It seems like as the years go by more and more light is shed from the traditions we have today being traced back to much older traditions. By now most people have somewhat of an understanding just how influential European Paganism was for Christianity. From goddess Ostara's voyage deep into the underworld giving us our new aged Easter tradition, to the actual dates we set our most treasured holidays to for solstice and equinox celebrations. But I haven't read or heard too much into the tradition of Santa Claus, big ol' Saint Nick. Where'd he come from? Well it turns out, elves and Santa aren't the only folks who dwell up in the north. A much longer time ago there were the Vikings of the Norse. We all know about them and many of us know of the gods too. I'll pay strict attention to Oden. Oden is a lot to the followers of Norse Paganism, the chief god, our all father, but he actually might just be a little bit more than that too. Let's think about Santa Claus for a second and what he does. He traditionally gives out presents to children on a sled ran by 8 deer that can travel vast distances. Oden had a very powerful thunder horse named Sleipnir. It was the son of Loki and a apex stallion named Svaðilfari. Sleipnir had 8 legs, was big, the mightiest horse in the land. Could travel vast distances and even weave it's way down into Hel. He liked to eat though, typically rumored, Sleipnir enjoyed feasting on the entrails of those slain by Oden giving him a shiny red nose of blood. On the longer trips Oden and Sleipnir would undergo, children of towns, villages and settlements were encouraged to leave hay and carrots outside their front door (We use this in another Christian tradition today..) so that Sleipnir could eat and gather energy for his travels. Oden in turn would hand out gifts to the children who helped feed his thunder horse. Oden much like Santa, was also fond of the Elves and the Elves were very good at hand crafting objects for the Æsir gods. They were responsible for a number of magical weapons and enchanted items. They must have also been very handy at crafting childrens gifts too, for the Elves were also included in our new tradition of Santa Claus. When the Christians ran through Scandinavia the worship of Norse and Oden was forbidden, but like the good bunch of peaceful foreigners they were, while Oden was no longer in the picture, big ol' Saint Nick was right there to take his place in our modern tradition of Santa Claus. Well that's a very loose explanation of what I believe is another older tradition brought forth to the new age order and the new world religion. So when you hear those jingling bells and a ho ho ho, don't look to the stars in hopes of seeing a sled led by 8 reindeer and one with a shiny red nose, no.. Look for the mighty thunderous Sleipnir and his 8 mighty legs, roaring across the sky with his nose red with flesh blood of the Jotun.
and here i assumed that santa originated when papa santa and mama santa had too much eggnog and fooled around in the backseat of grandpa santa's sleigh...
Santa didn't always wear red and white. This is an image from a Victorian xmas card So where did the red and white come from? I've come across 2 explanations. One is that he became an advert for coca cola - read & white being coke colours. A wilder and to me less likely story links the red and white to the mushroom Amanita Muscaria or Fly Agaric. I do agree that the elves definitely come from Norse mythology -
This has proven to be the case... The "modern Santa" is a creation by Coca-Cola loosely based on older ideas. The red and white being Coca-Cola's color scheme has become a universal idea since.
