Christmas and New Year Myths

This book is like an ornate box of winter legends, in which biblical tales, pagan rites, and folk folklore are interwoven in curious ways. With its help, you will make a grand holiday journey through time and space—from Roman Saturnalia to Victorian Christmas trees, from medieval Europe to modern China—and you will uncover the astonishing origins of beloved Christmas and New Year traditions. You will learn how the fir tree became a symbol of Christmas, and how mistletoe and holly became indispensable attributes of the holiday; who else, according to folk legends, came to pay homage to the baby Jesus besides the three wise men bearing gifts; and how winter holidays were celebrated—and are still celebrated—around the world. You will also meet kind winter wizards from all over the globe: the Russian Ded Moroz, the American Santa Claus, the Basque Olentzero, a descendant of ancient giants, Italians Befana and Babbo Natale, the French Père Noël, and the Swedish Christmas gnome Yultomten. Why do Scots set guests out in the cold with cookies, coal, and whiskey? How in Mexico did Santa Claus almost get replaced by… an Aztec deity? What do Icelandic Yule boys named Gerdina-from-the-Sheepfold, Spoonlicker, Sausage-Snatcher, and Candle-asking-Hobo do—and what other ambiguous characters can you meet under Christmas?

Learn about all this and much more in this book. And at the end, you’ll receive a true bookish gift: a list of the most fairy-tale Christmas and New Year stories for cozy reading, so that the holidays your loved ones knew since childhood become not just a good tradition, but magical time when miracles still happen in the world.