisement for children to call Santa on a special "hotline" included an inadvertently misprinted telephone number.
“Instead of Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief's operations "hotline." The Director of Operations, Colonel Harry Shoup, received the first "Santa" call on Christmas Eve 1955.
“Realizing what had happened, Colonel Shoup had his staff check radar data to see if there was any indication of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Indeed there were signs of Santa and children who called were given an update on Santa's position. Thus, the tradition was born. In 1958, the governments of Canada and the United States created a bi-national air defense command for the North American continent called the North American Air Defense Command, known as NORAD. Canada and the U.S. believed they could better defend North America together as a team instead of separately.”
This is the view from Greenland:
“At the 40th Annual Father Christmas World Congress, held in Denmark the debate continued: Santa Claus' home is in which Nordic country? Though Finland is often considered highly possible and historical evidence points to Turkey, the representative from Greenland swayed the delegation with his argument. Santa Claus lives in Greenland because Greenland has lots of reindeer. Who could argue with that kind of reasoning?”
This is the view from Greenland:
“At the 40th Annual Father Christmas World Congress, held in Denmark the debate continued: Santa Claus' home is in which Nordic country? Though Finland is often considered highly possible and historical evidence points to Turkey, the representative from Greenland swayed the delegation with his argument. Santa Claus lives in Greenland because Greenland has lots of reindeer. Who could argue with that kind of reasoning?”
Marcia McKenzie of Juneau, Alaska says of Santa: “I think its great that he lives in the North Pole and I hope he visits every little boy and girl in the world!
“We were in Mexico and we saw children releasing balloons each with a message to Santa Claus. Naughty children? I think that if all children thought that Santa was going to visit them they would all be good.”
So there you have it folks. We wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year!
THE END
This article was published in the 14 December 2006 issue of the Bangla Mirror newspaper, the first English language weekly for the United Kingdom's Bangladeshis - read all over the world from the Arctic Circle to the sub-Antarctic.
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