A tale of Christmas past

From spiders to demons, The Weekly explores the astonishing origins of some of our best-known Christmas traditions.

- WORDS by BRONWYN PHILLIPS

There was a time, before photography was widespread, when special moments were preserved in “memory books” - albums filled with precious mementoes and keepsakes. In the early 1800s, a wealthy Viennese family was painted for their memory book in a Christmas tableau. But apart from the tree, it’s a scene few of us today would recognise as festive. Saint Nicholas, tall and solemn in bishop’s robes, is no jolly Santa. The family look towards the door, terror on their faces. There, complete with horns and blazing red eyes, lurks a demon, the sack on his back bulging not with toys, but an unfortunate child.

It’s Krampus, Saint Nicholas’ malevolent counterpart. While Saint Nic rewarded good children with sweets, nuts and toys, Krampus handed out lumps of coal, whippings, and worse. Half goat, half demon, Krampus is said to be descended from a Norse god of the underworld. Norse mythology is a key influence on many Christmas customs. In pre-Christian Scandinavia, as the god Odin flew through the midwinter sky, his raven helpers perched on chimney tops eavesdropping on mortals below. Like they do for Santa, children left food for Odin's eight-legged horse, Sleipnir, who evolved into eight reindeer (Rudolph, the ninth, was invented by writer Robert May in 1939).