HAPPY NEW YEAR!
1 January 2021
Who are the Russian Santa and his companion?
The image of the Grandfather Frost has evolved in Russian folklore over many centuries well before Christianity came to Russia over a thousand years ago.
Historians tend to believe that the prototype of the Russian Santa Claus was the East Slavic spirit of cold named Treskun. The word stems from the verb meaning to crackle - the sound the snow makes under your feet when it is extremely cold, cold enough that trees can literally crack from it. It's Russia after all.
Grandfather Frost is the Spirit of Winter - strict and kind at the same time, sometimes grumpy, but always fair. Winter is a universal equalizer - the rich and the poor, the young and the old, everyone quickly learns to respect the power of Winter and the power of Warmth - both in its physical and spiritual concepts.
He is kind wizard. He favors good people and rewards them, but he can freeze the evil ones solid with a touch of his magic staff.
Traditionally, Grandfather Frost (in Russian Ded Moroz) is dressed in a long, ankle-deep, red or blue coat trimmed with white fur. The blue coat indicated his northern, "cold" origin. In one hand he holds a staff, and in the other a bag of gifts.
The image of the Snow Maiden took shape in the 19th century. It originates from a Russian folk tale about a girl made out of snow who came alive.
The Snow Maiden ( in Russian Snegurochka) soon became a constant companion of Ded Moroz. Only their family ties have undergone some changes over time - from a daughter she turned into a granddaughter, but she did not lose her charm from that.
The looks of the Snow Maiden were formed thanks to three Russian great artists: Vasnetsov, Vrubel and Roerich. Overtime, she has changed her outfits many time, and does not seem to stop doing that.
