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Fictional Figures and the Real Historic People Behind Them

Khalid Elhassan October 25, 2021 35 min

19. The Origins of the Santa Legend

With origins in Western Christian culture, the Santa Claus of today is the product of a blend of various fictional inputs. From the Dutch, we get the figure of Sinterklaas, whose feast occurs in early December. From the English, we get the folkloric figure of Father Christmas, the gift giver. For good measure, there is even a touch of the ancient Germanic god Odin, who is associated with the pagan midwinter festival of Yule. However, the chief figure behind the Santa myth is Saint Nicholas.

An 1836 depiction of the English Father Christmas. Wikimedia

A fourth century AD Greek bishop of Myra, a city on the southern coast of modern Turkey known today as Demre, the real Saint Nick was probably bearded, but he was not the jolly fat old man who graces Christmas cards. Saint Nicholas of Myra, also known as Nicholas of Bari (270 – 342 AD), was born in the Roman Empire at a time when Christianity was persecuted, with real-life stakes higher than depictions on coffee cups or the wording of season’s greetings.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.