Santa Claus has been with us for a very long time. This is a real-life spirit, alive, by the way, to this day.

Once upon a time, even before the advent of Christianity in Russia, our ancestors believed that the spirits of the dead guard their family, take care of the offspring of livestock and good weather. Therefore, in order to reward them for their care, every winter people gave them gifts. On the eve of the holiday, the village youth put on masks, turned out sheepskin coats and went from house to house, caroling. (However, different regions had their own peculiarities of caroling.) The hosts presented the carolers with food.

The meaning was precisely that the carolers were the spirits of their ancestors, who received a reward for their tireless care of the living. Among the carolers there was often one "man" dressed the worst of all. As a rule, he was forbidden to speak. It was the oldest and most formidable spirit, he was often called simply Grandfather. It is possible that this is the prototype of the modern Santa Claus. Only today, of course, he has become kinder and does not come for gifts, but brings them himself. With the adoption of Christianity, pagan rites were, of course, "abolished", and therefore exist to this day. The carolers depict not the spirits of ancestors, but heavenly messengers, which, you see, is practically the same thing. It is already difficult to say who to consider as Grandfather, but there is an "older" even now.

According to another version, the "great-great-grandfather" of the modern Russian Santa Claus was the hero of Russian folk tales Morozko or Frost the red nose, the master of weather, winter and frost. Initially, he was called Grandfather Treskun and was represented as a little old man with a long beard and a disposition as harsh as Russian frosts. From November to March, Grandfather Cracker was the sovereign master of the earth. Even the sun was afraid of him! He was married to a despising person - Zima. Grandfather Treskun or Father Frost was also identified with the first month of the year - the middle of winter - January. The first month of the year is cold and cold - the king of frosts, the root of winter, its sovereign. It is strict, icy, icy, it's time for snowstorms. People say about January like this: fireman and jelly, snowman and cracker, fierce and fierce.

In Russian fairy tales, Santa Claus is portrayed as an eccentric, strict, but fair spirit of winter. Remember, for example, the fairy tale "Morozko". Morozko froze the good hardworking girl, froze, and then gave him gifts, and he froze to death the evil and lazy one. Therefore, in order to avoid trouble, some northern peoples are still coaxing old man Frost - on solemn nights they throw cakes, meat, pour wine over the threshold of their dwellings so that the spirit does not get angry, does not interfere with hunting, does not destroy crops.

Santa Claus was represented as a gray-haired old man with a beard to the floor in a long thick fur coat, felt boots, a hat, mittens, and with a staff with which he froze people.

FATHER FROST (Morozko) - a mighty Russian pagan God, a character in Russian legends, in Slavic legends - the personification of Russian winter frosts, a blacksmith who ices water, generously showering winter nature sparkling snowy silver, giving the joy of a winter festival, and, if necessary, in a difficult time, protecting the Russians from advancing enemies by hitherto unseen winter cold freezing into the ice, from which iron begins to break.

Under the influence of Christianity, which cruelly and bloodily fought against Slavic paganism(battle with religious competitors for profits), the original image of the Snow Grandfather was distorted (as well as all other Slavic gods), and Morozko began to be represented as an evil and cruel pagan deity, the Great Elder of the North, the lord of the icy cold and blizzard, who froze people. This was also reflected in Nekrasov's poem "Frost - Red Nose", where Frost kills a poor young peasant widow in the forest, leaving her young children orphans.

As the influence of Christianity in Russia weakened late XIX- the beginning of the 20th century, the image of Morozko began to soften. Santa Claus first appeared at Christmas in 1910, but did not become widespread.

AT Soviet time, after the rejection of the ideas of Christianity, a new image of Santa Claus was distributed: he appeared to children under New Year and gave gifts; this image was created by Soviet filmmakers in the 1930s.

In December 1935, Stalin's comrade-in-arms, member of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR Pavel Postyshev published an article in the Pravda newspaper, where he proposed organizing a New Year celebration for children. In Kharkov, a children's New Year's party. Some modern illiterate historians accuse Stalin of inconsistency for not destroying Santa Claus, since Santa Claus, in their opinion, is a "children's god."

He comes to the holiday with his divine granddaughter - the Snow Maiden.

Modern collective image Father Frost was built based on the hagiography of St. Nicholas, as well as descriptions of the ancient Slavic deities Pozvizd (God of the wind), Zimnik and Karachun.

Unfortunately, all the ancient myths and legends of the Slavs were destroyed after forced Christianization, therefore we know practically nothing about the ancient Slavic beliefs and traditions (see "Problems of studying paganism in Russia").

The peculiar nature of the interpretation in Christianity of pagan deities (religious competitors of Christianity, albeit beloved by the people, whom the clergy certainly represented as extremely evil and cruel) determined the behavior of Santa Claus inspired by the clergy - after the introduction of Christianity in Russia, he began to collect sacrifices - to steal naughty children and take them to bag. Such a church interpretation made it possible to inspire rejection of pagan gods from childhood.

However, over time, after the introduction of restrictions on the irreconcilable ideology of Christianity and the spread of later post-Christian humanistic traditions, especially after the final ban on Christians burning people at the stake (in the first quarter of the 19th century), Father Frost, in the view of Russians, became kinder and began to give gifts to children.

This image was finalized in the USSR: the ancient Slavic God Santa Claus became the symbol of the most beloved national holiday- The New Year, which replaced the feast of the Nativity of Christ (allegedly the birthday of the god of a foreign people from the Sinai desert), hitherto, with the full support of the authorities, imposed by the church on the people of tsarist Russia for almost a whole millennium.

The professional holiday of Santa Clauses is celebrated every last Sunday of August.

Recently, the birthday of the Russian Santa Claus was announced November 18th- According to the data of long-term meteorological observations, a stable snow cover falls on most of Russia on this day. But this is nothing more than the current Russian commercial amateur performance based on the Christian tradition of the Nativity of Christ. Of course, the great Slavic Gods do not and cannot have "birthdays", because they are eternal and arose in the minds and beliefs of people back in times early paleolithic at the very beginning of the postglacial period, and possibly even earlier.

About the ancient beliefs of the Slavs, about their four great solar holidays, incl. about the great two-week pagan New Year's Yule-Solstvorot, which marked the beginning of our modern New Year's holiday (which is simply a truncated Yule, from which now only the last and most magical 12th Yule Night is left - our New Year's Eve), about the forced Christianization of the Slavs by the Varangian invaders-enslavers , about the destruction Slavic mythology(because now the Slavs do not have their own mythology) see on page Shrovetide and in the accompanying articles on page Pantheon of Slavic Gods, given after the "Dictionary of Slavic Gods".

Santa Claus and the Russian Orthodox Church

Russian attitude Orthodox Church to Santa Claus is ambiguous, on the one hand, as a pagan deity and a wizard (God of a different religion, which means a religious competitor that contradicts Christian teaching), and on the other hand, as an invincible Russian cultural tradition with which to fight is only to dishonor yourself and reveal your weakness.

It is difficult to say unequivocally where the Russian Santa Claus lives, since there are a lot of legends. Some claim that Santa Claus comes from North Pole, others say - from Lapland. Only one thing is clear, Santa Claus lives somewhere in the Far North, where it is winter all year round. Although in the fairy tale of VF Odoevsky "Moroz Ivanovich" Frost's red nose in the spring moves to the well, where "it is cold even in summer."

Veliky Ustyug is the current "business homeland of Father Frost"

At the initiative of the former mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, a tourist business project has been operating in the Vologda Oblast since 1999. Veliky Ustyug- the birthplace of Santa Claus. Tourist trains from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vologda go to Veliky Ustyug, specialized bus trips have been developed.

During the first three years (from 1999 to 2002) the number of tourists visiting Veliky Ustyug grew from 2,000 to 32,000. According to the Governor of the Vologda Oblast Vyacheslav Pozgalev, since the beginning of the project, more than a million letters from children from various countries have been sent to Santa Claus, and the turnover in the city has increased 15 times and unemployment has decreased.

Origin of Santa Claus

Imagine that local gnomes are considered the ancestors of Santa Claus in some countries. In others, medieval itinerant jugglers who sang Christmas carols, or itinerant sellers of children's toys. There is an opinion that among the relatives of Santa Claus is the East Slavic spirit of cold Treskun, he is Studenets, Frost. The image of Santa Claus has evolved over the centuries, and each nation has contributed something of its own to its history. But among the ancestors of the old man was, it turns out, quite a real man. In the 4th century, Archbishop Nicholas lived in the Turkish city of Mira. According to legend, it was kind person. So, once he saved the three daughters of a distressed family by throwing bundles of gold into the window of their house. After the death of Nicholas, he was declared a saint. In the 11th century, the church where he was buried was robbed by Italian pirates. They stole the remains of the saint and took them to their homeland. The parishioners of the church of St. Nicholas were outraged. broke out international scandal. This story made so much noise that Nicholas became the object of veneration and worship of Christians from different countries peace.

In the Middle Ages, the custom was firmly established on Nicholas Day, December 19, to give gifts to children, because the saint himself did this. After the introduction of the new calendar, the saint began to come to the children at Christmas, and then on the New Year. Everywhere the good old man is called differently, in England and America - Santa Claus, and in our country - Santa Claus.

Who is he - our old friend and good wizard Russian Santa Claus Our Frost is a character of Slavic folklore. For many generations, the Eastern Slavs created and kept a kind of "oral chronicle": prose legends, epic tales, ritual songs, legends and tales about the past of their native land.

The Eastern Slavs have a fabulous image of Frost - a hero, a blacksmith who binds water with "iron frosts". The Frosts themselves were often identified with violent winter winds. Several folk tales are known, where the North Wind (or Frost) helps lost travelers, showing the way.

Our Santa Claus is a special image. It is reflected in ancient Slavic legends (Karachun, Pozvizd, Zimnik), Russian folk tales, folklore, Russian literature (play by A.N. Ostrovsky "Snow Maiden", poem by N.A. Nekrasov "Frost, Red Nose", poem by V.Ya. Bryusov "To the King of the North Pole", Karelian-Finnish epic "Kalevala").

Pozvizd - slavic god storms and bad weather. As soon as he shook his head, a large hail fell on the ground. Instead of a cloak, the winds dragged behind him, snow flakes fell from the hems of his clothes. Pozvizd rushed swiftly through the heavens, accompanied by a retinue of storms and hurricanes.

In the legends of the ancient Slavs, there was another character - Zimnik. He, like Frost, was presented as an old man of small stature, with white hair and a long gray beard, with an uncovered head, in warm white clothes and with an iron mace in his hands. Where he passes - there expect a cruel cold.

Among the Slavic deities, Karachun stood out for his ferocity - evil spirit shortening life. The ancient Slavs considered him an underground god who commanded frost.

But over time, Frost changed. Stern, in the company of the Sun and Wind, walking around the earth and freezing to death the peasants who met on the way (in the Belarusian fairy tale "Frost, Sun and Wind), he gradually turns from a formidable into a fair and kind grandfather.

The Santa Claus costume did not appear immediately either. At first he was depicted in a raincoat. To early XIX centuries, the Dutch painted him as a slender pipe smoker, skillfully cleaning the chimneys through which he threw gifts to children. At the end of the same century, he was dressed in a red fur coat trimmed with fur. In 1860 American artist Thomas Knight adorned Santa Claus with a beard, and soon the Englishman Tenniel created the image of a good-natured fat man. With such Santa Claus, we are all well acquainted.

And yet, let's try to determine the main features of the appearance of the Russian Santa Claus, corresponding to both historical and modern ideas about this fairy-tale wizard. According to one of the researchers of the image of Santa Claus - candidate of historical sciences, art critic and ethnologist Svetlana Vasilievna Zharnikova - the traditional image of Santa Claus, according to ancient mythology and symbolism of color, suggests:

Beard and hair- thick, gray (silver). These details of appearance, in addition to their "physiological" meaning (the old man - gray-haired), also carry a huge symbolic character denoting power, happiness, prosperity and wealth. Surprisingly, it is the hair that is the only detail of the appearance that has not undergone any significant changes over the millennia.

Shirt and trousers- white, linen, decorated with white geometric patterns (a symbol of purity). This detail is almost lost in the modern idea of ​​a costume. The performers of the role of Santa Claus and dressers prefer to cover the neck of the performer with a white scarf (which is acceptable). As a rule, they do not pay attention to trousers or they are sewn in red to match the color of the fur coat (a terrible mistake!)

Fur coat- long (up to the ankle or shin), always red, embroidered with silver (eight-pointed stars, geese, crosses and other traditional ornaments), trimmed with swan down. Some modern theatrical costumes, alas, sin with experiments in the field of colors and substitution of materials. Surely many have seen a gray-haired wizard in a blue or green fur coat. If so, know that this is not Santa Claus, but one of his many "younger brothers". If the fur coat is short (the shin is open) or has pronounced buttons, then you have a suit of Santa Claus, Per Noel or one of the foreign brothers of Santa Claus. But replacing swan fluff with white fur, although not desirable, is still acceptable.

Hat- red, embroidered with silver and pearls. Trimming (hall) with swan down (white fur) with a triangular cutout made on the front part (stylized horns). The shape of the hat is semi-oval (the round shape of the hat is traditional for Russian tsars, it is enough to recall the headdress of Ivan the Terrible). In addition to the imposing attitude to color described above, theatrical costume designers of our time tried to diversify the decoration and shape of Santa Claus's headdress. The following "inaccuracies" are characteristic: replacing pearls with glass diamonds and gems (permissible), the absence of a cutout behind the rim (not desirable, but very common), a hat of the correct semicircular shape (this is Vladimir Monomakh) or a cap (Santa Claus), a pompom (he same).

Three-fingered gloves or mittens- white, embroidered with silver - a symbol of purity and holiness of everything that he gives from his hands. Three-fingeredness has been a symbol of belonging to the highest divine principle since the Neolithic. It is not known what symbolic meaning modern red mittens carry.

Belt- white with a red ornament (a symbol of the connection between ancestors and descendants). Nowadays, it has been preserved as an element of the costume, having completely lost its symbolic meaning and the corresponding color scheme. It's a pity …

Shoes- silver or red, silver-embroidered boots with a raised toe. The heel is beveled, small or completely absent. On a frosty day, Santa Claus puts on white felt boots embroidered with silver. White color and silver are symbols of the moon, holiness, north, water and purity. It is by shoes that you can distinguish the real Santa Claus from the "fake". A more or less professional performer of the role of Santa Claus will never go out to the public in boots or black boots! As a last resort, he will try to find red dancing boots or ordinary black felt boots (which is certainly not desirable).

Staff- crystal or silver "under the crystal". The handle is twisted, also in a silver-white color scheme. The staff is completed by a lunnitsa (a stylized image of the month) or a bull's head (a symbol of power, fertility and happiness). It is difficult to find a staff that matches these descriptions these days. The fantasy of decorators and props almost completely changed its shape.

And some more features of Santa Claus

The external features of Santa Claus and his invariable attributes are as follows:

1. Santa Claus wears a very warm hat with fur trim. Attention: no bombs and brushes!

2. Santa's nose is usually red. (No bad analogies! It's just VERY cold in the far north!) But a blue nose is also allowed due to Grandfather's snow and ice origin.

3. Santa Claus has a beard to the floor. White and fluffy like snow.

4. Santa Claus wears a long thick fur coat. Initially, quite a long time ago, the color of the fur coat was blue, cold, but under the influence of the red coats of the "European brothers" it changed to red. Although on this moment both options are allowed.

5. Santa Claus hides his hands in huge mittens. (see also point 7)

6. Santa Claus does not wear belts, but ties his fur coat with a sash (belt). Last but not least, fasten with buttons.

7. Santa Claus prefers only felt boots. And it is not surprising, because at - 50? C (usual northern air temperature) in boots, even the Snow Master's feet will freeze.

8. Santa Claus always carries a staff with him. Firstly, to make it easier to wade through the snowdrifts. And secondly, according to legend, Santa Claus, while still being "wild Frost", with this very staff "froze" the people.

9. A bag of gifts - a later attribute of the Master of Winter. Many children believe that he is bottomless. In any case, Santa Claus never lets anyone near the bag, but he himself takes out gifts from it. He does this without looking, but he always guesses who is waiting for what gift.

10. Santa Claus moves on foot, through the air or on a sleigh pulled by a troika. He also likes to cross his native expanses by skiing. No cases of deer use have been reported.

11. The most important difference between the Russian Santa Claus is his constant companion, the granddaughter of the Snow Maiden. It is understandable: alone and in the far north, you can die of longing! And with the granddaughter it is more fun. P.S. And Santa Claus never wears glasses and never smokes a pipe!

Snow Maiden, granddaughter of Santa Claus

Later, Grandfather Frost had a granddaughter Snegurka or Snegurochka, the heroine of many Russian fairy tales, a snow girl. Yes, and Santa Claus himself has changed: he began to bring gifts to children on New Year's Eve and fulfill innermost desires.

As you can see, the origin of the Russian Santa Claus is fundamentally different from the European Santa Claus. If Santa Claus was a real historical figure who was elevated to the rank of saints for good deeds, then the Russian Santa Claus is rather a pagan spirit, a character of folk beliefs and fairy tales. Despite the fact that the modern image of Santa Claus was already formed under the influence of the European New Year's character, most of the characteristic Russian features remained. To this day, Russian Grandfather Frost walks in a long fur coat, felt boots and with a staff. He prefers to move on foot, by air, or on a sleigh drawn by a frisky troika. His constant companion is the granddaughter of the Snow Maiden. Santa Claus plays the game "I'll Freeze" with children and hides in new year's eve gifts under the tree.

The Snow Maiden, the granddaughter of Father Frost, accompanies her Grandfather everywhere. The image of the Snow Maiden is a symbol of frozen waters. This is a girl dressed only in white clothes (or colors resembling frozen water). The headdress of Grandfather Frost's granddaughter is an eight-pointed crown embroidered with silver and pearls.

From the story of Santa Claus

The creation of Santa Claus as an obligatory character of the New Year's ritual is attributed to the Soviet authorities and is timed to coincide with the end of the 1930s, when, after several years of prohibition, the Christmas tree was again allowed.

The rapid process of developing this image as an indispensable participant children's holiday Christmas trees became possible in the pre-war years only by relying on the literary tradition and everyday practice, which in its main features had developed long before October.

This image is already recognizable: “good Moroz Ivanovich” - a “gray-haired-gray-haired” old man who, as he “shakes his head, frost falls from his hair”; he lives in an ice house, and sleeps on a featherbed made of fluffy snow.

On the one hand, according to Nekrasov's poem "Frost, Red Nose" (1863), he is portrayed as a harmful atmospheric spirit, which is credited with the ability to have a detrimental effect on a person.

On the other hand (mainly in poetry for children), its positive counterpart is born, the main function of which is the formation of "healthy" weather and the creation of winter "magic".

Nekrasov’s “Frost, Red Nose” also begins to “work” to create this image, from which only the fragment “It’s not the wind that rages over the forest ...” is taken for children’s use, where main character, torn out of the context of the poem, acts as a "voivode", an unlimited ruler winter forest and a magician who puts away his "kingdom" in "diamonds, pearls, silver."

At the same time and regardless of the literary image of Frost, a mythological character arises and develops in the urban environment, "managing" the Christmas tree and, like the Christmas tree itself, originally borrowed from the West. In the course of the reorientation of the Christmas tree "on domestic soil" and the creation of pseudo-folklore Christmas tree mythology, the design of Santa Claus took place. This character was formed in the process of searching for answers to children's questions: where does the Christmas tree come from in the house, who brings it, who gives gifts?

The process of name unification stretches over several decades: old Ruprecht (1861) - isolated cases pointing to the German tradition; St. Nikolai or Grandfather Nikolai (1870) - the option is discarded early, since among the Russians, as already noted, Nikola never acted as a donor; Santa Claus (1914) - only when depicting Western Christmas trees; just an old man living in the woods in winter (1894); kind Morozko (1886); Moroz Yolkich (1890s).

In the struggle for the name, Santa Claus turned out to be the winner. There is no analogue to this name in any Western Christmas tree character. In East Slavic mythology, Frost is a respected creature, but also dangerous: in order not to arouse his anger, he had to be handled with care; asking not to destroy the harvest, he was cajoled; they scared the kids. But along with this, he also acted as the Grandfather (deceased parent, ancestor) coming on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas tree holidays, Santa Claus does not appear immediately, but in the middle or even towards the end of the celebration. According to popular notions, any guest is always welcome and should be an object of veneration as a representative of a foreign world. So Santa Claus becomes welcome on the Christmas tree, and he should be invited, which is quite consistent with the ritual of inviting mythological characters - ancestors or the same folklore Frost. Santa Claus, in essence, becomes the ancestor-giver. Therefore, they call him not an old man or an old man, but a grandfather or grandfather. By the beginning of the 20th century, the image of Santa Claus had finally taken shape: he functions as a toy on the Christmas tree, the main figure standing under the Christmas tree, an advertising doll in the windows, a character in children's literature, a masquerade mask, a giver of the Christmas tree and gifts.

At this time, the opinion about the “original”, antiquity of this image is affirmed: “Grandfather Frost ... suddenly appears in the hall and, just like a hundred or two hundred years ago, and maybe a thousand years ago, together with the children, dances around Christmas trees, singing an old song in chorus, after which gifts begin to pour out of his bag for children. When an anti-religious campaign began in the USSR in the mid-1920s, not only the Christmas tree, but also Santa Claus turned into "religious trash" and began to be regarded as "a product of the anti-people activities of the capitalists."

The anti-Christmas campaign was attended by poets who were in the service of the Soviet government, such as Demyan Bedny, who wrote:

Under "Christmas" at lunchtime

Old-fashioned Christmas grandfather

With such a long, long beard

Poured fabulous "Santa Claus"

With a Christmas tree under his arm, he carried a sleigh,

Sledge with a five-year-old child.

There is nothing Soviet here!

Together with the rehabilitation of the Christmas tree at the end of 1935, the denunciations of Father Frost also ceased, after some doubts, he was completely restored in his rights. Organizers of children's trees got the opportunity to take the initiative, compilers of books - recommendations on the arrangement of Christmas trees wrote scripts, which eventually led to the development of a standard ritual of a public children's tree.

If earlier children received various gifts that differed both in quality and material value, now Santa Claus brought the same packages for all children, which he took out of his bag in a row.

In Russia, not a single New Year is complete without the Snow Maiden. This fabulous beauty is the embodiment of purity, youth, fun and makes the winter holiday brighter and more joyful.

Since childhood, we have been accustomed to seeing her next to Santa Claus at all New Year's events, but few of us have thought about where the Snow Maiden's parents are. Let's try to figure it out!

• Who is the Snow Maiden and where did she come from?
• Who are the Snow Maiden's parents and where are they now?
• Who is the author of the fairy tale about the Snow Maiden?
• Who is the Snow Maiden to Santa Claus?

Who is the Snow Maiden and where did she come from?

Folklore has long mentioned three fairy tale hero who are directly involved in the New Year's festivities - Santa Claus, Snowman and Snow Maiden. And if a kind old man has his prototypes in many other countries of the world, then such a prototype does not exist for a cute fair-haired girl either in mythology or in the legends and fairy tales of other peoples.

The Snow Maiden is an original Russian treasure, a kind of angel who can persuade even a shy child not to be shy in front of Santa Claus and tell a poem or sing a song.

There are several versions of the origin of the Snow Maiden. One of them is connected with the ancient Slavic rite of burial of Kostroma, a ritual character symbolizing fertility. According to another version, the origins of the appearance of the snow beauty go back to pagan beliefs about the mythological god of the waters and the night sky - Varun, who in some legends is the prototype of Santa Claus.

It is believed that the Snow Maiden is the embodiment of ice-bound river waters, concealing the onset of warm spring days.

Who are the Snow Maiden's parents and where are they now?

Although in folklore The Snow Maiden was known back in pagan times, for the first time they talked about her throughout the country in the second half of the 19th century, when a fairy tale about a girl Snegurka, or Snezhevinochka, fashioned from snow, was published in Russia. According to this story, a peasant Ivan and his wife Marya once lived in a Russian village. Peace and love always reigned in their house, but they lived together until old age, never being able to have children.

One winter, a lot of snow fell in their village. Ivan and Marya went out into the yard and began to sculpt a snow doll. Suddenly, the Snow Maiden stirred, as if alive, and the couple accepted this miracle as a blessing from God, who sent them a child. The tale has a sad ending: jumping with her friends over the fire, the snow girl melted.

However, over time, her image took root in the popular mind, and from the end of the 19th century it began to be actively used in scenarios on New Year trees. Since Ivan and Marya were ordinary people, having grown old, they died, so the Snow Maiden is now an orphan.

Who is the author of the fairy tale about the Snow Maiden?

For the first time, the fairy tale about the Snow Maiden and her elderly parents was recorded in 1869 in his works “Poetic Views of the Slavs on Nature” by the outstanding Russian folklore collector Alexander Afanasyev.

The author also has a pagan version of the appearance of the winter heroine, according to which the Snow Maiden is a snow nymph. It is born at the beginning of winter from snow, and with the advent of spring days it evaporates and takes with it the desires of the villagers.

In 1873, the playwright Alexander Ostrovsky, impressed by the stories of Afanasyev, created the play The Snow Maiden, in which he described the winter beauty as a pale-faced girl with blond hair, dressed in a fur-trimmed fur coat, hat and mittens. In this work, the author presented Snegurka as the 15-year-old daughter of Father Frost and Spring-Krasna, who let her go to the people in the suburb of Berendeevka under the supervision of Bakula-bobyl.

As in the legend of Afanasyev, in Ostrovsky's play the Snow Maiden melted, but for a different reason - from the bright sunbeam that the vengeful and evil god of fertility Yarilo brought upon her.

Who is the Snow Maiden to Santa Claus?

If you believe Ostrovsky's play, then Father Frost is the father of the Snow Maiden, but in 1935, after they were officially allowed to celebrate the New Year in the USSR, they began to be mistaken for grandfather and granddaughter. AT teaching aids for New Year's events, the young beauty acts as an old man's assistant and his intermediary in games with kids on the Christmas tree.

Who came up with the idea of ​​calling the Snow Maiden the granddaughter of Frost is still unknown, but their first joint appearance took place in 1937 in the House of Unions of Moscow, and since then it has just so happened that the good old man is the girl’s grandfather.

Birthplace of the Snow Maiden

The legend says that the birthplace of the Snow Maiden is the Berendeyevo kingdom in the Kostroma region. In the Yaroslavl province, which borders on the Kostroma region, there is the village of Berendeevka. According to legend, this is where the Snow Maiden lives.

The New Year is inextricably linked with the corresponding attributes: a fragrant Christmas tree, garlands and Christmas decorations, Snow Maiden, and, of course, her grandfather. Few people know how he appeared, and hardly anyone knows that at first he was negative character. Once, instead of a warm elegant fur coat, he wore a cloak, bludgeoned naughty children with a staff, and was almost crippled, having three fingers on his hands. Intrigued? Then let's move on to history.

Fear of Morok

Russian Santa Claus is associated with good magic, fun and gifts that children find under the tree and in New Year's boots, such as this one.

However, everything is not so simple: the Eastern Slavs once considered him an evil winter spirit and called Morok, who is also referred to as the god of cold and winter. Scientists studying the life of the ancient Slavs are sure that the word "frost" appeared from the "haze".

Morok was considered the embodiment of evil and icy cold and was presented as a hunchbacked, sloppy old man, shod in bast shoes and dressed in a linen shirt. Where he passed, the earth, rivers and forests turned into an ice kingdom: he chained everything with frost. It was the ability to turn the living into the dead that made the appearance of the old man so sinister: the Slavs believed that the one who gets in his way would turn into a piece of ice. That's where the expressions "confuse the head" and "faint" came from.

Subsequently, fear gave way to curiosity, and people identified a number of signs, for example, that snowy and cold winters turn into fruitful summers and autumns. In order to get more harvests, they began to lure Morok on Maundy Thursday and Christmas week, putting kutya or pancakes on the porch. They say that the bait worked "with a bang": in the morning there was no food on the porch, and Christmas and Christmas days were bitterly frosty.

From Evil God to Good Wizard

The change in attitude towards the old man, who for several centuries was known as an evil spirit, was expressed in a change in the image. He "got rid" of rags and bast shoes, and dressed up in felt boots, a good fur coat and a warm hat.

The new staff was decorated with a bull's head, which personified happiness and fertility. Although his hands still appeared to be three-fingered, they now wore warm gloves.

But with appearance while it was problematic: the deity remained angry and shaggy, with the nickname Student or Treskunets.

Not Morok, but Moroz Ivanovich!

When the Baptism of Russia took place and paganism was uprooted in every possible way, Moroka was forgotten, but he was not replaced by anyone.

The first mention of appeared only in the 19th century, and then it was not our usual Russian Santa Claus, but Nikolai Ugodnik (Wonderworker). Saint Nicholas is the kindest old man, famous for his disinterestedness and readiness to help anyone in need. Under Alexander II, his image first became associated with the New Year and Christmas holidays, but then the residence of Father Frost in Russia was not yet mentioned. Nikolai visited houses and presented the children with gifts that they found under the Christmas tree or in a Christmas boot.

Only closer to the beginning of the 20th century, Santa Claus received his current status.

He was “dressed up” in a long-brimmed red (blue) painted fur coat trimmed with thick fur, a warm hat and felt boots. The staff was decorated with a tip - a star.

This is how Santa Claus appeared in Russia, who then, according to legend, lived in a huge ice palace and slept on snowy featherbeds. Where exactly the elder's palace stood, no one knew.

Vladimir Odoevsky nicknamed the wizard Moroz Ivanovich, because it is not proper to call an adult simply by his first name. Santa Claus became a favorite of children and adults, although his gifts still had to be earned: they were received only by those who behaved well in the past year. Only obedient and diligent children received sweets and gingerbread. Loafers and dirty people got an ice icicle, and evil wimps - a blow with a staff on the forehead!

When the revolution happened, they forgot about the good wizard and even began to persecute those who did not want to give up traditions. But a little later, in 1936, he reappeared at children's holidays - already accompanied by the granddaughter of the Snow Maiden.

Our updated Russian Santa Claus has turned into the ultimate good-natured man who turned his staff from an instrument of punishment into a magical remote control for Christmas tree lights!

Gifts became more accessible: both a loafer and a slut could receive them, the main thing is that he recite a New Year's rhyme memorized or sing a song.

Closer to the 90s, a residence appeared in Russia - at first in Arkhangelsk, later - in Veliky Ustyug, where it is still located today. Many Russian children write letters to him, indicating the desired gifts, and everyone knows that the wish will certainly come true, because Santa Claus is the embodiment of a good miracle, which children's hearts await with bated breath!

Under the Christmas tree we always put a figure of Santa Claus. Why? And who is this? Let's figure it out. Children always look forward to this fabulous grandfather, sincerely believe that he is still real. Who is hiding behind a mask with a white beard and walking around the world, what does he have to do with the miracles that take place over two magical weeks?

He became a kind grandfather bringing gifts only in recent years one hundred. And earlier in Russia he was called cracker or Student. He walked the earth in the company of the Sun and the Wind and froze the first comers to death.

Here is what is known from the history of his birth. In winter, evil spirits become uncomfortable and cramped, so they fly into the world, run through the fields, crack branches and blow into their fists. Hoarfrost on trees, frozen ground, snowstorm - the result of their activities. This is where the unfair and cruel Frost appears, who, however, has one distinguishing feature: You can always negotiate with him. But for this you need to know a special spell. On New Year's Eve, the father of the family takes a spoonful of oatmeal jelly, leans out of the window and says: “Frost, Frost, go eat jelly! Frost, Frost, don't beat our oats, drive flax and hemp into the ground!". And then the wife douses the poor fellow with water. And if Frost is satisfied, then in the future he behaves decently.

In addition to the insidious Frost-Crackle, there was also the harmless Morozko, who did not hurt anyone, lived peacefully in an ice hut and presented random guests according to their merits - some with gold, some with ashes (remember the famous tale of Odoevsky "Frosty"). At the same time he is the master realms of the dead, and his hut is located there. That is why they called him grandfather, because grandfathers are the spirits of ancestors, who were also fed with oatmeal jelly from the window, saying: "Grandfather, grandfather, go before dinner ...". The lord of the kingdom of the dead rules over inexhaustible riches, commands time, wisdom. (Even on a modern children's tree, this is reflected: read a poem, guess a riddle - there will be a gift.)

That's why a Santa Claus figurine is needed under your beautiful Christmas tree. It is she who ensures that the real Santa Claus comes to visit you.

Our Santa Claus is not alone in the world. He has many relatives - close and not so close, he has his own ancestors. Let us first mention his closest relatives living abroad. His brothers can be considered American Santa Claus and European Per Noel. But if he has brothers, then there must be ancestors.

Since the holiday new years very ancient, then the great-grandfathers of Frost are scattered all over the world. Persians on birthday Mithras led round dances, the Scandinavians celebrated julsky holiday, the most important and longest. In Norway, he was dedicated to god Toru, in Denmark - Odin. This holiday got its name from the word “wheel”, because just at this time the sun turns. On the night of the turn of the year, a spirit appears in the form of a young man with a black face and a woman's headband, dressed in a long black cloak, entering houses and demanding gifts. No wonder the Scandinavians happily replaced him with the good-natured Santa.

Our Grandfather undoubtedly acquired the staff from Dionysus, walking around Hellas in the company of goat-footed satyrs and beautiful nymphs, crowned with ivy. Even in hot Egypt there was a New Year's woman. Her name was Satis, she was the goddess of the star Sirius, the patroness of the dead. She had the appearance of a cow, then an ordinary woman with cow horns. She can be called a relative of Santa Claus because the first morning sunrise of Sirius after a long winter absence marked the beginning of a new year, the arrival of clean water that cleanses the dead.

The ancestor of Santa Claus can be considered the ancient Roman Janus- the god of all beginnings, therefore, the beginning of the year. In order to rotate the axis of the world, Janus had 365 fingers and two faces facing the past and the future. Then he had other things to do, and the goddess of the New Year became Anna Perenna. At first, the grandmother was an ordinary old woman "who fed the plebeians who retired to sacred mountain, pies. But then she was made a goddess. The holiday was celebrated in a sacred grove on the Tiber.

Well, in modern Italy, the role of Santa Claus is played by a terrible old woman Befana. From Christmas to Epiphany, she roams the earth, and on New Year's Eve she flies into houses through the chimney, bringing gifts to good children, and ashes to bad children.

In Germany, the New Year character is also a woman. Residents of German villages still do not forget to "burn Frau Hoppe", that is, to kindle a New Year's fire. Frau Hoppe(she is Holda, Perhta and Berta) - an old witch who rushes on New Year's Eve at the head of the Wild Hunt. There is another, more popular version, where Berta is a woman in white clothes who delivers gifts. good people and punish the bad. When she knocks out the featherbed "it snows on the ground (remember the fairy tale of the Brothers Grimm" Lady Blizzard ").

In France, Santa Claus is called Per Noel, but he seems to be a good little man in a red coat and round glasses. And his position is responsible: "Father Christmas."

In England, the traditional character does not have a name, he is simply called Father Christmas. He puts gifts in stockings, and everyone deserves it too. What do you think the English proverb means: "Coal in a stocking"? That's it. An unpleasant surprise, because Father Christmas also gives everyone what they deserve: gifts for the good, coal for the bad.

In Spain, in the Basque country, Santa Claus bears the name Olentzer. He flaunts in homespun national clothes and does not part with a flask of good Spanish wine, but at the same time he does not forget about the children: he distributes toys to them. Rules the parade in Catalonia Santa Claus. Martyr commemorated in Barcelona Santa Coloma, the streets are decorated with pine cones and bright lights and crowds walk along them.

But still, the closest relatives live nearby: with the brothers of the Slavs. For everyone, he looked different: for some, this is an old man of short stature, with a long gray beard, running through the fields, for the Czechs, this is a blacksmith hero, holding water in the rivers. But the modern Czech Santa Claus is called Santa Claus and rides around on a motorcycle to have time to breed gifts.

In Europe Santa Claus appeared relatively recently, less than two centuries ago. The need for it arose when life became relatively calm and satisfying, which is why the idea of ​​giving gifts to children began to soar in the air. And the saint, beloved by the peoples of all countries, turned into Santa Claus Nicholas the Wonderworker (Nikola Ugodnik). He became a bridge between pre-Christian deities and modern New Year's mythology. During his lifetime, Nicholas was very, virtuous. Having received an inheritance from his father, he distributed everything to the poor. There is a widespread story about how Nikolai threw three bundles of gold on a dowry to a beggar who was about to sell his daughters to a brothel. In memory of this, children put gifts in stockings on behalf of Santa Claus.

The name "Santa Claus" - from the distorted Dutch word "Sinte-Klaos", which means "Saint Nicholas".

The Finns were the first to come up with the idea of ​​settling Santa Claus in a certain place, naturally on their territory - in Lapland. It happened in 1927 at the initiative of the broadcasting company. Journalists came up with, travel agencies promoted - and it turned out a whole New Year's industry. That's how I was born modern myth about Santa's home. The Finns themselves call it the old fashioned way - Yolupukki which means "Christmas goat". This is not at all offensive, since earlier in the Finnish villages there were mummers: a sheepskin coat inside out, a mask made of birch bark, a beard made of a broom and horns. Yolupukki did not bring gifts, but on the contrary, he demanded treats.

Santa Claus - as he is known, is unacceptably young for a folklore character. The kind, ruddy grandfather with a bag of gifts is a little over a century old. Frost was presented to our ancestors in the guise of a mischievous shaggy old man with an iron stick in his hands, a meeting with which could be deadly.

Frost, aka Studinets, aka Ded Treskun, aka Karachun

In the predecessors of Santa Claus, rumor records the spirits of cold, known under the names: Karachun (Korochun), Studinets, Zyuzya and Grandfather Treskun (Treskunets). The most unpleasant of them Karachun is an evil spirit that brings sudden death to young men and girls, as well as death from the cold. Especially rampant in leap years. Among the servants of Karachun are rod bears, acting like snowstorms, and wolves - snowstorms. In memory of the evil deity remained set expressions, symbolizing death: “Karachun will come”, “Karachun had enough”, “He asked a karachun”.

The cracker catches up with severe frosts, pounding with an iron club on forest stumps. Meeting him in the forest is not good. Firstly, this is a sign that severe cold is approaching, and secondly, any not very nervous Karachun peasant will be enough at the sight of a short, shaggy old man in a fur coat on his bare feet and with a club in his hands. Studinets and Zyuzya have a similar function: they arrange blizzards, cover roads and houses with snow, and, in passing, they can freeze a belated traveler, as described in the famous poem by Nekrasov: “Without chalk, I will whiten my face, and my nose will burn with fire.”

Frost has several other functions. In winter, his duties include “wrapping snow” on the fields so that winter crops do not freeze. In the spring he went to bed under the deck. So that Frost slept soundly and did not take it into his head to come to the fields earlier than late autumn, he should have been “clicked”. To do this, the head of the family took out kutya - porridge with honey and berries or oatmeal pancakes, and put it in a certain place, saying:

"Santa Claus, Santa Claus!
Come eat pancakes and kutya!
And don’t go in the summer, don’t eat cucumbers,
Don't kill Rosa and don't drive the kids away"

Frost was clicked for a whole month, starting from December 20th. Food was left in places that were considered "transition to another world", that is, on the threshold, on the outside of the window or in the garden. In the Moscow region, slander was shouted into the chimney.

“Clicking” survived until the middle of the 19th century, only instead of kutya they put out one of the dishes from the table - cabbage soup or stew.

Moroz Ivanovich and the chief Old Man for the delivery of the Christmas tree

In the 19th century, a new urban mythology began to take shape, aimed at freeing New Year's rites from sacred meanings. First of all, this concerned the Christmas tree, condemned by Orthodoxy. Teachers and children's writers were involved in the process of transferring the rite to Russian soil.

literary image Santa Claus was first introduced by V. Odoevsky in "Tales of Grandfather Iriney". Here Moroz Ivanovich looks not so much harsh as fair. He rewards the hardworking and skillful, and punishes the lazy and incompetent.

Since 1830 in royal family The New Year was celebrated with a Christmas tree, and soon the holiday familiar to us firmly entered the life of St. Petersburg. The sale of Christmas trees “charmingly decorated and decorated with lanterns, garlands, wreaths,” according to the newspaper “Northern Bee”, began in 1840, and “Christmas old men” sprinkled with white frost became the most popular toy. Over time, toy Grandfathers began to be placed under the Christmas tree. Performances were played in which an old man in a fur coat brought a coniferous tree, they sang songs. Therefore, when the children asked the question: “Who brings the Christmas tree and puts gifts under it,” the answer arose unequivocally: the same old man, Santa Claus. The terrifying figure of Nekrasov's "Forest Governor" in the arrangement for children acts as the ruler of the winter kingdom, decorating the forest with precious stones and silver. As well as a zealous owner who built palaces and bridges from ice "which the people will not build."

At the beginning of the 20th century, Santa Claus firmly took his place as the main New Year's figure and character in children's literature. At the same time, according to the historian E. Dushechkina, in populace introduced the idea of thousand years of history Frost in Russia.

After the revolution, Santa Claus, in the heat of the anti-religious struggle, was declared "religious rubbish." In 1929, the "godless five-year plan" was proclaimed. Anti-religious propaganda fell upon the people; Churches were looted and demolished everywhere. Instead of Christmas trees, young people held Komsomol Christmas holidays, where discussions were held to expose Christmas.

It does not matter that Santa Claus has a secular origin, and he has nothing to do with Orthodoxy. The New Year in the minds of people was seen as inseparable from Christmas. "The exploiting classes use the 'kind' Santa Claus to turn the working people into obedient and patient servants of capital," they wrote in propaganda pamphlets. The poets echoed them:

"Yolki dry rod
Looming in our eyes
On the hat of Santa Claus,
Angel - in the teeth!"
Semyon Kirsanov.

However, most of the "backward" citizens continued to secretly celebrate the New Year, in which they were indulged by janitors - suppliers of Christmas trees. In 1933 V.D. Bonch-Bruevich, in addition to his Leninian, writes the story "Lenin at school" about the Christmas tree in Sokolniki, which the children arranged for V.I. Lenin and Nadezhda Krupskaya.

The persecution of Santa Claus ended unexpectedly. At a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU in December 1935, Stalin's ally Pavel Postyshev suddenly spoke of new year holiday described by Bonch-Bruevich. Stalin remarked that Soviet children would also like such an event. An article was immediately published in Pravda, which said that earlier only the capitalists celebrated the New Year, and in the USSR the children of the proletarians also deserve a good holiday.

The triumphal procession of Father Frost began across the country. He became the main character in all New Year's performances and children's holidays, from Chukotka to Azerbaijan. During the Great Patriotic War, Santa Claus smashed the Nazis from a poster. And a great many cartoons about him have been created: “Santa Claus and Grey Wolf”, “Santa Claus and summer”, “Snowman-mailer”.

Currently, Santa Claus has received full recognition. He has a residence palace in Veliky Ustyug, numerous assistants and a granddaughter, Snegurochka. And even the party United Russia accepted him into its ranks, and since 2010, as part of the Santa Claus - United Russia project, he has been delivering gifts around the country for him.

Of great interest today is the story of how.