Three scary companions of Santa

 It seems that Halloween isn't the only spooky time of year. The season of Yule is upon us and always considered a merry time to spread love and happiness, joy and exchange gifts. There is an abundance of scary creatures associated with Christmas time. Here are three of the most awful Yule characters that have frightened children for generations because they accompany Santa Claus. 

1. Belsnickel is a fearsome figure from Palatine folklore, also understood in Pennsylvania because of German immigrants. Believed to be a grudging servant of Santa Claus, he appears as scruffy, dressed in thick furs, and wears a hat with deer antlers. Sometimes the entity has been cross dressing and given other names like "Christmas woman", and Pelsnichol, Kriskinkle, Beltznickel. His name references the "bells" he wears and accompanies Saint Nicholas. This creature travels alone two weeks before Christmas, visiting houses and carrying a bundle of gifts for good children and a slap from a switch for the naughty kids. He would tell kids to sing for him, and if he liked it, he would throw nuts, cakes and sweets to the floor. If he thinks the kids are being greedy, he whacks them on the back of the hand. 

2. Krampus is a horned monster of Alpine folklore. He's a Christmas devil, with sharp teeth, a long tongue, horns and legs like an animal with cloven hooves. He frightens children and punishes naughty ones. When Santa visits children bringing gifts to children who've been well behaved, he's with Krampus who's there to punish naughty children. He beats kids with sticks and branches. Some horrific tales have him eating them and putting them in a sack to take them down to Hell. It's believed Krampus originates from early pre-Christian beliefs linked to the Winter solstice. Some believe that he's the son of Hel, the goddess of the Underworld.

3. Hans Trapp is a Christmas Scarecrow is another companion to Santa Claus. While Santa delivers presents to children who've been good, Hans Trapp will punish the badly behaved kids. Some say that he's worse than Krampus. From French folklore, the scarecrow had once been human! He was a man in the Medieval period, who was wealthy and evil, and lived in Alsace. People heard that he dabbled in the occult and made pacts with the Devil, resulting in him being exiled from his home. He escaped to Germany and made a hovel in the hills of Bavaria. On the verge of starvation, he was dressed in straw, disguised as a scarecrow and hunted people for food. Then a lightning bolt struck the cannibal down dead. Afterwards, his scary looking ghost is believed to go after naughty children, as this is what parents say.

More on Yuletide monsters coming soon...

She Wolf Night       

Wildlife picture of the month

Each month will be a post with a picture of a wild animal from the British Isles and Europe, doing something cute and seasonal. It's a light hearted topic that will ease from the spooky and weird subject matters I talk about here.

A robin is perched on a tiny branch amidst the fresh snow. It's red and cute, resting from flight as it appears during the winter. Here are some nice quotes and proverbs about robins.

"The robin flew from his swinging spray of ivy on to the top of the wall and he opened his beak and sang a loud, lovely trill, merely to show off. Nothing in the world is quite as adorably lovely as a robin when he shows off and they are nearly always doing it." Frances Hodgson Burnett.

"Young robin do not fall out of the nest. They fly up to it." Chinese proverb.

"If a robin built its nest in a barn, it would be safe there from weather and wind. But it would be almost as unsafe as if it built its nest in a tree, because it would be likely to become the slave of the farmer." Charlotte Bronte.

"I hardly think, sir, there will be much robin in winter." Charles Dickens.

"A quaint and curious bird if the robin red breast. He's neither fit for town nor yet for country. Yet uncombed he protests, ^I'm the monarch of all I survey^!" Robert Frost.

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Basilisk

The Basilisk is nicknamed the "king of snakes." Described as being similar to a snake but with the head features of a rooster, simply because of its colourful crown, that sometimes may appear like a comb or a white diadem. Anyone who looks at it, meaning, has direct eye contact with it, will die instantly. It was created from the blood of Medusa. Other sources say the basilisk was hatched from the egg of a cockatrice, a type of dragon. 

There's many different accounts of the basilisk, although the earliest mention was from 79 AD book Natural History by Pliny the Elder. There the basilisk was described as originating from Cyrene, being only twelve fingers long, whose own hiss frighten away other snakes. According to Pliny, the basilisk's is fire breathing, as it destroys shrubbery and burns grass that it breaths upon. Only the rue plant is immune to the basilisk. It's able to destroy stones by it's incredibly noxious touch. It's believed that if a man on horseback should try and slay it with a spear, the venom of the basilisk would crawl up the spear and infect both man and his mount.

However the basilisk isn't invincible. One of the biggest threats to a basilisk is a weasel. The very odour of a weasel can kill a basilisk. Unfortunately the weasel would also be killed by the poisonous basilisk. Another danger to the basilisk is water. It panics at the sight of water mainly because it's from the sands of a desert. The creature is also afraid of its own reflection! Another interesting thing that can kill a basilisk is the cawing of a rooster. 

More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilisk

She Wolf Night