SUPER declassified the identity of the country's main Santa Claus

Santa Claus appeared with us a long time ago. It's real existing spirit, which, by the way, is still alive today.

The meaning was precisely that the carolers represented the spirits of ancestors who received a reward for their tireless care of the living. Among the carolers there was often one “person” dressed more terribly than anyone else. As a rule, he was forbidden to speak. This was the oldest and most formidable spirit; he was often called simply Grandfather. It is quite possible that this is the prototype of the modern Santa Claus. Only today, of course, he has become kinder and does not come for gifts, but brings them himself. With the adoption of Christianity, pagan rituals were, of course, “abolished,” and therefore exist to this day. The carolers depict not the spirits of their ancestors, but heavenly messengers, which, you see, is practically the same thing. It’s already difficult to say who should be considered Grandfather, but there is still an “elder”.

According to another version, the “great-great-grandfather” of the modern Russian Father Frost was the hero of Russian folk tales Morozko or Moroz Red nose, master of weather, winter and frost. Initially, he was called Grandfather Treskun and was represented as a little old man with a long beard and a temper as harsh as Russian frosts. From November to March, Grandfather Treskun was the sovereign master on earth. Even the sun was afraid of him! He was married to a despicable person - Winter. Father Treskun or Father Frost was also identified with the first month of the year - mid-winter - January. The first month of the year is cold and cold - the king of frosts, the root of winter, its sovereign. It is strict, icy, icy, it’s time for snowmen. People also talk about January like this: fireman and jelly, snowman and cracker, fierce and fierce.

In Russian fairy tales, Father Frost is portrayed as the eccentric, strict, but fair spirit of winter. Remember, for example, the fairy tale "Morozko". Morozko froze and froze the kind, hardworking girl, and then gave her a gift, but he froze the evil and lazy girl to death. Therefore, in order to avoid troubles, some northern peoples and now they appease old man Frost - on festive nights they throw cakes and meat over the threshold of their homes, pour out wine so that the spirit does not get angry, does not interfere with the hunt, or destroys the crops.

Santa Claus was represented as a gray-haired old man with a floor-length beard, wearing a long thick fur coat, felt boots, a hat, mittens, and with a staff with which he froze people.

Ded Moroz (Morozko) - mighty Russian pagan god, a character in Russian legends, in Slavic tales - the personification of Russian winter frosts, a blacksmith who freezes water with ice, generously showering winter nature sparkling snowy silver, giving the joy of a winter festival, and if necessary, in difficult times, protecting Russians from advancing enemies with hitherto unprecedented winter colds freezing into the ice, from which iron begins to break.

Under the influence of Christianity, which cruelly and bloodily fought against Slavic paganism (battle with religious competitors for profits), the original image of Snow Grandfather was distorted (like all other Slavic gods), and Morozko began to be represented as an evil and cruel pagan deity, the Great Old Man of the North, the ruler icy cold and blizzard that froze people. This was reflected in Nekrasov’s poem “Frost - Red Nose”, where Frost kills a poor young peasant widow in the forest, leaving her young children orphans.

As the influence of Christianity weakens in Russia late XIX- the beginning of the 20th century, the image of Morozko began to soften. Santa Claus first appeared at Christmas in 1910, but did not become widespread.

IN Soviet time, after the rejection of the ideas of Christianity, was widespread new image Santa Claus: he appeared to children under New Year and gave gifts; this image was created by Soviet filmmakers in the 1930s.

In December 1935, Stalin's comrade-in-arms, member of the Presidium of the USSR Central Executive Committee, Pavel Postyshev, published an article in the Pravda newspaper in which he proposed organizing a New Year celebration for children. A children's New Year's party was organized in Kharkov. Some modern illiterate history researchers accuse Stalin of inconsistency for not destroying Father Frost, since Father Frost, in their opinion, is a “children’s god.”

He comes to the holiday with his divine granddaughter, Snegurochka.

Modern collective image Santa Claus is based on the hagiography of St. Nicholas, as well as descriptions of ancient Slavic deities Pozvizd (God of the wind), Zimnik and Karachun.

Unfortunately, all the ancient myths and tales of the Slavs were destroyed after forced Christianization, therefore we know practically nothing about the ancient Slavic beliefs and traditions (see “Problems of studying paganism in Rus'”).

The peculiar nature of the interpretation in Christianity of pagan deities (religious competitors of Christianity, albeit beloved by the people, whom the clergy certainly represented as extremely evil and cruel) determined the behavior of Father Frost, inspired by the clergy - after the introduction of Christianity in Rus', he began to collect sacrifices - steal naughty children and take them to bag. This church interpretation made it possible to instill rejection of pagan gods from childhood.

However, over time, after the introduction of restrictions on the irreconcilable ideology of Christianity and the spread of later post-Christian humanistic traditions, especially after the final ban on Christians burning people at the stake (in the first quarter of the XIX century), Santa Claus, in the minds of the Russians, became kinder and began to give gifts to children himself.

This image was finally formalized in the USSR: the ancient Slavic God Father Frost became a symbol of the most beloved national holiday- New Year, which replaced the holiday of the Nativity of Christ (supposedly the birthday of the god of a foreign people from the Sinai desert), hitherto, with the full support of the authorities, imposed by the church on the people Tsarist Russia for almost a millennium.

The professional holiday of Santa Clauses is celebrated every last sunday August.

Recently, the birthday of the Russian Father Frost was announced November 18th- according to long-term meteorological observations, stable snow cover falls on most of Russia on this day. But this is nothing more than the current Russian commercial amateur activity, based on the Christian tradition of the Nativity of Christ. Of course, the great Slavic Gods do not and cannot have “birthdays,” for they are eternal and arose in the consciousness and beliefs of people back in the early Paleolithic at the very beginning of the post-glacial period, and perhaps even earlier.

About the ancient beliefs of the Slavs, about their four great solar holidays, incl. about the great two-week pagan New Year's Yule-Solstice, which marked the beginning of our modern New Year's holiday (which is simply a truncated Yule, from which now only the last and most magical 12th Night of Yule remains - our New Year's Eve), about the forced Christianization of the Slavs by the Varangian invaders-enslavers , about the destruction of Slavic mythology (because now the Slavs do not have their own mythology), see on the Maslenitsa page and in the accompanying articles on the page Pantheon of Slavic gods, given after the “Dictionary of Slavic gods”.

Santa Claus and the Russian Orthodox Church

The attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church towards Santa Claus is ambiguous, on the one hand, as a pagan deity and wizard (God of a different religion, which means a religious competitor, contrary to Christian teaching), and on the other hand, as an invincible Russian cultural tradition, with which to fight is only to disgrace yourself and reveal your weakness.

It is difficult to say unambiguously where the Russian Father Frost lives, since there are a lot of legends. Some say that Santa Claus comes from the North Pole, others say from Lapland. Only one thing is clear, Santa Claus lives somewhere in the far North, where all year round winter. Although in V.F. Odoevsky’s fairy tale “Moroz Ivanovich”, Frost’s red nose moves into the well in the spring, where “even in the summer it’s cold.”

Veliky Ustyug is the current “business homeland of Father Frost”

On the initiative of the former mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov, the tourism business project “Veliky Ustyug - the birthplace of Father Frost” has been operating in the Vologda region since 1999. Tourist trains go to Veliky Ustyug from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vologda, and specialized bus travel has been developed.

In the first three years (from 1999 to 2002), the number of tourists visiting the city of Veliky Ustyug increased from 2 thousand to 32 thousand. According to the Governor of the Vologda Region Vyacheslav Pozgalev, since the beginning of the project, more than a million letters from children from various countries have been sent to Santa Claus, and trade turnover in the city has increased 15 times and unemployment has decreased.

Origin of Santa Claus

Imagine that in some countries local gnomes are considered the ancestors of Santa Claus. In others - medieval wandering jugglers who sang Christmas carols, or wandering sellers of children's toys. There is an opinion that among the relatives of Father Frost is the East Slavic spirit of cold Treskun, aka Studenets, Frost. The image of Santa Claus has evolved over centuries, and each nation has contributed something of its own to its history. But among the elder’s ancestors there was, it turns out, quite a real man. In the 4th century, Archbishop Nicholas lived in the Turkish city of Myra. According to legend, it was very a kind person. So, one day he saved three daughters of a poor family by throwing bundles of gold through the window of their house. After the death of Nicholas, he was declared a saint. In the 11th century, the church where he was buried was robbed by Italian pirates. They stole the remains of the saint and took them to their homeland. The parishioners of the Church of St. Nicholas were outraged. erupted international scandal. This story caused so much noise that Nicholas became the object of veneration and worship of Christians from different countries peace.

In the Middle Ages, the custom of giving gifts to children on St. Nicholas Day, December 19, was firmly established, because this is what the saint himself did. After the introduction of the new calendar, the saint began to come to children at Christmas, and then on New Year. Everywhere the good old man is called differently, in England and America - Santa Claus, and here - Father Frost.

Who is he - ours old friend And good wizard Russian Santa Claus? Our Frost is a character in Slavic folklore. For many generations, the Eastern Slavs created and preserved a kind of “oral chronicle”: prosaic legends, epic tales, ritual songs, legends and tales about the past of their native land.

The Eastern Slavs have a fabulous image of Moroz - a hero, a blacksmith who binds water with “iron frosts”. Frosts themselves were often identified with violent winter winds. There are several folk tales where the North Wind (or Frost) helps lost travelers by showing them the way.

Our Santa Claus is a special image. It is reflected in ancient Slavic legends (Karachun, Pozvizd, Zimnik), Russian folk tales, folklore, Russian literature (A.N. Ostrovsky’s play “The Snow Maiden”, N.A. Nekrasov’s poem “Frost, Red Nose”, poem by V.Ya. Bryusov "To the King of the North Pole", Karelian Finnish epic"Kalevala").

Pozvizd is the Slavic god of storms and bad weather. As soon as he shook his head, large hail fell to the ground. Instead of a cloak, the winds dragged behind him, and snow fell in flakes from the hem of his clothes. Pozvizd swiftly rushed across the skies, accompanied by a retinue of storms and hurricanes.

In the legends of the ancient Slavs there was another character - Zimnik. He, like Frost, appeared in the form of an old man of small stature, with white hair and a long gray beard, with his head uncovered, in warm white clothes and with an iron mace in his hands. Wherever it passes, expect severe cold.

Among the Slavic deities, Karachun stood out for his ferocity - evil spirit, shortening life. The ancient Slavs considered him an underground god who commanded frost.

But over time, Frost changed. Severe, in the company of the Sun and Wind, walking the earth and freezing to death the men he met along the way (in Belarusian fairy tale“Frost, Sun and Wind”), he gradually turns from a formidable man into a fair and kind grandfather.

The Santa Claus costume also did not appear immediately. At first he was depicted wearing a cloak. By the beginning of the 19th century, the Dutch depicted him as a slender pipe smoker, skillfully cleaning chimneys through which he threw gifts to children. At the end of the same century, he was dressed in a red fur coat trimmed with fur. In 1860, the American artist Thomas Knight decorated Santa Claus with a beard, and soon the Englishman Tenniel created the image of a good-natured fat man. We are all very familiar with this Santa Claus.

And yet, let's try to determine the main features of the appearance of the Russian Father Frost that correspond to both historical and modern ideas about this fairy tale wizard. According to one of the researchers of the image of Father Frost - candidate of historical sciences, art critic and ethnologist Svetlana Vasilyevna Zharnikova - the traditional appearance of Father Frost, according to ancient mythology and symbolism of color, suggests:

Shirt and pants- white, linen, decorated with white geometric patterns (symbol of purity). This detail has almost been lost in the modern concept of costume. Performers of the role of Santa Claus and costume designers prefer to cover the performer's neck with a white scarf (which is acceptable). As a rule, they don’t pay attention to the trousers or they are sewn in red to match the color of the fur coat (a terrible mistake!)

Fur coat- long (ankle-length or shin-length), always red, embroidered with silver (eight-pointed stars, geese, crosses and other traditional ornaments), trimmed with swan down. Some modern theatrical costumes, alas, they sin with experiments in the field of colors and replacement of materials. Surely many people have seen a gray-haired wizard in a blue or green fur coat. If so, know that this is not Santa Claus, but one of his many “younger brothers.” If the fur coat is short (the lower leg is open) or has pronounced buttons, this means that you are looking at a costume of Santa Claus, Pere Noel or one of the other foreign brothers-in-arms of Father Frost. But replacing swan down with white fur Although not desirable, it is still acceptable.

A cap- red, embroidered with silver and pearls. Trimmed with swan down (white fur) with a triangular cutout made on the front part (stylized horns). The shape of the hat is a semi-oval (the round shape of the hat is traditional for Russian tsars, just remember the headdress of Ivan the Terrible). In addition to the imposing attitude to color described above, modern theatrical costume designers tried to diversify the decoration and shape of Santa Claus's headdress. The following “inaccuracies” are typical: replacement of pearls with glass diamonds and semi-precious stones (permissible), lack of a cutout behind the trim (not desirable, but very common), a hat of the correct semicircular shape (this is Vladimir Monomakh) or a cap (Santa Claus), a pompom (he same).

Three-fingered gloves or mittens- white, embroidered with silver - a symbol of the purity and holiness of everything that he gives from his hands. Three-fingered fingers have been a symbol of belonging to the highest divine principle since the Neolithic. What symbolic meaning modern red mittens carry is unknown.

Belt- white with a red ornament (symbol of the connection between ancestors and descendants). Nowadays, it has been preserved as an element of costume, having completely lost its symbolic meaning and corresponding color scheme. It's a pity …

Shoes- silver or red, silver-embroidered boots with raised toes. The heel is slanted, small in size or completely absent. On a frosty day, Father Frost puts on white felt boots embroidered with silver. White color and silver are symbols of the moon, holiness, north, water and purity. It is by shoes that you can distinguish a real Santa Claus from a “fake” one. A more or less professional performer of the role of Santa Claus will never go out to the public in boots or black boots! As a last resort, he will try to find red dancing boots or ordinary black felt boots (which is certainly not advisable).

Staff- crystal or silver “like crystal”. The handle is twisted and also has a silver-white color scheme. The staff is completed with a moon (a stylized image of the month) or a bull's head (a symbol of power, fertility and happiness). These days it is difficult to find a staff that matches these descriptions. The imagination of decorative artists and props makers almost completely changed its outline.

And some more features of Santa Claus

The external features of Santa Claus and his constant attributes are as follows:

1. Santa Claus wears a very warm hat with fur trim. Attention: no bombs or brushes!

2. Santa Claus's nose is usually red. (No bad analogies! It’s just VERY cold in the far north!) But the blue nose option is also allowed due to Grandfather’s snow-ice origin.

3. Santa Claus has a beard right down to the floor. White and fluffy like snow.

4. Grandfather Frost wears a long thick fur coat. Initially, quite a long time ago, the color of the fur coat was blue, cold, but under the influence of the red fur coats of its “European brothers” it changed to red. Although on this moment Both options are allowed.

5. Santa Claus hides his hands in huge mittens. (see also paragraph 7)

6. Santa Claus does not wear belts, but ties his fur coat with a sash (belt). In extreme cases, it is fastened with buttons.

7. Santa Claus prefers exclusively felt boots. And it’s not surprising, because at -50? C (usual northern air temperature) even the Snow Master’s feet will freeze in boots.

8. Santa Claus always carries a staff with him. Firstly, to make it easier to get through the snowdrifts. And secondly, according to legend, Father Frost, while still a “wild Morozko”, used this very staff to “freeze” people.

9. A bag of gifts is a later attribute of the Master of Winter. Many children believe that he is bottomless. In any case, Santa Claus never lets anyone near the bag, but takes gifts out of it himself. He does this without looking, but he always guesses who is waiting for what gift.

10. Santa Claus travels on foot, by air or on a sleigh pulled by a troika. He also loves to cross his native expanses on skis. There have been no recorded cases of deer being used.

11. The most important difference between the Russian Father Frost is his constant companion, his granddaughter Snegurochka. This is understandable: alone and in the far north, you can die of boredom! And it’s more fun with my granddaughter. P.S. And Santa Claus never wears glasses or smokes a pipe!

Snow Maiden, granddaughter of Father Frost

Later, Father Frost had a granddaughter, Snegurka or Snegurochka, the heroine of many Russian fairy tales, a snow girl. And Santa Claus himself has changed: he began to bring children gifts for the New Year and fulfill their innermost desires.

As you can see, the origin of the Russian Father Frost is fundamentally different from the European Santa Claus. If Santa Claus was a real historical figure who was elevated to the rank of saint for his good deeds, then the Russian Father Frost is more likely a pagan spirit, a character in folk beliefs and fairy tales. Despite the fact that the modern image of Father Frost has already been formed under the influence of the European New Year's character, most of the characteristic Russian features remain. To this day, the Russian Grandfather Frost walks around in a long fur coat, felt boots and with a staff. He prefers to travel on foot, by air, or on a sleigh pulled by a fast troika. His constant companion is his granddaughter Snegurochka. Santa Claus plays the game "I'll Freeze" with the children and hides gifts under the tree on New Year's Eve.

The Snow Maiden, the granddaughter of Father Frost, accompanies her Grandfather everywhere. The image of the Snow Maiden is a symbol of frozen waters. This is a girl dressed only in white clothes (or colors reminiscent of frozen water). The headdress of the granddaughter of Santa Claus is an eight-rayed crown, embroidered with silver and pearls.

From the history of Santa Claus

The creation of Father Frost as an obligatory character in the New Year's ritual is attributed to the Soviet regime and dates back to the late 1930s, when the Christmas tree was allowed again after several years of prohibition.

The rapid process of developing this image as an indispensable participant in the children's Christmas tree holiday became possible in the pre-war years only by relying on literary tradition and everyday practice, which in its main features had developed long before October.

This image is already recognizable: “ good Frost Ivanovich” is a “gray-haired” old man who “shakes his head and frost falls from his hair”; he lives in an ice house and sleeps on a feather bed made of fluffy snow.

On the one hand, according to Nekrasov’s poem “Frost, Red Nose” (1863), he is portrayed as a malicious atmospheric spirit, which is credited with the ability to have a detrimental effect on humans.

On the other hand (mainly in poetry for children), its positive counterpart is emerging, the main function of which is the formation of “healthy” weather and the creation of winter “magics”.

Nekrasov’s “Frost, Red Nose” also begins to “work” to create this image, from which only the fragment “It is not the wind that rages over the forest...” is taken for children’s use, where the main character, taken out of the context of the poem, acts as a “voivode”, unlimited ruler winter forest and the wizard, putting away his “kingdom” into “diamonds, pearls, silver.”

Simultaneously and independently of literary image Frost in the urban environment, a mythological character appears and develops, “in charge” of the Christmas tree and, like the Christmas tree itself, originally borrowed from the West. During the reorientation of the Christmas tree “on domestic soil” and the creation of pseudo-folklore Christmas tree mythology, the design of Father Frost took place. This character was formed in the process of searching for answers to children's questions: where does the Christmas tree come from in the house, who brings it, who gives gifts?

The process of unifying the name stretches over several decades: old Ruprecht (1861) - isolated cases indicating a German tradition; St. Nikolai or Grandfather Nikolai (1870) - the option is discarded early, since among the Russians, as already noted, Nikola never acted as a donor; Santa Claus (1914) - only when depicting Western Christmas trees; just an old man living in the forest in winter (1894); kind Morozko (1886); Moroz Yolkic (1890s).

In the struggle for the name, Father Frost turned out to be the winner. No Western Christmas tree character has an analogue to this name. In East Slavic mythology, Frost is a respected creature, but also dangerous: in order not to provoke his anger, he should be handled carefully; asking not to destroy the harvest, they cajoled him; They used to scare children. But along with this, he also acted as the Grandfather (deceased parent, ancestor) who came on Christmas Eve.

At Christmas tree festivals, Santa Claus does not appear immediately, but in the middle or even towards the end of the celebration. According to popular beliefs, any guest is always welcome and should be an object of veneration as a representative of an alien world. This is how Santa Claus becomes welcome at the Christmas tree and should be invited, which is quite consistent with the ritual of inviting mythological characters - ancestors or the same folklore Frost. Santa Claus, in essence, becomes the ancestor-giver. That’s why they call him not an old man or an old man, but a grandfather or grandfather. By the beginning of the 20th century, the image of Santa Claus had finally taken shape: he functions as a toy on the Christmas tree, the main figure standing under the tree, an advertising doll in shop windows, a character in children's literature, a masquerade mask, a giver of the Christmas tree and gifts.

At this time, the opinion about the “primordial”, antiquity of this image is affirmed: “Grandfather Frost... suddenly appears in the hall and, just like a hundred or two hundred years ago, and maybe a thousand years ago, dances around with the children Christmas tree, singing an old song in chorus, after which gifts begin to pour out of his bag for the children.” When an anti-religious campaign began in the USSR in the mid-1920s, not only the Christmas tree, but also Santa Claus turned into “religious trash” and began to be viewed as “a product of the anti-national activities of capitalists.”

Poets who were in the service of the Soviet regime took part in the anti-Christmas campaign, such as Demyan Bedny, who wrote:

To “Nativity of Christ” at lunchtime

Old-fashioned Christmas tree grandfather

With such a long, very long beard

The spitting image of a fairytale “Santa Claus”

I was carrying a sleigh with a Christmas tree under my arm,

Sleigh with a five-year-old child.

You won't find anything Soviet here!

Along with the rehabilitation of the Christmas tree, at the end of 1935, the denunciations of Santa Claus also ceased, after some doubts he was completely restored to his rights. Organizers of children's Christmas trees were given the opportunity to take the initiative, and the compilers of books - recommendations for arranging Christmas trees - wrote scenarios, which ultimately led to the development of a standard ritual for a public children's Christmas tree.

If previously children received various gifts that differed in both quality and material value, now Santa Claus brought identical packages for all children, which he took out of his bag in a row.

We associate many things with the New Year that are probably already deeply rooted in our genes. This is a New Year tree, garlands, Olivier salad and, of course, Father Frost and the Snow Maiden.

But in fact, every culture has its own New Year’s character, which has certain historical and cultural roots. For some of them, this history dates back centuries, and for others, only years. And in fact they only have one common feature- they bring gifts.

I think it’s time to figure out what these New Year’s characters are.

Let's start with the closest and most familiar Santa Claus to us. Few people know such an obvious thing that Santa Claus is an ordinary product of Soviet propaganda and he appeared around 1937.

Among historians, there are two versions of its appearance. Since these years saw a huge number of repressions and bans, which were not least directed against religion, Soviet propagandists urgently needed to create new traditions.

Therefore, Christmas faded into the background, giving way to the New Year.

The second version is more prosaic. According to her, the incentive to create a new holiday and character was simply the desire of the authorities to distract the population from real problems, in particular from repression. Well, the Soviet propaganda machine was so professional that thanks to it, not only the New Year, but also a lot of Soviet things are still in the minds of the population.

In Ukraine, for example, in recent years, the tendency to return to pre-Soviet customs has been gaining strength, therefore, gradually displacing Santa Claus, St. Nicholas takes his rightful place. It was he who was once the main symbol of Christmas, not even New Year.

According to legend, the tradition of giving gifts appeared after Nicholas, being the son of a rich merchant, secretly threw gold coins to a poor girl so that she could marry her beloved. Rumor spread throughout the city that it was a gift from an angel, and Nikolai continued to secretly distribute various gifts to those who really needed them.

Initially, his day was celebrated on December 6, but later it was decided to move this holiday closer to the Christmas market. This happened during the years of the Reformation, which opposed the veneration of saints. But already during the Counter-Reformation, Saint Nicholas was firmly established as a Christmas character who gives gifts.

Santa Claus appeared with us a long time ago. This is a really existing spirit, which, by the way, is still alive today.

Ded Moroz (Morozko) is a mighty Russian pagan God, a character in Russian legends, in Slavic legends - the personification of Russian winter frosts, a blacksmith who binds water with ice, generously showering winter nature with sparkling snow silver, giving the joy of a winter festival, and, if necessary, in difficult times. for a long time protecting the Russians from advancing enemies with hitherto unprecedented winter colds freezing into the ice, from which iron begins to break.

Once upon a time, even before the advent of Christianity in Rus', our ancestors believed that the spirits of the dead protected their family, took care of the offspring of livestock and good weather. Therefore, to reward them for their care, people gave them gifts every winter. On the eve of the holiday, village youth put on masks, turned out their sheepskin coats and went from house to house, singing carols. (However, different regions had their own peculiarities of caroling.) The owners presented the carolers with food.
The meaning was precisely that the carolers represented the spirits of ancestors who received a reward for their tireless care of the living. Among the carolers there was often one “person” dressed more terribly than anyone else. As a rule, he was forbidden to speak. This was the oldest and most formidable spirit; he was often called simply Grandfather. It is quite possible that this is the prototype of the modern Santa Claus. Only today, of course, he has become kinder and does not come for gifts, but brings them himself. With the adoption of Christianity, pagan rituals were, of course, “abolished,” and therefore exist to this day. The carolers depict not the spirits of their ancestors, but heavenly messengers, which, you see, is practically the same thing. It’s already difficult to say who should be considered Grandfather, but there is still an “elder”.

According to another version, the “great-great-grandfather” of the modern Russian Father Frost was the hero of Russian folk tales Morozko or Red Nose Frost, master of weather, winter and frost. Initially, he was called Grandfather Treskun and was represented as a little old man with a long beard and a temper as harsh as Russian frosts. From November to March, Grandfather Treskun was the sovereign master on earth. Even the sun was afraid of him! He was married to a despicable person - Winter. Father Treskun or Father Frost was also identified with the first month of the year - mid-winter - January. The first month of the year is cold and cold - the king of frosts, the root of winter, its sovereign. It is strict, icy, icy, it’s time for snowmen. People also talk about January like this: fireman and jelly, snowman and cracker, fierce and fierce.

In Russian fairy tales, Father Frost is portrayed as an eccentric, strict, but fair spirit of winter. . Remember, for example, the fairy tale "Morozko". Morozko froze and froze the kind, hardworking girl, and then gave her a gift, but he froze the evil and lazy girl to death. Therefore, in order to avoid troubles, some northern peoples still appease old man Frost - on festive nights they throw cakes and meat over the threshold of their homes, pour out wine so that the spirit does not get angry, does not interfere with the hunt, or destroys the crops.

Santa Claus was represented as a gray-haired old man with a floor-length beard in a long thick fur coat, felt boots, a hat, mittens, and with a staff with which he froze people .
Under the influence of Christianity, which cruelly and bloodily fought against Slavic paganism (battle with religious competitors for profits), the original image of Snow Grandfather was distorted (like all other Slavic gods), and Morozko began to be represented as an evil and cruel pagan deity, the Great Old Man of the North, the ruler icy cold and blizzard that froze people. This was reflected in Nekrasov’s poem “Frost - Red Nose”, where Frost kills a poor young peasant widow in the forest, leaving her young children orphans.
As the influence of Christianity weakened in Russia at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, the image of Morozko began to soften. Santa Claus first appeared at Christmas in 1910, but did not become widespread.

And here is that Santa Claus whom you and I are accustomed to seeing with early years Appeared already in Soviet times , after the rejection of the ideas of Christianity, a new image of Father Frost was widespread: he appeared to children on New Year’s Eve and gave gifts; this image was created by Soviet filmmakers in the 1930s.
And note that only our Father Frost comes to the holiday with his divine granddaughter - the Snow Maiden.
The modern collective image of Father Frost is based on the hagiography of St. Nicholas, as well as descriptions of the ancient Slavic deities Pozvizd (God of the Wind), Zimnik and Karachun.

But the attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church towards Santa Claus is ambiguous, on the one hand, as a pagan deity and wizard (God of another religion, which means a religious competitor, contrary to Christian teaching), and on the other hand, as an invincible Russian cultural tradition with which to fight - just disgrace yourself and reveal your weakness
It is difficult to say unambiguously where the Russian Father Frost lives, since there are a lot of legends. Some claim that Santa Claus comes from the North Pole, others say from Lapland. Only one thing is clear, Santa Claus lives somewhere in the Far North, where it is winter all year round.

But the most interesting thing is the Origin of Santa Claus
Imagine that in some countries local gnomes are considered the ancestors of Santa Claus. In others - medieval wandering jugglers who sang Christmas carols, or wandering sellers of children's toys. There is an opinion that among the relatives of Father Frost is the East Slavic spirit of cold Treskun, aka Studenets, Frost. The image of Santa Claus has evolved over centuries, and each nation has contributed something of its own to its history. But among the elder’s ancestors there was, it turns out, a very real person. In the 4th century, Archbishop Nicholas lived in the Turkish city of Myra. According to legend, he was a very kind man. So, one day he saved three daughters of a poor family by throwing bundles of gold through the window of their house. After the death of Nicholas, he was declared a saint. In the 11th century, the church where he was buried was robbed by Italian pirates. They stole the remains of the saint and took them to their homeland. The parishioners of the Church of St. Nicholas were outraged. An international scandal broke out. This story caused so much noise that Nicholas became the object of veneration and worship of Christians from different countries of the world.

And yet, Saint Nicholas is our kind Grandfather Frost, Santa Claus. The holiday and day of honoring Saint Nicholas. All nations celebrate December 19. On December 19, it is customary to give gifts to children, because the saint himself did so. After the introduction of the new calendar, the saint began to come to children at Christmas, and then on New Year. Everywhere the good old man is called differently, in England and America - Santa Claus, and here - Father Frost.

And this is what our traditional appearance of Santa Claus looks like, according to ancient mythology and symbolism :

Beard and hair - thick, gray (silver). These details of appearance, in addition to their “physiological” meaning (the old man is gray-haired), also have a huge symbolic character, denoting power, happiness, prosperity and wealth. Surprisingly, hair is the only detail of the appearance that has not undergone any significant changes over the millennia.
Shirt and pants - white, linen, decorated with white geometric patterns (symbol of purity). This detail has almost been lost in the modern concept of costume. Performers of the role of Santa Claus and costume designers prefer to cover the performer's neck with a white scarf (which is acceptable). As a rule, they do not pay attention to the trousers or they are sewn in red to match the color of the fur coat ( terrible mistake!)
Fur coat- long (ankle-length or shin-length), always red, embroidered with silver (eight-pointed stars, geese, crosses and other traditional ornaments), trimmed with swan down. Some modern theatrical costumes, alas, indulge in experiments in the field of colors and replacement of materials. Surely many people have seen a gray-haired wizard in a blue or green fur coat. If so, know that this is not Santa Claus, but one of his many “younger brothers.”". If the fur coat is short (the shin is exposed) or has pronounced buttons- in front of you is a costume of Santa Claus, Pere Noel or one of the foreign brothers-in-arms of Father Frost. But replacing swan down with white fur, although not desirable, is still acceptable.
A cap- red, embroidered with silver and pearls. Trimmed with swan down (white fur) with a triangular cutout made on the front part (stylized horns). The shape of the hat is semi-oval (the round shape of the hat is traditional for Russian tsars,Just remember the headdress of Ivan the Terrible). In addition to the imposing attitude to color described above, modern theatrical costume designers tried to diversify the decoration and shape of Santa Claus's headdress. The following “inaccuracies” are typical: replacement of pearls with glass diamonds and semi-precious stones (permissible), lack of a cutout behind the trim (not desirable, but very common), a hat of the correct semicircular shape (this is Vladimir Monomakh) or a cap (Santa Claus), a pompom (he same).

Three-fingered gloves or mittens - white, embroidered with silver - a symbol of the purity and holiness of everything that he gives from his hands. Three-fingered- a symbol of belonging to the highest divine principle since the Neolithic. What symbolic meaning do modern red mittens carry is unknown
Belt - white with a red ornament (symbol of the connection between ancestors and descendants). Nowadays, it has been preserved as an element of costume, having completely lost its symbolic meaning and corresponding color scheme. It's a pity …
Shoes- silver or red, silver-embroidered boots with raised toes. The heel is slanted, small in size or completely absent. On a frosty day, Father Frost puts on white felt boots embroidered with silver. White color and silver are symbols of the moon, holiness, north, water and purity. It is by shoes that you can distinguish a real Santa Claus from a “fake” one. Dad Orosa will never go out to the public in boots or black boots! As a last resort, he will try to find red dancing boots or ordinary black felt boots (which is certainly not advisable).
Staff- crystal or silver “like crystal”. The handle is twisted and also has a silver-white color scheme. The staff is completed with a moon (a stylized image of the month) or a bull's head (a symbol of power, fertility and happiness).

And some more features of Santa Claus
1. Santa Claus wears a very warm hat with fur trim. Attention: no bombs or brushes!
2. Santa Claus's nose is usually red. (No bad analogies! It’s just VERY cold in the far north!) But the blue nose option is also allowed due to Grandfather’s snow-ice origin.
3. Santa Claus has a beard right down to the floor. White and fluffy like snow.
4. Grandfather Frost wears a long thick fur coat. Initially, quite a long time ago, the color of the fur coat was blue, cold, but under the influence of the red fur coats of its “European brothers” it changed to red. Although at the moment both options are allowed.
5. Santa Claus hides his hands in huge mittens.
6. Santa Claus does not wear belts, but ties his fur coat with a sash (belt). In extreme cases, it is fastened with buttons.
7. Santa Claus prefers exclusively felt boots. And it’s not surprising, because at -50? C (usual northern air temperature) even the Snow Master’s feet will freeze in boots.
8. Santa Claus always carries a staff with him. Firstly, to make it easier to get through the snowdrifts. And secondly, according to legend, Father Frost, while still a “wild Morozko”, used this very staff to “freeze” people.
9. A bag of gifts is a later attribute of the Master of Winter. Many children believe that he is bottomless. In any case, Santa Claus never lets anyone near the bag, but takes gifts out of it himself. He does this without looking, but he always guesses who is waiting for what gift.
10. Santa Claus travels on foot, by air or on a sleigh pulled by a troika. He also loves to cross his native expanses on skis. There have been no recorded cases of deer being used.
11. The most important difference between the Russian Father Frost is his constant companion, his granddaughter Snegurochka. This is understandable: alone and in the far north, you can die of boredom! And it’s more fun with my granddaughter. P.S. And Santa Claus never wears glasses or smokes a pipe!
Snow Maiden, granddaughter of Father Frost
It should be noted that the Snow Maiden is purely Russian phenomenon. Not a single overseas character symbolizing the arrival of the new year has a companion. Only our Santa Claus is lucky.

This is how he is Dash Good Old Man Grandfather Frost Whom we look forward to every year and to whom we make wishes, believe in fairy tales and wait for a Miracle

YOU SHOULD BRING BACK SANTA GRACK.
- For what? For the sake of peace, goodwill and the ringing of magic bells? Nobody cares! He's just a fat old clown who makes people have fun! And I went through all this for the sake of some old man who climbs into children's bedrooms?
- NO. SO THAT THE SUN WILL RISE.
Terry Pratchett "Santa Grunt"

Father Frost, Santa Claus, Pere Noel, Saint Nicholas - winter givers of gifts to good children (in fact, to everyone) have filled the entire near-Christian world. These characters make the coldest and darkest time of the year a little magical, helping to brighten up the endless wait for spring. But at the very beginning of their ancient history they were just as cold and gloomy. Humanity has passed long haul, before beginning to celebrate victory over her winter fears.

Dead Frost

The further north people lived, the more complex their relationship with nature was. And the more intricately they imagined personifications of the elemental forces with which they had to fight in order to survive. It is to the embodiment of the winter cold that the image of a bearded good man with a bag of gifts goes back. Only in ancient times he was not at all kind, and there was only one gift in his arsenal: a chance to survive another winter. An invaluable gift for times when forty years was considered an advanced age.

Frost, snow and ice, the deep winter darkness in the minds of our ancestors were associated with death. IN Scandinavian myths in the icy north is the kingdom of the dead, where the terrible goddess Hel rules - the prototype Snow Queen from Andersen's fairy tale. The houses of modern Santa Clauses are also located in the north: Lapland, Greenland, Alaska, the North Pole, the “pole of cold” Oymyakon in Yakutia... Russian Veliky Ustyug, Vologda region and Belarusian Belovezhskaya Pushcha- perhaps the southernmost places where this grandfather was settled. Fortunately, modern Santas don't want to kill us. And they wanted our ancestors. And they cheated as best they could, paying off with sacrifices.

On the longest night of the year - the winter solstice, from December 21 to 22 - the ancient Germans and Celts celebrated the holiday Yule. There was something to rejoice at: after this night the sun “turned to spring” and the day began to lengthen. People decorated their houses with evergreen branches of holly, ivy and mistletoe, drank hot ale with spices, burned a special “Yule log” in the fireplace, and visited their neighbors. After the Christianization of Europe, these customs became attributes of Christmas and New Year, which come a little later than Yule.

The Yule log is not only a decoration, but also a traditional Christmas dessert (cream roll)

The image of Wotan the Wanderer has become a popular illustration for the story of the Eternal Jew

Among the Germans, Yule was dedicated to Wotan (aka Odin), the god of wisdom, the lord of life and death. According to legend, first retold by Jacob Grimm, Wotan rides across the sky that night at the head of the Wild Hunt, bringing unwary travelers into his retinue. Perhaps this is where the tradition of “Christmas is a family holiday” is rooted: on the longest night of the year, all family members should sit at the hearth, and not wander along the roads. Wotan was often depicted as a long-bearded old man leaning on a spear, wearing a cloak and a wanderer's hat - do you recognize Grandfather Frost in a sheepskin coat and with a staff? Sacrifices were made to Wotan on Yule - it is reliably known that these were horses and pigs, but it is possible that in very ancient times the sacrifices were human.

Slavic Frost (Mraz) also demanded sacrifices. An echo of the ceremony of human sacrifice can be seen in the fairy tale “Morozko”. Remember the girl who was almost frozen to death, but then generously rewarded for her meekness? So, young virgins, who were sent into the forest every winter as a sacrifice to the winter god, actually froze to death. But in the pagan consciousness, such a death meant joining the very elemental force that everyone was afraid of. And if Morozko accepted the sacrifice, it means that this year he will be kind.

In Ukrainian and Belarusian villages back in the 19th century, Moroz was ritually “invited” to Christmas kutya (sweet wheat porridge with dried fruits) - a harmless equivalent of a human sacrifice. If we remember that kutia was also a traditional dish at Slavic funerals, the ritual takes on additional depth, turning into a way of communicating with the spirits of deceased ancestors.

But how did these capricious and insatiable elements turn into kind and generous givers? For this to happen, another, non-pagan character had to appear in world mythology.

In Terry Pratchett's book "Santa Hog" the missing spirit of Fear is replaced by Death - because anthropomorphic personifications must help each other

Santa the Miracle Worker

In the 3rd century AD, in the Roman province of Lycia, in Asia Minor, there lived a young man, Nicholas, who from childhood decided to devote himself to religion. When his parents died, he distributed all his considerable inheritance to the poor, and he himself went to study with his uncle, the bishop, who later ordained him as a priest. Over time, Nicholas became the Bishop of Myra, beloved among the people for his kindness and generosity to those in need. Moreover, he showed this generosity secretly - but for some reason it still became known that the mysterious benefactor was the bishop.

One of the legends about Nicholas says that he heard about three beautiful sisters, whose father was poor and could not give a dowry for them, so instead of marrying off his daughters, he planned to sell them to a brothel. To save the girls from this fate, Nikolai collected three bags of gold and threw them into the sisters’ house - according to different versions of the legend, through a window or a chimney. And these bags ended up in stockings hung near the fireplace to dry.

Depiction of Saint Nicholas in the Catholic tradition. By the way, like Wotan, he is considered the patron saint of travelers.

In memory of the generosity of St. Nicholas - and he was named a saint during his lifetime - the day of his memory (December 6, or December 18 in the new style) became a holiday on which it is necessary to give gifts and help the poor, ritually joining in truly Christian image life led by a silverless bishop. The children were told that gifts were brought by Saint Nicholas himself - a kind, gray-bearded old man in a long-skirted bishop's robe and a high headdress (mitre). In order for the gift to end up in a child's sock, which was specially hung by the fireplace, Saint Nicholas supposedly climbs to the roof of each house and descends through the chimney.

During the Reformation, when Protestants fought against the Catholic custom of venerating saints as idolatry, the ritual of gift-giving shifted to Christmas - in memory of the gifts that the three wise men brought to the infant Christ. Saint Nicholas fell out of favor, surviving as the main Christmas benefactor in only a few countries. Nowadays, many Polish, Ukrainian, Austrian, Czech, Hungarian, Croatian and some Dutch children receive the main gifts “for good behavior throughout the year” not on Christmas or New Year, but on the day of remembrance of St. Nicholas - December 18th. However, some manage to beg their parents for a gift for all the winter holidays. If you remember being a child, you should know how this is done.

In the Netherlands and Belgium, Saint Nicholas is accompanied by Black Peter, a Moorish servant who traces his ancestry to one of the Christmas gift-giving magicians.

The holiday comes to us

From Holland, Saint Nicholas moved to America - along with a wave of Dutch settlers in the 18th century. They called him Sinterklaas - hence the name “Santa Claus” we know. True, at first he was called that only in New York, which originally belonged to Holland and was called New Amsterdam. The English Puritans, who shared the northeast of what is now the United States with the Dutch, did not celebrate Christmas - they generally had problems with fun.

In 1821, Sinterklaas first sat in a sleigh drawn by a reindeer.

Father Christmas, model 1836, is more reminiscent of the god of wine and fun, Dionysus (Bacchus)

But in English folklore there was an old character called Father Christmas, who symbolized not the Christian custom of selflessly sharing with one another, but rather the pagan love of unbridled fun during the holidays. Father Christmas was portrayed as a fat, bearded man in a short fur-lined camisole, who liked to drink beer, eat heartily and dance to catchy tunes. IN Victorian era, when the influence of Protestants in England weakened (the majority managed to emigrate to America), Father Christmas also received the mission of giving gifts to children. And in America, his appearance and love of fun (“Ho-ho-ho!”) went to Sinterklaas, who turned into Santa Claus. The red color of clothing is all that remains in America from Bishop Nicholas.

In 1821, Sinterklaas appeared in the pages of a children's book by an unknown author, “A New Year's Gift for Children from Five to Twelve Years,” and in 1823 in Clement Clarke Moore's poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” now known to American children as “The Night Before Christmas.” It is written from the perspective of a father who wakes up on Christmas night to watch Santa's reindeer-drawn sleigh fly across the sky and Santa himself descending the chimney to place gifts for the children in the stockings hanging by the fireplace.

Moore's poem names eight of Santa's reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, and Blitzen. The first six are English (Swift, Dancer, Horse, Frisky, Comet, Cupid), the last two are German (Thunder and Lightning). The ninth and main reindeer, Rudolph, appeared more than a hundred years later, in 1939, in a poem by Robert L. May. Rudolf's peculiarity is his huge shining nose, with which he lights the way for the entire team.

This scene has been repeated constantly since then - on Christmas cards, in movies and cartoons, as well as in the stories of parents who want their children to believe in Santa Claus, and not in the painful search for gifts in the bustle of pre-Christmas sales. A tradition has emerged of leaving treats for Santa by the fireplace on Christmas night: milk and cookies in America and Canada, a glass of sherry or a bottle of beer with a piece of meat pie in England and Australia. Yes, Santa Claus became part of the culture of all English-speaking countries, returning across the ocean to his ancestral home of Britain, and from there reaching Australia. By the way, in 2008 he was granted Canadian citizenship.

And the fact that Santa became known to the whole world must be blamed on the deity of the twentieth century - His Majesty Marketing. In the 1930s, a cheerful, ruddy old man in red and white clothes began to appear in Coca-Cola advertisements. At the same time, the actors portraying Santa began working in decorated clothes during the holidays. shopping centers and at Christmas markets - communicate with children, listen to their deepest desires and unobtrusively promote goods.

This advertising was already so widespread that it gave rise to a sustainable urban legend, as if the canonical appearance of Santa Claus was invented by Coca-Cola. In fact, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, he often appeared in illustrations in this form. And for the first time in advertising, his image was not used by Coca-Cola - Santa had to promote mineral water and ginger ale before.

Cotton beard

The history of the domestic Santa Claus in the form in which we know him also goes back a few years. Back in the 19th century, he was a character in Russian folklore and children's books (for example, Odoevsky's fairy tale "Moroz Ivanovich"), from time to time he looked at public children's Christmas trees - but rarely. Parents in Russian Empire they told the children that the baby Jesus brought them gifts, or they honestly admitted that they gave them themselves. Didn't approve of Pagan Frost Orthodox Church, and the children were afraid of the bearded old man - in their minds, Frost was a harsh winter lord from fairy tales. When in 1910 such a Grandfather appeared at a holiday in one kindergarten, singing a song based on Nekrasov’s poems “It is not the wind that rages over the forest,” the kids burst into tears of fear. The teacher had to remove the fake beard from the actor to make Frost look more humane.

Meeting of Morozko and the meek stepdaughter performed by Ivan Bilibin

The revolution of 1917 almost put an end to winter holiday: Christmas, like other dates of the church calendar, the Bolsheviks decided to write off as scrap. Christmas trees and other ritual winter amusements were erased from the life of the new Soviet state - in 1929, Christmas officially became a regular working day.

But in the 1930s, they began to abandon the “leftist excesses”. In November 1935, Stalin said famous phrase: “Life has become better, comrades! Life has become more fun." Taking this opportunity, candidate member of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Pavel Postyshev, who dreamed of returning the holiday to children, made a proposal in the Pravda newspaper in December: organize holiday trees for Soviet children, clearing them of religious attributes. So the Christmas tree star of Bethlehem turned into a five-pointed Soviet one, instead of Christmas it was decided to celebrate the New Year en masse, Christmastide with traditional dressing up in costumes became a New Year's carnival. The atmosphere of the holiday also changed: Christmas was a quiet family celebration, while the New Year was supposed to be celebrated noisily and cheerfully.

1950s illustration for Vladimir Odoevsky’s fairy tale “Moroz Ivanovich”

The only problem was with Santa Claus: the children were still afraid of the old man in white clothes. To soften the effect, he was accompanied by his granddaughter Snegurochka, who affectionately called Moroz “grandfather,” and a whole retinue of forest animals. In addition, in fairy-tale performances that were performed at children's Christmas trees, Father Frost acted as a kind wizard, a kind of Gandalf, saving the New Year from the machinations of Baba Yaga, Leshy, Koshchei the Immortal and other evil spirits. Little by little, over the course of two decades, Father Frost in the Soviet Union became as harmless, albeit powerful, a good fellow as Santa Claus in the West. Only he usually dresses not in red, but in white and blue - shades of snowy winter twilight. Only in recent years has Moroz sometimes appeared in red, and his headdress takes on the features of the miter of St. Nicholas.

If Snegurochka is the granddaughter of Father Frost, then who are her parents? All kids ask this question as soon as they learn to understand family ties. Apparently, the Snow Maiden is not the pale beauty melting with love from Ostrovsky’s fairy-tale play (in the play she was called the daughter of Frost and Spring, and not the granddaughter), but one of the girls who were once sacrificed to Frost. He calls her granddaughter only because she is old enough to be his granddaughter.

* * *

New Year trees are all that remains in our culture from the ancient ritual of welcoming Winter and begging Frost to be truly kind. This holiday has all the necessary attributes and ritual actions: a decorated Christmas tree as the embodiment of the world tree and a symbol of immortality (because it is evergreen), round dances (a ritual dance that symbolized the sun in Indo-European culture), playing a mystery about the victory of Light over Darkness... Everything serves that the same purpose for which our ancestors made sacrifices to Wotan or Frost: to fearlessly face cold Death face to face and, in a fair fight, win the right to survive another winter.

Have a lot of fun on New Year's Eve. This determines whether the spring sun will rise.

There is no doubt that the most favorite characters of the New Year holiday are Father Frost and Snow Maiden. The image of Father Frost in Russian folklore has evolved over many centuries. Historians are inclined to believe that the prototype of our Father Frost was the East Slavic spirit of cold Treskun, or, as he was also called, Studenets. The character of ancient fairy tales Morozko is more like our Father Frost, in later versions - Moroz Ivanovich, Moroz Yelkich. This is the Spirit of Winter - strict, sometimes angry, grumpy, but fair. He favors and bestows good people, but he can freeze bad people with his magic staff. By the 1880s in public consciousness a certain character appeared with a bag of gifts near the Christmas tree. True, they called him differently: the Christmas old man, the Christmas grandfather, or simply the Christmas tree grandfather. In literary adaptation, Moroz Ivanovich appeared in 1840 in the collection “Children's Tales of Grandfather Iriney” by V.F. Odoevsky. This kind gray-haired old man gifts the Needlewoman for Good work“a handful of silver coins,” and teaches Sloth a lesson by giving her an icicle instead of silver. In Nekrasov’s poem “Red Nose Frost,” the main character is evil, who loves to “freeze the blood in the veins and freeze the brain in the head.” In children's poetry of the late 19th century, Father Frost is a good wizard. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the image of Father Frost as a kind giver of Christmas trees and gifts was finally established. Traditionally, Father Frost is dressed in a long, ankle-length red fur coat trimmed with white fur. At first his fur coat was blue (indicating the northern, cold origin of the character); on pre-revolutionary postcards you can also find a white Santa Claus. Nowadays, Santa Claus most often comes in a red suit. His hat is semi-oval to match his fur coat. The children's favorite has mittens on his hands. In one hand he holds a staff and in the other a bag of gifts.

The image of the Snow Maiden also took shape in the 19th century. In 1860, G.P. Danilevsky published a poetic version of a Russian folk tale about a revived snow girl. The official date of birth of the Snow Maiden was 1873, when A.N. Ostrovsky translated this folk tale in his own way in the play “The Snow Maiden”. So the Kostroma region began to be considered the birthplace of the winter beauty, where on the Shchelykovo estate the writer came up with new story for an old fairy tale. In 1874, “The Snow Maiden” was published in “Bulletin of Europe”, then an opera appeared, the music for which was written by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov. It is interesting that upon first reading, Ostrovsky’s poetic dramatic tale did not inspire the composer. Five years later, in the winter of 1879, Rimsky-Korsakov “read The Snow Maiden again” and clearly saw its amazing beauty. I immediately wanted to write an opera based on this plot, and as I thought about this intention, I felt more and more in love with Ostrovsky’s fairy tale. The attraction that was gradually manifesting itself in me towards the ancient Russian custom and pagan pantheism now flared up bright flame. Wasn't there for me best story, there were no better ones for me poetic images“There was no better kingdom of the Berendeys with their wonderful king than Snegurochka, Lel or Vesna...” The first performance of The Snow Maiden took place on January 29, 1882 at the Mariinsky Theater during a benefit performance of the Russian Opera Choir. Soon “The Snow Maiden” was staged in Moscow, in Russkaya private opera S.I. Mamontov, and in 1893 - in Bolshoi Theater. The opera was a huge success.

The image of the Snow Maiden both as a daughter and as a granddaughter of Frost was developed in the nursery and adult literature, V fine arts. But precisely thanks to a beautiful fairy tale Ostrovsky, the Snow Maiden fell in love with many and soon became the constant companion of Father Frost. Only them family ties Over time, she underwent some changes - from a daughter she turned into a granddaughter, but she did not lose her charm because of this. Appearance The Snow Maiden was created thanks to three great artists: Vasnetsov, Vrubel and Roerich. It was in their paintings that the Snow Maiden “found” her famous outfits: a light sundress and a headband; a long white snow robe, lined with ermine, a small fur coat. Before the revolution, the Snow Maiden never acted as a presenter at the Christmas tree festival.

In the twenties of the last century, the country embarked on the path of combating “religious prejudices.” Since 1929, all church holidays. The Christmas day off became a working day, but “secret” Christmas trees were sometimes held. Santa Claus has become “a product of the anti-people activities of capitalists” and “religious trash.” The Christmas tree holiday was allowed again only on New Year's Eve 1936, after Stalin uttered a significant phrase: “Life has become good, comrades. Life has become more fun." Christmas tree, having lost its religious context, became a symbol of the holiday happy childhood in our country. From that time on, Santa Claus was fully restored to his rights. Soviet Grandfather Frost brought bags with the same gifts for all the children. In 1937, Father Frost and the Snow Maiden first appeared together at the Christmas tree celebration in the Moscow House of Unions. The Snow Maiden became Father Frost's permanent companion, helping him in everything (the tradition was broken only in the 1960s, when the Snow Maiden's place on the Kremlin Christmas tree was taken several times by an astronaut). So then it happened: a girl, sometimes older, sometimes younger, with or without pigtails, wearing a kokoshnik or a hat, sometimes surrounded by little animals, sometimes singing, sometimes dancing. She asks questions to Santa Claus, leads round dances with the children, and helps distribute gifts. For many years now, Father Frost and the Snow Maiden have been decorating any New Year's celebration, either corporate party or children's party. These fairy-tale characters are an integral part of the New Year, just like a beautifully decorated Christmas tree and gifts.

Not so long ago Russian Grandfather Moroz got his own residence. It is located in Veliky Ustyug, in the Vologda region. By the new year 2006, the estate of Father Frost was opened in Moscow, in Kuzminki Park. In November 2006, the Snow Maiden's tower opened in Kuzminki. The wooden two-story tower was designed by Kostroma architects in the “onion” style. Inside, on the first floor, there is a spinning wheel for the Snow Maiden-craftswoman. On the second floor there is an exhibition of gifts from children. These are drawings, clay crafts, snowflakes and other souvenirs dedicated to the New Year.