Byte Me by Marv Dealy
Krampus – The Enforcer in Santa’s Posse
There are differing stories about the origins of good old Santa Claus, who by the time you read this will probably have already made rounds at your home, despite the fact that means in the space of twenty-four hours he will have covered every household on earth in each and every time zone, and all without running out of either coal for the stockings of bad little boys and girls or gifts for everyone else.
The duality of Santa Claus today was in earlier times portrayed by distinct different individuals – the good St. Nicholas character that brought gifts and another, evil member of his posse that brought bad news usually involving willow whips.
Pictured at left is a demon from Austria, called the Krampus, who we can see is holding in its left hand a bunch of chains with leg manacles hanging at the end, while the right hand grips some whips, possibly the willow whips often associated with bad children of earlier eras.
We can see the Krampus is delighted to be riding the rocking horse with the little child, who doesn’t appear to share the delight. With a tongue that would give Gene Simmons of Kiss nightmares, our Krampus seems ready for something we probably don’t want to know about.
In German folklore, Krampus played the bad cop to St. Nicholas’ good cop, getting pretty Dark Ages for those on the “they’ve been bad” list. Portrayed as sporting giant horns, wielding chains and birch whips, and having bird-like claws, Krampus was Santa’s muscle, and was known to whip and beat bad children, sometimes putting them in sacks and tossing them in a nearby lake or river.
Looking at the second illustration, we can see a bad, bad Krampus about to whip a pretty young victim, while a somewhat excited St. Nicholas peers through the window. What is up with that?
Today, if you happen to be in Austria on December 5th, you might see a bunch of crazed, mostly young men running amok in Krampus masks, running through the streets swinging chains and whips and generally terrorizing the residents. Sounds like another celebration we should bring across the pond…what?
Email questions to Marv at: marv.dealy@throck.com.
Marv Dealy founded Throckmorten Enterprises in San Francisco in 1988 and moved the company to Big Oak Flat in 1996. Open Monday through Friday, 9-ish to 5-ish (209- 962-7308). The company provides technical support for a large Silicon Valley company’s webinars, as well as providing professional website design, and computer and network maintenance. The company also publishes the Yosemite Gazette.
