Larian Studios Forums General Chat Chat (Anything) X-Mas vs. Christmas

I wonder how something so evil, got turned into a marketing scheme

In Sweden, santa use to be a goat.

And he wasn't famous for being nice either, even though I think he brought presents.

Celebration in Germany, Austria, German Switzerland and the Czech Republic

In Germany, Nikolaus is usually celebrated on a small scale. Many children put a boot, called Nikolaus-Stiefel, outside their front doors on the night of December 5 to December 6. St. Nicholas fills the boot with gifts, and at the same time checks up on the children to see if they were good. If they were not, they will have charcoal in their boots instead. Sometimes a disguised Nikolaus also visits the children at school or in their homes and asks them if they "have been good" (sometimes ostensibly checking a book for their record), handing out presents on a per-behavior basis. This has become more lenient in recent decades.

But for many children, Nikolaus also elicited fear, as he was often accompanied by Knecht Ruprecht, who would threaten to beat, or sometimes actually eat the children for misbehavior. In Switzerland, he would threaten to put bad children in a sack and take them back to the Black Forest. In other accounts he would throw the sack into the river, drowning the naughty children within. These traditions were implemented more rigidly in Catholic countries such as Austria. In highly Catholic regions, the local priest was informed by the parents about their children's behavior and would then personally visit the homes in the traditional Christian garment and threaten them with rod-beatings. In parts of Austria, Krampusse, whom local tradition says are Nikolaus's helpers (in reality, typically children of poor families), roamed the streets during the festival. They wore masks and dragged chains behind them, even occasionally hurling them towards children in their way. These Krampusläufe (Krampus runs) still exist, although perhaps less violent than in the past. In Czech Republic, Mikuláš is often also accompanied by an angel who acts as a counterbalance to the ominous Knecht Ruprecht (čert).

1 post from fullmoon.....

Lady_Rain

Do we have time for a rousing letter to Santa from a disgruntled little Timmy..... Muhahahahahahaha! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/xmassmiley.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/XmasEek.gif" alt="" />

Letter to Santa......ohhhhh boy!
(full of expletives and belly laffs!) <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/XmasJump.gif" alt="" /> *glad that's noi MY Timmy....... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ROFL.gif" alt="" />

this should probably be in the jokes section......but i think it fits better right here! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/stupid.gif" alt="" />

I think Santa has more myths than the tooth fairy and all her equals combined <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin1.gif" alt="" />

1 post from fullmoon.....

The Tooth Fairy really does exist .., on the Discworld, though ...