In the past on this blog, I have ignored big holidays except on the date itself. For some reason this year, that seems hard to do – maybe it’s the seasonal videos and other stuff I’ve been finding – so it’s Christmas all the way until next week.
Santa Claus is a legendary, mythical, folkloric figure of many cultures under many different, although mostly similar names. It follows, then, that the details of his origin are contradictory, confusing and fascinating.
There is a documentary titled The Legends of Santa I discovered recently and am delighted with. Narrated by Sir Richard Attenborough, it is beautifully produced and stuffed (like a Christmas stocking?) with a whole lot of information about how the jolly fat man came to be.
Here is Part 1 of 4. You can watch the other three here at YouTube.
At The Elder Storytelling Place today, Herchel Newman: No Appreciation