4 days ago • 95%

Who brings the gifts

https://jakubmarian.com/christmas-gift-bringers-of-europe/

51 comments

North african name looks like a western URL address

45
....

Tree trunk that defecates present

....

Ummm...

49
- Very funy, i have one of them. It represents the fertility of the soil.
  
  8
  
  Defecates is a bad word for that...
  
  6
- Yes. And you have to beat it until it starts shitting
  
  5
  
  Time to sing "Caga tió" and beat a log until it gives us sweet treats...
  
  3
- CRANK THAT LOG
  
  4
- Btw Christmas-Man comes early
  
  (Christmas Eve)
  
  4
  
  Isn't it the same for Christ Child? Or do other Germans in the south get their presents on First day of Christmas? At least I didn't.
  
  6
England: "Father Christmas"
Ireland: "make it kinkier"

29
Olentzero is no ordinary old man that brings presents to kids on Christmas, he's a charcoal burner that is also a Jentil, a giant in the Basque mythology.

He was originally a pagan, but some say he stayed behind and converted to chrisitanism when he saw Jesus about to be born, while the other jentilak escaped. Other less favorable interpretations say he converted and betrayed the rest of the jentilak, showing the people their locations so they could be killed.

All these are modern interpretations for Christmas because afaik originally he was supposed to be somewhat evil.

Source: am basque

14
- This is fascinating, thank you!!
  
  6
- He is also shown as a shepherd, although Jentils would naturally be shepherds I guess. Also another clarification, Gentile are not just giants, but ancestors of Basque people that did not descend from mountains and forests and thus didn't get civilised and shrink.
  
  Source: another Basque.
  
  3
Varies: the Yule Man.

https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-4666

3
The note on the Low Countries says there's no traditional Christmas gift-giver, but doesn't Sinterklaas traditionally bring gifts on Sint Nicolasdaag?

11
- Yes, but that's a different holiday
  
  7
  
  Then the Ukrainian and Russians don't count either
  
  7
  
  Same for Saints Lucia and Basil.
  
  1
The Polish going with Ziggy Stardust. And why the hell not, seems like a fine fellow to bring gifts.

8
This is not completely correct.

In Belgium and the Netherlands it's Sint-Nicolaas (Sinterklaas) who brings the presents on December 6th. Christmas does have a Santa Claus (Kerstman) because of modern culture, but you'll mostly see people gifting presents themselves, instead of Santa gifting them.

5
- Yep, these are the Dutch /Flemish names but Wallonia (south Belgium) has the same in French : Saint Nicolas, who brings gifts to kids on Dec 6, and Père Noël at Christmas (but he isn't as present, and christmas tends to be the family gathering meal and gifts exchange between humans, rather than from the magic winter dude.
  
  1
- Don't forget Sint-Maarten who brings gifts in November.
  
  1
Funny they say France is Father Christmas but Spain it's Daddy Christmas when they're the same words technically. Maybe they confused Papá with Papí?

7
- Yeah that's an error, he's father Christmas here. On a side note, papi has no accent
  
  5
  
  Dang it, I corrected it to the wrong thing.
  
  I never use Papi so I didn't remember if it had one
  
  1
- In French, "papa" is the informal way to call your own father, while "père" describes the relationship.
  
  I don't know enough about Spanish to compare, but the french translation feels right to me.
  
  (Actually... Translating "Noël" into a word that talks about Christ and Masses feels weird to me!)
  
  2
  
  Padre = father Papa = dad Papi = daddy
  
  1
A note on Deda Mraz/Дед Мороз - these days it's 100% conflated with Santa Claus, with the red robe and reindeer. If there is any old Slavic tradition there, it's been completely lost.

5
Hey, "Apalpador"? You're gonna have to find a new thing. That's not gonna fly anymore.

3
But they were all of them deceived, for another gift giver was the real one, in the lands of humanism, where the seculars live, in the fires of reality, there it was known that the true gives of gifts and indeed gifts themselves, were our fellow mortals.

Happy holidays everyone! May your days be merry and bright and thank you for being such a great community Lemmy!

3
I need to live somewhere you can call someone Sweaty as an honorific

2
Kentucky: Sandy Claws.

1
Translating "julemanden" as "Christmas man" just feels wrong.

2
- You could say "Yule man" instead, but it means the same thing.
  
  5
  
  Well not exactly. Yule and similar words are used as the word for Christmas in Scandinavian languages but it used to refer to a non-christian tradition. Scandinavian countries are generally not very religious and I personally don't like the association of yule with christianity.
  
  4
I never knew that about Morocco’s people

More maps at jakubmarian.com

1
I question the accuracy of this map because not once have I ever heard anyone say what it says for my country

1

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