Affordable luxury gifts for her under $50 Our current modern day image of Santa Claus, clad in red fur with a big white beard, was largely developed by Coca-Cola in the 1930s. But the idea of an old man giving gifts to children dates much earlier than that, back to the time of the pagans.
Father Christmas, otherwise known as St. Nicholas, was a patron saint of children, the poor, and prostitutes. Living around 4th century AD, St. Nicholas was a generous bishop who was known for giving gifts to the poor, sporting a big beard and a long cloak much like the Santa we know and love.
But even before St. Nicholas, there was another bearded old man called Odin. This diety was worshipped by early Germanic pagan tribes, traditionally portrayed as an old man with a long, white beard with an 8-legged horse called Sleipnir who he would ride through the skies (just like Santa’s reindeer). During the winter, kids would fill their booties with carrots and straw and leave them by the chimney for Sleipnir to feed on. Odin would fly by and reward the children with little presents in their booties, much like we do with Christmas stockings today.
The Santa Claus we all imagine in our heads today is a mish-mash of the generous St. Nicholas, the god Odin and Sleipnir, and Coca-Cola’s iconic red-dressed character.
3. CHRISTMAS CAROLS
While the carols we sing for Affordable luxury gifts for her under $50 are undeniably Christian, the tradition itself of going door-to-door singing to your neighbours comes from another pagan tradition called wassailing. The rather funny word comes from the Anglo-Saxon phrase of ‘waes hael’, translating to ‘good health’. Every year, wassailers would roam through their villages in small groups, singing loudly with the aim of banishing evil spirits and wishing good health to those around them.
No wassailing group was complete without their traditional drink on hand – made from mulled ale, curdled cream, roasted apples, eggs, spices, and sugar. In the 13th century, St. Francis took inspiration from these happy choirs and started the tradition of Christmas carolling.
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