Companions of Saint Nicholas

Krampus

The companions of Saint Nicholas (or Father Christmas) are a group of closely related figures who accompany St. Nicholas in many European traditions.

Some companions include: Krampus in Austria, Bavaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Friuli, Hungary (spelled Krampusz); Klaubauf in Bavaria, Austria; Bartel in Styria; Pelzebock; Pelznickel; Belzeniggl; Belsnickel in Pennsylvania; Schmutzli in Switzerland; Rumpelklas; Bellzebub; Hans Muff; Drapp; and Buzebergt in Augsburg. The stories of these companions are particularly strong amongst the Germanic peoples, with some regional expression in the U.S.

In the Czech Republic, St. Nicholas or Svatý Mikuláš is accompanied by the Čert (Devil) and Anděl (Angel). In France, St. Nicholas' companion is called Hanstrapp (in Alsace, East of France)^[1] and Le Père Fouettard (Wallonia, Northern and Eastern France). These servants are often associated with Saint Nicholas' helpers in the Netherlands and Flanders (called Zwarte Piet or Black Pete).

Outside of Europe^[where?], the most recognized companion is Knecht Ruprecht, which translates as Farmhand Ruprecht or Servant Ruprecht.

Appearance

Often the subject of winter poems and tales, the Companions travel with St. Nicholas (also called Father Christmas or Santa Claus), carrying with them a rod (sometimes a stick and in modern times often a broom) and a sack. They are sometimes dressed in black rags, bearing a black face and unruly black hair. In many contemporary portrayals the companions look like dark, sinister, or rustic versions of Nicholas himself, with a similar costume but with a darker color scheme.

Krampus

Main article: Krampus

Krampus is a terrifying figure found in parts of Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia, most probably originating in the Pre-Christian Alpine traditions. Local tradition typically portrays these figures as children of poor families, roaming the streets and sledding hills during the holiday festival. The Krampus wore black rags and masks, dragging chains behind them, and occasionally hurling them towards children in their way. These Krampusumzüge (Krampus runs) still exist, although perhaps less violent than in the past.

Over 1200 "Krampus" gather in Schladming, Styria from all over Austria wearing goat-hair costumes and carved masks, carrying bundles of sticks used as switches and swinging cowbells to warn of their approach. They are typically intoxicated males in their teens and early twenties. They roam the streets of this typically quiet town and hit people with their switches. It is not considered^[who?] wise for young women to go out on this night, as they are popular targets.

In many parts of Croatia, Krampus is described as a devil wearing a cloth sack around his waist and chains around his neck, ankles, and wrists. As a part of a tradition, when a child receives a gift from St. Nicolas he is given a golden branch to represent his good deeds throughout the year; however, if the child has misbehaved, Krampus will take the gifts for himself and leave only a silver branch to represent the child's bad acts. Children are commonly scared into sleeping during the time St. Nicolas brings gifts by being told that if they are awake, Krampus will think they have been bad and will take them away in his sack. In Hungary, the Krampusz is often portrayed as mischievous rather than evil devil. He wears a black suit and has a long red tongue, a tail, and little red horns that are funny rather than frightening. The Krampusz wields a Virgács, which is a bunch of golden coloured twigs bound together. Hungarian parents often frighten children with getting a Virgács instead of presents, if they do not behave. By the end of November, you can buy all kinds of Virgács on the streets, usually painted gold, bound by a red ribbon. Getting a Virgács is rather more fun than frightening, and is usually given to all children, along with presents to make them behave.

Belsnickel

Main article: Belsnickel

Belsnickel is a companion of Santa Claus of the Palatinate (Pfalz) in northwestern Germany. Belsnickel is a man wearing fur which covers his entire body, and he sometimes wears a mask with a long tongue. He is a rather scary creature who visits children at Christmas time and delivers socks or shoes full of candy, but if the children were not good, they will find coal and/or switches in their stockings instead.

In parts of the United States in the 19th century, "Pelznickel" traditions were maintained for a time among immigrants at least as far west as the US state of Indiana. In this branch of the tradition, the father or other older male relative was often "busy working outside" or had to see to some matter elsewhere in the house when Pelznickel arrived. Today, remnants of this tradition remain, known as the Belsnickel, especially in Pennsylvania.

A first-hand 19th century account of the "Beltznickle" tradition in Allegany County, Maryland, can be found in Brown's Miscellaneous Writings, a collection of essays by Jacob Brown (born 1824). Writing of a period around 1830, Brown says, "we did not hear of" Santa Claus. Instead, the tradition called for a visit by a different character altogether:

He was known as Kriskinkle, Beltznickle and sometimes as the Xmas woman. Children then not only saw the mysterious person, but felt him or rather his stripes upon their backs with his switch. The annual visitor would make his appearance some hours after dark, thoroughly disguised, especially the face, which would sometimes be covered with a hideously ugly phiz - generally wore a female garb - hence the name Christmas woman - sometimes it would be a veritable woman but with masculine force and action. He or she would be equipped with an ample sack about the shoulders filled with cakes, nuts, and fruits, and a long hazel switch which was supposed to have some kind of a charm in it as well as a sting. One would scatter the goodies upon the floor, and then the scramble would begin by the delighted children, and the other hand would ply the switch upon the backs of the excited youngsters - who would not show a wince, but had it been parental discipline there would have been screams to reach a long distance.

— ^[2]

Zwarte Piet (Black Pete)

Main article: Zwarte Piet

In Belgium and the Netherlands, children are told that Zwarte Piet leaves gifts in the children’s shoes. Presents are said to be distributed by Saint Nicholas' aide Zwarte Piet; who enters the house through the chimney, which also explains his black face and hands, but not his colorful attire. Blackfaced, red-lipped Zwarte Piet dolls are displayed in store windows alongside with brightly packaged holiday merchandise.

Knecht Ruprecht

Main article: Knecht Ruprecht

Knecht Ruprecht (on the left) and St. Nicholas.

In the folklore of Germany, Knecht Ruprecht, which translates as Farmhand Rupert or Servant Rupert, is a companion of Saint Nicholas. Tradition holds that he appeared in homes on Christmas Eve, and was a man with a long beard, wearing fur or covered in pea-straw.^[3] Knecht Ruprecht sometimes carrying a long staff and a bag of ashes, and wore little bells on his clothes.^[3]

It is unclear whether the various companions of St. Nicholas are all expressions of a single tradition concerning Knecht Ruprecht (since various texts, especially those outside the tradition, often treat the companions as variations of Knecht Ruprecht), or most likely a conflation of multiple traditions.

Ruprecht was a common name for the devil in Germany,^[4] and Grimm states that “Robin fellow is the same home-sprite whom we in Germany call Knecht Ruprecht and exhibit to children at Christmas...”^[4] Knecht Ruprecht first appears in written sources in the 17th century, as a figure in a Nuremberg Christmas procession.^[4]

According to Alexander Tille, Knecht Ruprecht represented an archetypal manservant, "and has exactly as much individuality of social rank and as little personal individuality as the Junker Hanns and the Bauer Michel, the characters representative of country nobility and peasantry respectively.”^[5] Tille also states that Knecht Ruprecht originally had no connection with Christmastime.^[5]

Knecht Ruprecht, which translates as Farmhand Rupert or Servant Rupert, is commonly cited as a servant and helper of St. Nicholas, and is sometimes associated with Saint Rupert.^[6]

According to some stories, Ruprecht began as a farmhand; in others, he is a wild foundling whom St. Nicholas raises from childhood. Ruprecht sometimes walks with a limp, because of a childhood injury. Often, his black clothes and dirty face are attributed to the soot he collects as he goes down chimneys.

Traditions

In some of the Ruprecht traditions, the children would be summoned to the door to perform tricks, such as a dance or singing a song to impress upon Santa and Ruprecht that they were indeed good children. Those who performed badly would be beaten soundly by Servant Ruprecht, and those who performed well were given a gift or some treats. Those who performed badly enough or had committed other misdeeds throughout the year were put into Ruprecht's sack and taken away, variously to Ruprecht’s home in the Black Forest to be consumed later, or to be tossed into a river. In other versions the children must be asleep, and would awake to find their shoes filled with either sweets, coal, or in some cases a stick. Over time, other customs developed: parents giving kids who misbehaved a stick instead of treats and saying that it was a warning from Nikolaus that "unless you improve by Christmas day^{[citation needed]}, Nikolaus' black servant Ruprecht will come and beat you with the stick and you won't get any Christmas gifts." Often there would be variations idiosyncratic to individual families.^{[citation needed]}

In popular culture

The Krampus still holds a place in mainstream culture today, and is even gaining popularity in some places. Some examples of this include:

• In a Christmas episode of the television cartoon series The Venture Bros., the Krampus is accidentally released from a book of ancient occult magic and wreaks havoc on Dr. Venture's Christmas party.
• In the arcade game CarnEvil, the boss for the "Rickety Town" level is named Krampus. He resembles a large, horned, clawed, demonic Santa Claus clad in green, and attacks by hurling flaming coals and swinging his bag at the player.
• G4 (TV channel) created a Christmas commercial featuring Krampus. In it some carolers sing about Krampus while he enters a house putting the bad children in his sack.
• A character named Banjo in the graphic novel Chickenhare is a Krampus.
• In the 2007 Christmas episode of the TV series, Supernatural, the main characters hunt what they believe to be the Krampus.
• On the 2007 album by indie band Sunset Rubdown titled Random Spirit Lover, a picture of the Krampus is featured on the back of the cover.
• On December 9, 2009 The Colbert Report made a number of jokes about Krampus and "the war on Christmas."
• In the 2004 film, Collateral, Black Peter (Pedro Negro) is referenced by one of the villains as a character much like Belsnickel or the Krampus.

Poem

I came out of the forest there
I must tell you Christmas feeling is in the air
All around on pine tree tops
A little golden light was propped
And overhead at heaven’s gates
My wide eyes saw the Christ child wait
And as I passed through the dark pines
I cried out with that clear voice of mine
“Santa’s evil elf, old thing
Take to your legs, quick, hurrying!”
“Yes, yes, I must go into town
Where there are children brave and loud!
“Do you have your little sack to see?”
“Yes, yes, my little sack is here with me!
For apple nuts and almond meat
Brave children like to eat!

Translated ^[7] excerpt from 'Nikolausgedichte'^[8] by Theodor Storm.

Literature

• Müller, Felix / Müller, Ulrich: Percht und Krampus, Kramperl und Schiach-Perchten. In: Müller, Ulrich / Wunderlich, Werner (Hrsg.): Mittelalter-Mythen 2. Dämonen-Monster-Fabelwesen. St. Gallen 1999, S. 449 - 460.
• Laity, K. A.: When Little Joe the Krampus Met. Wombat's World Publishing, 2003.

See also

• Santa Claus
• Christmas elf
• Santa Claus's reindeer
• Krampus
• Belsnickel
• Paganism in the Eastern Alps
• Sinterklaas
• Le Père Fouettard
• Zwarte Piet
• Mr. Bingle

Notes

1. ^ "Christmas Eve Pre-Christian Traditions". http://www.abcog.org/xmas2.htm. Retrieved 15 Dec 2010. 
2. ^ Jacob Brown, Brown's Miscellaneous Writings, Printed by J.J. Miller (Cumberland, Maryland 1896), page 41.
3. ^ ^{a b} Benjamin Thorpe, Northern mythology: comprising the principal popular traditions and superstitions of Scandinavia, north Germany, and the Netherlands (E. Lumley, 1852), 146.
4. ^ ^{a b c} Phyllis Siefker, Santa Claus, last of the wild men: the origins and evolution of Saint Nicholas, spanning 50,000 years (McFarland, 1997), 82.
5. ^ ^{a b} Alexander Tille, Yule and Christmas: their place in the Germanic year (D. Nutt, 1899), 116.
6. ^ "Das Schwarze Netz: Rupert von Salzburg". Sungaya. 2009. http://www.sungaya.de/schwarz/christen/stseptember/Rupert2409.htm. Retrieved December 20, 2009. ^{[dead link]}
7. ^ http://www.proz.com/profile/54090
8. ^ Nikolausgedichte und anderes

External links

• Felix und Ulrich Müller - Percht und Krampus, Kramperl und Schiach-Perchten: Scientific text on the tradition of Krampus in the region of Salzburg - includes a lively description of the fascination of being a Krampus - text written in 1997 and published in 1999
• http://www.kienitz.de/html/body_ged-01.htm.htm
• http://www.serve.com/shea/germusa/nikohelp.htm
• http://www.rotten.com/library/occult/deviltry/krampus/
• Dutch-language web site devoted to all things Zwarte Piet. Even for the non Dutch speaker, the photos may be of interest.