Another "Germanic" "anti-Santa," nowhere near Krampus territory.. Saw the Krampus movie yesterday...worth a move ticket in this bloggger"s opinion. Trapp as Christmas creep character definitely started in Alsace, which is essentially the "German" region of France; but has since spread to the very French area of Lorraine. To elaborate a little, this dude is possibly based on a real person, one that may have been excommunicated from the Catholic church, back before there was any sort of Protestant reformation. Because of this his reputation as an evil person grew, with people claiming that he was an out and out worshiper of Satan (something virtually unheard of during Medieval times). He connection to Christmas is a little strange. The story continues, that he was exiled to the forest, where he would dress up as a scarecrow and then ambush and prey on little children. He was then supposedly struck dead by lightning before killing and eating a child; supposedly by God. I am assuming that this would have had to have happened in winter, hence the connection to Christmas, not clear on that one. As a Christmas character, he another "switching threat." Sometimes even accompanying Santa, in some regions, to whip little kids for naughty behavior. In others, appearing before Christmas to remind children to not to be naughty because Santa will give them coal instead of gifts, and he may still return to whip them.
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| Old photo showing him chained to Sleigh. |
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