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133-506: Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas , Saint Nick , Father Christmas , Kris Kringle , or Santa ) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Christmas Eve . He is said to accomplish this with the aid of Christmas elves , who make the toys in his workshop , and with the aid of flying reindeer who pull his sleigh through

266-483: A Bloom County story from 15 December 1981 through 24 December 1981 has Santa rejecting the demands of PETCO (Professional Elves Toy-Making and Craft Organization) for higher wages, a hot tub in the locker room, and "Aggressive recruitment of a wider gender spectrum of employee" ("short broads"), with the elves then going on strike. President Reagan steps in, fires all of Santa's helpers, and replaces them with out-of-work air traffic controllers (an obvious reference to

399-406: A Montgomery Ward copywriter, and immortalized in a 1949 song by Gene Autry . Elves had been portrayed as using assembly lines to produce toys early in the 20th century. That shift was reflected in the modern depiction of Santa's residence—now often humorously portrayed as a fully mechanized production and distribution facility, equipped with the latest manufacturing technology, and overseen by

532-543: A patron saint of many diverse groups, from archers , sailors, and children to pawnbrokers . He is also the patron saint of both Amsterdam and Moscow . During the Middle Ages, often on the evening before his name day of 6 December, children were bestowed gifts in his honour. This date was earlier than the original day of gifts for the children, which moved in the course of the Reformation and its opposition to

665-509: A Nast creation. His Christmas image in the Harper's issue dated 29 December 1866 was a collage of engravings titled Santa Claus and His Works , which included the caption "Santa Claussville, N.P." A colour collection of Nast's pictures, published in 1869, had a poem also titled "Santa Claus and His Works" by George P. Webster , who wrote that Santa Claus's home was "near the North Pole, in

798-530: A bag full of gifts for children. The 1823 poem " A Visit from St. Nicholas " popularized this image in North America during the 19th century. Caricaturist and political cartoonist Thomas Nast also played a role in the creation of Santa's image. The traditional 1823 Christmas poem A Visit from St. Nicholas relates that Santa has: "a little round belly That shook when he laugh'd, like a bowl full of jelly" Though most often portrayed as white , Santa

931-460: A beatin', and gave the good ones toys." In Kyrgyzstan, a mountain peak was named after Santa Claus, after a Swedish company had suggested the location be a more efficient starting place for present-delivering journeys all over the world, than Lapland. In the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek , a Santa Claus Festival was held on 30 December 2007, with government officials attending. 2008 was officially declared

1064-616: A church to St. Nicholas, the patron of sailors, was built on the San Nicolò al Lido . St. Nicholas' vandalized sarcophagus can still be seen in the St. Nicholas Church in Myra. This tradition was confirmed in two important scientific investigations of the relics in Bari and Venice , which revealed that the relics in the two Italian cities belong to the same skeleton. Saint Nicholas was later claimed as

1197-479: A city thought to be overwhelmed by the tourist influx. Construction of a new metro line connecting the part of the city north of the IJ to its southern part was started in 2003. The project was controversial because its cost had exceeded its budget by a factor of three by 2008, because of fears of damage to buildings in the centre, and because construction had to be halted and restarted multiple times. The new metro line

1330-497: A culture where we've become so commercialized and hooked into manufactured icons. Santa is much more organic, integral, connected to the past, and therefore connected to the future. Norman Corwin 's 1938 comic radio play The Plot to Overthrow Christmas , set entirely in rhyme, details a conspiracy of the Devil Mephistopheles and damned figures of history to defeat the good will among men of Christmas, by sending

1463-726: A defense of Catholicism during the Protestant Reformation. The main reasons for the uprising were the imposition of new taxes, the tenth penny, and the religious persecution of Protestants by the newly introduced Inquisition . The revolt escalated into the Eighty Years' War , which ultimately led to Dutch independence. Strongly pushed by Dutch Revolt leader William the Silent , the Dutch Republic became known for its relative religious tolerance. Jews from

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1596-609: A flood in 1916, the depleted municipalities of Durgerdam, Holysloot, Zunderdorp and Schellingwoude , all lying north of Amsterdam, were, at their own request, annexed to the city. Between the wars, the city continued to expand, most notably to the west of the Jordaan district in the Frederik Hendrikbuurt and surrounding neighbourhoods. Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 and took control of

1729-602: A full-service bank for Dutch merchant bankers and as a reserve bank. From the 17th century onwards, Amsterdam also became involved in the Atlantic slave trade . The city was a major destination port for Dutch slave ships participating in the triangular trade , which lasted until the United Netherlands abolished the Netherlands' involvement in the trade in 1814 at the request of the British government . Amsterdam

1862-466: A junction of international waterways. A settlement was built here immediately after the landscape change of 1170. Right from the start of its foundation it focused on traffic, production and trade; not on farming, as opposed to how communities had lived further upstream for the past 200 years and northward for thousands of years. The construction of a dam at the mouth of the Amstel, eponymously named Dam ,

1995-499: A modern genre of folklore that is rooted in local popular culture , usually comprising fictional stories that are often presented as true, with macabre or humorous elements. These legends can be used for entertainment purposes, as well as semi-serious explanations for seemingly-mysterious events, such as disappearances and strange objects. The term "urban legend," as generally used by folklorists, has appeared in print since at least 1968. Jan Harold Brunvand , professor of English at

2128-488: A modest semi-permanent or seasonal settlement. Until water issues were controlled, a permanent settlement would not have been possible, since the river mouth and the banks of the Amstel in this period in time were too wet for permanent habitation. The origins of Amsterdam are linked to the development of a dam on the Amstel River called Amestelle , meaning 'watery area', from Aa(m) 'river' + stelle 'site at

2261-472: A narrative of an event. The word legendary was originally a noun (introduced in the 1510s) meaning a collection or corpus of legends. This word changed to legendry , and legendary became the adjectival form. By 1613, English-speaking Protestants began to use the word when they wished to imply that an event (especially the story of any saint not acknowledged in John Foxe 's Actes and Monuments )

2394-605: A number of hot and humid days with occasional rain every month. The average daily high in August is 22.1 °C (72 °F), and 30 °C (86 °F) or higher is only measured on average on 2.5 days, placing Amsterdam in AHS Heat Zone 2. The record extremes range from −19.7 °C (−3.5 °F) to 36.3 °C (97.3 °F). Days with more than 1 mm (0.04 in) of precipitation are common, on average 133 days per year. Amsterdam's average annual precipitation

2527-483: A pipe in a green winter coat. Irving's book was a parody of the Dutch culture of New York, and much of this portrait is his joking invention. Irving's interpretation of Santa Claus was part of a broader movement to tone down the increasingly wild Christmas celebrations of the era, which included aggressive home invasions under the guise of wassailing , substantial premarital sex (leading to shotgun weddings in areas where

2660-475: A psychological level a symbolic representation of folk belief and collective experiences and serving as a reaffirmation of commonly held values of the group to whose tradition it belongs. Legend is a loanword from Old French that entered English usage c.  1340 . The Old French noun legende derives from the Medieval Latin legenda . In its early English-language usage, the word indicated

2793-488: A reindeer sleigh, bringing rewards to children. Some modern ideas of Santa Claus seemingly became canon after the anonymous publication of the poem A Visit From St. Nicholas (better known today as The Night Before Christmas ) in the Troy, New York , Sentinel on 23 December 1823; Clement Clarke Moore later claimed authorship, though some scholars argue that Henry Livingston, Jr. (who died nine years before Moore's claim)

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2926-492: A series of vitae or instructive biographical narratives, tied to the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church . They are presented as lives of the saints, but the profusion of miraculous happenings and above all their uncritical context are characteristics of hagiography . The Legenda was intended to inspire extemporized homilies and sermons appropriate to the saint of the day. Urban legends are

3059-518: A shoreline', 'river bank'. In this area, land reclamation started as early as the late 10th century. Amestelle was located along a side arm of the IJ. This side arm took the name from the eponymous land: Amstel. Amestelle was inhabited by farmers, who lived more inland and more upstream, where the land was not as wet as at the banks of the downstream river mouth. These farmers were starting the reclamation around upstream Ouderkerk aan de Amstel , and later at

3192-556: A strong influence on the 'Amsterdam dialect' adding a large Yiddish local vocabulary. Despite an absence of an official Jewish ghetto , most Jews preferred to live in the eastern part, which used to be the centre of medieval Amsterdam. The main street of this Jewish neighbourhood was Jodenbreestraat. The neighbourhood comprised the Waterlooplein and the Nieuwmarkt . Buildings in this neighbourhood fell into disrepair after

3325-516: Is 838 mm (33 in). A large part of this precipitation falls as light rain or brief showers. Cloudy and damp days are common during the cooler months of October through March. In 1300, Amsterdam's population was around 1,000 people. While many towns in Holland experienced population decline during the 15th and 16th centuries, Amsterdam's population grew, mainly due to the rise of the profitable Baltic maritime trade especially in grain after

3458-416: Is also depicted as black or of other races. His race or colour is sometimes a subject of controversy. Ho ho ho is the way that many languages write out how Santa Claus laughs. " Ho, ho, ho ! Merry Christmas!" It is the textual rendition of a particular type of deep-throated laugh or chuckle, most associated today with Santa Claus and Father Christmas . Legend Many legends operate within

3591-416: Is announced as "The most Mighty and Loyal Friend of Children, His Supreme Highness – Santa Claus". Images of Santa Claus were conveyed through Haddon Sundblom 's depiction of him for The Coca-Cola Company 's Christmas advertising in the 1930s. The image spawned urban legends that Santa Claus was invented by The Coca-Cola Company or that Santa wears red and white because they are the colours used to promote

3724-649: Is considered its Golden Age , during which it became the wealthiest city in the Western world. Ships sailed from Amsterdam to the Baltic Sea , the Caribbean, North America, and Africa, as well as present-day Indonesia , India, Sri Lanka , and Brazil , forming the basis of a worldwide trading network. Amsterdam's merchants had the largest share in both the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and

3857-483: Is historically estimated to have occurred between 1264 and 1275. The settlement first appeared in a document from 1275, concerning a road toll granted by the count of Holland Floris V to the residents apud Amestelledamme 'at the dam in the Amstel' or 'at the dam of Amstelland'. This allowed the inhabitants of the village to travel freely through the County of Holland , paying no tolls at bridges, locks and dams. This

3990-642: Is in the southwest. Amsterdam is connected to the North Sea through the long North Sea Canal . Amsterdam is intensely urbanised, as is the Amsterdam metropolitan area surrounding the city. Comprising 219.4 km (84.7 sq mi) of land, the city proper has 4,457 inhabitants per km and 2,275 houses per km . Parks and nature reserves make up 12% of Amsterdam's land area. Amsterdam has more than 100 km (60 mi) of canals , most of which are navigable by boat. The city's three main canals are

4123-511: Is located in the Western Netherlands, in the province of North Holland , the capital of which is not Amsterdam, but rather Haarlem . The river Amstel ends in the city centre and connects to a large number of canals that eventually terminate in the IJ . Amsterdam's elevation is about −2 m (−6.6 ft) below sea level . The surrounding land is flat as it is formed of large polders . An artificial forest, Amsterdamse Bos ,

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4256-453: Is not more historical than folktale. In Einleitung in der Geschichtswissenschaft (1928), Ernst Bernheim asserted that a legend is simply a longstanding rumour . Gordon Allport credited the staying-power of some rumours to the persistent cultural state-of-mind that they embody and capsulise; thus " Urban legends " are a feature of rumour. When Willian Hugh Jansen suggested that legends that disappear quickly were "short-term legends" and

4389-636: Is set in a historical context, but that contains supernatural , divine or fantastic elements. History preserved orally through many generations often takes on a more narrative-based or mythological form over time, an example being the oral traditions of the African Great Lakes . Hippolyte Delehaye distinguished legend from myth : "The legend , on the other hand, has, of necessity, some historical or topographical connection. It refers imaginary events to some real personage, or it localizes romantic stories in some definite spot." From

4522-571: Is the 25th of December, owes much to Odin, the old blue-hooded, cloaked, white-bearded Giftbringer of the north, who rode the midwinter sky on his eight-footed steed Sleipnir, visiting his people with gifts. Odin, transformed into Father Christmas, then Santa Claus, prospered with St Nicholas and the Christchild , became a leading player on the Christmas stage." In northern Europe, the Yule goat

4655-511: Is usually called "Krishkinkle", but in New York he is "St. Nicholas" or "Santa Claus". The author quotes Moore's poem in its entirety, saying that its descriptions apply to Krishkinkle too. As the years passed, Santa Claus evolved into a large, heavyset person. One of the first artists to define Santa Claus's modern image was Thomas Nast , a German-born American cartoonist of the 19th century who immortalized Santa Claus with an illustration for

4788-688: The Concertgebouw were built; At the same time, the Industrial Revolution reached the city. The Amsterdam–Rhine Canal was dug to give Amsterdam a direct connection to the Rhine , and the North Sea Canal was dug to give the port a shorter connection to the North Sea . Both projects dramatically improved commerce with the rest of Europe and the world. In 1906, Joseph Conrad gave a brief description of Amsterdam as seen from

4921-401: The 1981 air traffic controllers' strike ), resulting in a riot before Santa vindictively rehires them in humiliating new positions such as his reindeer. In the 2001 The Sopranos episode, " To Save Us All from Satan's Power ", Paulie Gualtieri says he "Used to think Santa and Mrs. Claus were running a sweatshop over there. The original elves were ugly, traveled with Santa to throw bad kids

5054-633: The Amstel ' ) is the capital and most populated city of the Netherlands . It has a population of 921,402 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the urban area and 2,480,394 in the metropolitan area . Located in the Dutch province of North Holland , Amsterdam is colloquially referred to as the " Venice of the North ", for its large number of canals , now a UNESCO World Heritage Site . Amsterdam

5187-829: The Dam Square , where the Royal Palace of Amsterdam and former city hall are located; the Amsterdam Museum ; Stedelijk Museum , with modern art; the Concertgebouw concert hall; the Anne Frank House ; the Scheepvaartmuseum , the Natura Artis Magistra ; Hortus Botanicus , NEMO , the red-light district and cannabis coffee shops . The city is known for its nightlife and festival activity, with several nightclubs among

5320-634: The Dutch East Indies in the 1940s and 1950s. In the 1960s guest workers from Turkey, Morocco, Italy, and Spain immigrated to Amsterdam. After the independence of Suriname in 1975, a large wave of Surinamese settled in Amsterdam, mostly in the Bijlmer area. Other immigrants, including refugees asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants , came from Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa. In

5453-474: The Dutch Republic , which itself was a much smaller state than Great Britain, France or the Ottoman Empire . In contrast to those other metropolises, Amsterdam was also surrounded by large towns such as Leiden (about 67,000), Rotterdam (45,000), Haarlem (38,000) and Utrecht (30,000). The city's population declined in the early 19th century, dipping under 200,000 in 1820. By the second half of

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5586-593: The Dutch West India Company . These companies acquired overseas possessions that later became Dutch colonies . Amsterdam was Europe's most important hub for the shipment of goods and was the leading financial centre of the Western world. In 1602, the Amsterdam office of the Dutch East India Company became the world's first stock exchange by trading in its own shares. The Bank of Amsterdam started operations in 1609, acting as

5719-599: The Eastern Orthodox Church is kept on 7 January. L. Frank Baum 's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus , a children's book , was published in 1902. Much of Santa Claus's mythos was not firmly established at the time, leaving Baum to give his "Neclaus" (Necile's Little One) a variety of immortal support, a home in the Laughing Valley of Hohaho, and ten reindeer—who could not fly, but leapt in enormous, flight-like bounds. Claus's immortality

5852-688: The Edict of Fontainebleau in 1685, while the Flemish Protestants came during the Eighty Years' War against Catholic Spain. The Westphalians came to Amsterdam mostly for economic reasons; their influx continued through the 18th and 19th centuries. Before the Second World War, 10% of the city population was Jewish . Just twenty percent of them survived the Holocaust . Amsterdam experienced an influx of religions and cultures after

5985-593: The English and later British colonies of North America , and later in the United States, British and Dutch versions of the gift-giver merged further. For example, in Washington Irving 's History of New York (1809), Sinterklaas was Anglicized into "Santa Claus" (a name first used in the U.S. press in 1773) but lost his bishop's apparel, and was at first pictured as a thick-bellied Dutch sailor with

6118-664: The Iberian Peninsula , Protestant Huguenots from France, prosperous merchants and printers from Flanders , and economic and religious refugees from the Spanish-controlled parts of the Low Countries found safety in Amsterdam. The influx of Flemish printers and the city's intellectual tolerance made Amsterdam a centre for the European free press . During the 17th century, Amsterdam experienced what

6251-766: The North Sea to the west, with prevailing westerly winds. Amsterdam, as well as most of the North Holland province, lies in USDA Hardiness zone 8b. Frosts mainly occur during spells of easterly or northeasterly winds from the inner European continent. Even then, because Amsterdam is surrounded on three sides by large bodies of water, as well as having a significant heat-island effect , nights rarely fall below −5 °C (23 °F), while it could easily be −12 °C (10 °F) in Hilversum , 25 km (16 mi) southeast. Summers are moderately warm with

6384-792: The Prinsengracht , the Herengracht and the Keizersgracht . In the Middle Ages , Amsterdam was surrounded by a moat, called the Singel , which now forms the innermost ring in the city, and gives the city centre a horseshoe shape. The city is also served by a seaport . It has been compared with Venice , due to its division into about 90 islands, which are linked by more than 1,200 bridges. Amsterdam has an oceanic climate ( Köppen : Cfb ) strongly influenced by its proximity to

6517-484: The Puritans , waning in power and firmly opposed to Christmas, still held some influence) and public displays of sexual deviancy; the celebrations of the era were derided by both upper-class merchants and Christian purists. In 1821, the book A New-year's present, to the little ones from five to twelve was published in New York. It contained " Old Santeclaus with Much Delight ", an anonymous poem describing Santeclaus on

6650-497: The UNESCO World Heritage List . In the 21st century, the Amsterdam city centre has attracted large numbers of tourists: between 2012 and 2015, the annual number of visitors rose from 10 to 17 million. Real estate prices have surged, and local shops are making way for tourist-oriented ones, making the centre unaffordable for the city's inhabitants. These developments have evoked comparisons with Venice ,

6783-774: The University of Utah , introduced the term to the general public in a series of popular books published beginning in 1981. Brunvand used his collection of legends, The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends & Their Meanings (1981) to make two points: first, that legends and folklore do not occur exclusively in so-called primitive or traditional societies, and second, that one could learn much about urban and modern culture by studying such tales. Amsterdam Amsterdam ( / ˈ æ m s t ər d æ m / AM -stər-dam , UK also / ˌ æ m s t ər ˈ d æ m / AM -stər- DAM , Dutch: [ˌɑmstərˈdɑm] ; lit.   ' Dam in

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6916-832: The Wild Hunt , frequently attested as being led by the god Odin (Wodan), bearing (among many names ) the names Jólnir , meaning "Yule figure", and Langbarðr , meaning "long-beard", in Old Norse . Wodan's role during the Yuletide period has been theorized as having influenced concepts of St. Nicholas and Santa Claus in a variety of facets, including his long white beard and his gray horse for nightly rides (compare Odin's horse Sleipnir ) or his reindeer in North American tradition. Folklorist Margaret Baker maintains that "the appearance of Santa Claus or Father Christmas, whose day

7049-562: The social housing projects in Amsterdam-West and the Bijlmer. Today, people of non-Western origin make up approximately one-fifth of the population of Amsterdam, and more than 30% of the city's children. A slight majority of the residents of Amsterdam have at least one parent who was born outside the country. However, a much larger majority has at least one parent who was born inside the country (intercultural marriages are common in

7182-509: The talking animal formula of Aesop identifies his brief stories as fables and not legends. The parable of the Prodigal Son would be a legend if it were told as having actually happened to a specific son of a historical father. If it included a donkey that gave sage advice to the Prodigal Son it would be a fable. Legend may be transmitted orally, passed on person-to-person, or, in the original sense, through written text. Jacobus de Voragine 's Legenda Aurea or "The Golden Legend" comprises

7315-411: The "concern with human beings" is the long list of legendary creatures , leaving no "resolute doubt" that legends are "historically grounded." A modern folklorist 's professional definition of legend was proposed by Timothy R. Tangherlini in 1990: Legend, typically, is a short (mono-) episodic, traditional, highly ecotypified historicized narrative performed in a conversational mode, reflecting on

7448-449: The 1963 children's book How Mrs. Santa Claus Saved Christmas , by Phyllis McGinley , helped standardize and establish the character and role of Mrs. Claus in the US. Seabury Quinn 's 1948 novel Roads draws from historical legends to tell the story of Santa and the origins of Christmas. Other modern additions to the "story" of Santa include Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer , the 9th and lead reindeer created in 1939 by Robert L. May ,

7581-460: The 1970s and 1980s, many 'old' Amsterdammers moved to 'new' cities like Almere and Purmerend , prompted by the third Land-use planning bill of the Dutch Government. This bill promoted suburbanization and arranged for new developments in so-called "groeikernen", literally cores of growth . Young professionals and artists moved into neighborhoods De Pijp and the Jordaan abandoned by these Amsterdammers. The non-Western immigrants settled mostly in

7714-422: The 19th century, industrialization spurred renewed growth. Amsterdam's population hit an all-time high of 872,000 in 1959, before declining in the following decades due to government-sponsored suburbanisation to so-called groeikernen (growth centres) such as Purmerend and Almere . Between 1970 and 1980, Amsterdam experienced a sharp population decline, peaking at a net loss of 25,000 people in 1973. By 1985

7847-402: The 19th century, influenced by Dutch immigrants who brought the legend of Sinterklaas ("Saint Nicholas") to 17th-century New Amsterdam (present-day New York City ), and has been maintained and reinforced through song, radio, television, children's books, family Christmas traditions , films, and advertising. Saint Nicholas was a 4th-century Greek Christian bishop of Myra (now Demre ) in

7980-426: The 3 January 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly in which Santa was dressed in an American flag , and had a puppet with the name " Jeff " written on it, reflecting its Civil War context. Nast was inspired by the Belsnickel , part of the folklure in southwestern Germany, where he was born. In this drawing, Santa is also in a sleigh pulled by reindeers. The story that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole may also have been

8113-616: The Burgundian victory in the Dutch–Hanseatic War in 1441. The population of Amsterdam was only modest compared to the towns and cities of Flanders and Brabant , which comprised the most urbanized area of the Low Countries. This changed when, during the Dutch Revolt , many people from the Southern Netherlands fled to the North, especially after Antwerp fell to Spanish forces in 1585. Jews from Spain, Portugal and Eastern Europe similarly settled in Amsterdam, as did Germans and Scandinavians. In thirty years, Amsterdam's population more than doubled between 1585 and 1610. By 1600, its population

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8246-482: The Charles W. Howard Santa School, the oldest continuously run such school in the world. In some images from the early 20th century, Santa was depicted as personally making his toys by hand in a small workshop like a craftsman. Eventually, the idea emerged that he had numerous elves responsible for making the toys, but the toys were still handmade by each individual elf working in the traditional manner. The 1956 popular song by George Melachrino , "Mrs. Santa Claus", and

8379-600: The Coca-Cola brand. Coca-Cola's competitor Pepsi-Cola used similar Santa Claus paintings in its advertisements in the 1940s and 1950s. Historically, Coca-Cola was not the first soft drink company to utilize the modern image of Santa Claus in its advertising— White Rock Beverages had used a Santa figure in monochrome advertisements for mineral water in 1915, and in 1923–25, the same company used colour images of Santa Claus in adverts for drink mixers. Earlier, Santa Claus had appeared dressed in red and white and essentially in his current form on several covers of Puck magazine in

8512-456: The Czech Republic and Germany), he is usually portrayed as a bearded bishop in canonical robes. In 1087, while the Greek Christian inhabitants of Myra were subjugated by the newly arrived Muslim Seljuq dynasty , and soon after their Greek Orthodox church had been declared to be in schism by the Catholic church (1054 AD), a group of merchants from the Italian city of Bari removed the major bones of Nicholas's skeleton from his sarcophagus in

8645-462: The French speaking region, while the sinister Schmutzli accompanies Samichlaus in the Swiss German region. Schmutzli carries a twig broom to spank the naughty children. Prior to Christianization, the Germanic peoples (including the English) celebrated a midwinter event called Yule (Old English geola or giuli ). With the Christianization of Germanic Europe, numerous traditions were absorbed from Yuletide celebrations into modern Christmas, such as

8778-399: The Greek church in Myra. Over the objection of the monks of Myra the sailors took the bones of St. Nicholas to Bari, where they are now enshrined in the Basilica di San Nicola . Sailors from Bari collected just half of Nicholas' skeleton, leaving all the minor fragments in the church sarcophagus. These were later taken by Venetian sailors during the First Crusade and placed in Venice , where

8911-459: The Netherlands. This led to the establishment of many non-Dutch-speaking churches. In 1603, the Jewish received permission to practice their religion in the city. In 1639, the first synagogue was consecrated. The Jews came to call the town " Jerusalem of the West ". As they became established in the city, other Christian denominations used converted Catholic chapels to conduct their own services. The oldest English-language church congregation in

9044-494: The Roman emperor Nero to the North Pole to assassinate Santa Claus. Through a battle of wits, Santa saves himself by winning Nero over to the joys of Christmas, and gives him a Stradivarius violin. The play was re-produced in 1940 and 1944. Many television commercials, comic strips and other media depict this as a sort of humorous business, with Santa's elves acting as a sometimes mischievously disgruntled workforce, cracking jokes and pulling pranks on their boss. For instance,

9177-407: The Second World War a large section of the neighbourhood was demolished during the construction of the metro system. This led to riots, and as a result the original plans for large-scale reconstruction were abandoned by the government. The neighbourhood was rebuilt with smaller-scale residence buildings on the basis of its original layout. Catholic churches in Amsterdam have been constructed since

9310-409: The Second World War. With 180 different nationalities, Amsterdam is home to one of the widest varieties of nationalities of any city in the world. The proportion of the population of immigrant origin in the city proper is about 50% and 88% of the population are Dutch citizens. The first mass immigration in the 20th century was by people from Indonesia, who came to Amsterdam after the independence of

9443-490: The United States and Canada, children may leave a glass of milk and a plate of cookies intended for Santa; in Britain, Australia and New Zealand, sherry or beer, and mince pies are left instead. In Denmark, Norway and Sweden, it is common for children to leave him rice porridge with sugar and cinnamon instead. In Ireland it is popular to leave Guinness or milk, along with Christmas pudding or mince pies. In Hungary, St. Nicolaus (Mikulás) or Father Winter (Télapó) comes on

9576-554: The Year of Santa Claus in the country. The events are seen as moves to boost tourism in Kyrgyzstan. The Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of Santa Clauses is held by Thrissur , Kerala , India where on 27 December 2014, 18,112 Santas overtook the previous record. Derry City, Northern Ireland had held the record since 9 September 2007, when a total of 12,965 people dressed up as Santa or Santa's helpers. Prior to that,

9709-455: The air. The popular conception of Santa Claus originates from folklore traditions surrounding the 4th-century Christian bishop Saint Nicholas , the patron saint of children. Saint Nicholas became renowned for his reported generosity and secret gift-giving. The image of Santa Claus shares similarities with the English figure of Father Christmas , and they are both now popularly regarded as

9842-474: The bustling streets of London on the current Christmas morning, sprinkling the essence of Christmas onto the happy populace. In the Netherlands and Belgium, the character of Santa Claus competes with that of Sinterklaas , based on Saint Nicolas. Santa Claus is known as de Kerstman in Dutch ("the Christmas man") and Père Noël ("Father Christmas") in French. For children in the Netherlands, Sinterklaas remains

9975-427: The cartoon base, Santa has been voiced by several people, including Mickey Rooney , Jim Cummings , Mel Smith , Ricky Tomlinson , Jim Belushi , and Alec Baldwin . Santa has been described as a positive male cultural icon : Santa is really the only cultural icon we have who's male, does not carry a gun, and is all about peace, joy, giving, and caring for other people. That's part of the magic for me, especially in

10108-527: The city expanded and new neighborhoods and suburbs were built. The city has a long tradition of openness, liberalism, and tolerance. Cycling is key to the city's modern character, and there are numerous biking paths and lanes spread throughout. Amsterdam's main attractions include its historic canals ; the Rijksmuseum , the state museum with Dutch Golden Age art; the Van Gogh Museum ;

10241-425: The city had only 675,570 residents. This was soon followed by reurbanization and gentrification , leading to renewed population growth in the 2010s. Also in the 2010s, much of Amsterdam's population growth was due to immigration to the city. In the 16th and 17th century, non-Dutch immigrants to Amsterdam were mostly Protestant Huguenots and Flemings , Sephardic Jews , and Westphalians . Huguenots came after

10374-496: The city's Zuidoost (southeast) exclave and the centre of Amsterdam. Further plans were to build a new highway above the metro to connect Amsterdam Centraal and the city centre with other parts of the city. The required large-scale demolitions began in Amsterdam's former Jewish neighborhood. Smaller streets, such as the Jodenbreestraat and Weesperstraat, were widened and almost all houses and buildings were demolished. At

10507-557: The city). Only a third of inhabitants under 15 are autochthons ( person with two parents of Dutch origin). In 2023, autochthons were a minority in 40% of Amsterdam's neighborhoods. Segregation along ethnic lines is clearly visible, with people of non-Western origin, considered a separate group by Statistics Netherlands , concentrating in specific neighborhoods especially in Nieuw-West , Zeeburg , Bijlmer and in certain areas of Amsterdam-Noord . In 2000, Christians formed

10640-673: The city. During the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars , Amsterdam's significance reached its lowest point, with Holland being absorbed into the French Empire . However, the later establishment of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815 marked a turning point. The end of the 19th century is sometimes called Amsterdam's second Golden Age. New museums, a railway station, and

10773-527: The country. Some Amsterdam citizens sheltered Jews, thereby exposing themselves and their families to a high risk of being imprisoned or sent to concentration camps. More than 100,000 Dutch Jews were deported to Nazi concentration camps , of whom some 60,000 lived in Amsterdam. In response, the Dutch Communist Party organized the February strike attended by 300,000 people to protest against

10906-480: The elves with Santa and Mrs. Claus as executives or managers. In 1912, actor Leedham Bantock became the first actor to be identified as having played Santa Claus in a film . Santa Claus , which he also directed, included scenes photographed in a limited, two-tone colour process and featured the use of detailed models. Since then many feature films have featured Santa Claus as a protagonist, including Miracle on 34th Street , The Santa Clause , and Elf . In

11039-521: The entire city centre. Although the success of this struggle is visible today, efforts for further restoration are still ongoing. The entire city centre has reattained its former splendour and, as a whole, is now a protected area . Many of its buildings have become monuments, and in July 2010 the Grachtengordel (the three concentric canals: Herengracht, Keizersgracht, and Prinsengracht) was added to

11172-537: The evening of 31 December to be opened on New Years Day. After the children have fallen asleep , parents play the role of Santa Claus and leave their gifts under the Christmas tree , which may be signed as being "from Santa Claus". Santa is generally depicted as a portly, jolly, white- bearded man, often with spectacles , wearing a red outfit consisting of jacket, trousers and hat all trimmed with white fur, accessorized with black leather belt and boots, and carrying

11305-508: The first few years of the 20th century. The image of Santa Claus as a benevolent character became reinforced with its association with charity and philanthropy, particularly by organizations such as the Salvation Army . Volunteers dressed as Santa Claus typically became part of fundraising drives to aid needy families at Christmas time. In 1937, Charles W. Howard , who played Santa Claus in department stores and parades, established

11438-499: The folk legend as "a popular narrative with an objectively untrue imaginary content", a dismissive position that was subsequently largely abandoned. Compared to the highly structured folktale, legend is comparatively amorphous, Helmut de Boor noted in 1928. The narrative content of legend is in realistic mode, rather than the wry irony of folktale; Wilhelm Heiske remarked on the similarity of motifs in legend and folktale and concluded that, in spite of its realistic mode , legend

11571-514: The founding of Amsterdam is later than other urban centres in the Low Countries . However, around the area of what later became Amsterdam, farmers settled as early as three millennia ago. They lived along the prehistoric IJ river and upstream of its tributary Amstel. The prehistoric IJ was a shallow and quiet stream in peatland behind beach ridges . This secluded area was able to grow into an important local settlement centre, especially in

11704-765: The heyday of the Stille Omgang , which became the expression of the pilgrimage after the Protestant Reformation , up to 90,000 pilgrims came to Amsterdam. From the 14th century on, Amsterdam flourished, largely from trade with the Hanseatic League . From the 15th century on the city established an independent trade route with the Baltic Sea in grain and timber, cutting out the Hanseatic League as middlemen. The city became

11837-442: The ice and snow". The tale had become well known by the 1870s. A boy from Colorado writing to the children's magazine The Nursery in late 1874 said, "If we did not live so very far from the North Pole, I should ask Santa Claus to bring me a donkey." The idea of a wife for Santa Claus may have been the creation of American authors, beginning in the mid-19th century. In 1889, the poet Katharine Lee Bates popularized Mrs. Claus in

11970-401: The industry. The herring industry relied on international trade cooperation and large initial investments in ships. This required many highly skilled and unskilled workers cooperating, as well as the import of the necessary raw materials to turn an unfinished product into a marketable one. This required merchants to then sell it throughout the continent and book-keepers and accountants to divide

12103-470: The largely Catholic city of Amsterdam joined the revolt against Spanish rule, late in comparison to other major northern Dutch cities. Catholic priests were driven out of the city. Following the Dutch takeover, all churches were converted to Protestant worship. Calvinism was declared the main religion. It was forbidden to openly profess Roman Catholicism and the Catholic hierarchy was prohibited until

12236-549: The largest religious group in the city (28% of the population). The next largest religion was Islam (8%), most of whose followers were Sunni . In 2015, Christians formed the largest religious group in the city (28% of the population). The next largest religion was Islam (7.1%), most of whose followers were Sunni . Amsterdam has been one of the municipalities in the Netherlands which provided immigrants with extensive and free Dutch-language courses, which have benefited many immigrants. Religion in Amsterdam (2015) In 1578,

12369-515: The late Bronze Age , the Iron Age and the Roman Age . Neolithic and Roman artefacts have also been found in the prehistoric Amstel bedding under Amsterdam's Damrak and Rokin , such as shards of Bell Beaker culture pottery (2200–2000 BC) and a granite grinding stone (2700–2750 BC), but the location of these artefacts around the river banks of the Amstel probably point to a presence of

12502-443: The mid-19th century . This led to the establishment of clandestine churches , covert religious buildings hidden in pre-existing buildings. Catholics, some Jews and dissenting Protestants worshipped in such buildings. A large influx of foreigners of many religions came to 17th-century Amsterdam, in particular Sefardic Jews from Spain and Portugal, Huguenots from France, Lutherans , Mennonites , as well as Protestants from across

12635-469: The moment a legend is retold as fiction, its authentic legendary qualities begin to fade and recede: in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow , Washington Irving transformed a local Hudson River Valley legend into a literary anecdote with "Gothic" overtones , which actually tended to diminish its character as genuine legend. Stories that exceed the boundaries of " realism " are called " fables ". For example,

12768-454: The night of 5 December and the children get their gifts the next morning. They get sweets in a bag if they were good, and a golden coloured birch switch if not. On Christmas Eve "Little Jesus" comes and gives gifts for everyone. In Slovenia, Saint Nicholas (Miklavž) also brings small gifts for good children on the eve of 6 December. Božiček (Christmas Man) brings gifts on the eve of 25 December, and Dedek Mraz (Grandfather Frost) brings gifts in

12901-486: The old Dutch words for thunder and lightning, which were later changed to the more German sounding Donner and Blitzen). By 1845, "Kris Kringle" was a common variant of Santa in parts of the United States. A magazine article from 1853, describing American Christmas customs to British readers, refers to children hanging up their stockings on Christmas Eve for "a fabulous personage" whose name varies: in Pennsylvania he

13034-479: The other side of the river at Amstelveen . The Van Amstel family , known in documents by this name since 1019, held the stewardship in this northwestern nook of the ecclesiastical district of the bishop of Utrecht . The family later served also under the count of Holland . A major turning point in the development of the Amstel river mouth was the All Saint's Flood of 1170 . In an extremely short period of time,

13167-592: The peak of the demolition, the Nieuwmarktrellen ( Nieuwmarkt riots ) broke out; the rioters expressed their fury about the demolition caused by the restructuring of the city. As a result, the demolition was stopped and the highway into the city's centre was never fully built; only the metro was completed. Only a few streets remained widened. The new city hall was built on the almost completely demolished Waterlooplein. Meanwhile, large private organizations, such as Stadsherstel Amsterdam , were founded to restore

13300-524: The people. Father Christmas dates back as far as 16th century in England during the reign of Henry VIII , when he was pictured as a large man in green or scarlet robes lined with fur. He typified the spirit of good cheer at Christmas , bringing peace, joy, good food and wine and revelry. As England no longer kept the feast day of Saint Nicholas on 6 December, the Father Christmas celebration

13433-428: The persistent ones be termed "long-term legends", the distinction between legend and rumour was effectively obliterated, Tangherlini concluded. In a narrow Christian sense, legenda ("things to be read [on a certain day, in church]") were hagiographical accounts, often collected in a legendary. Because saints' lives are often included in many miracle stories, legend , in a wider sense, came to refer to any story that

13566-417: The poem "Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride". "Is There a Santa Claus?" is the title of an iconic editorial by Francis Pharcellus Church in the 21 September 1897 edition of The New York Sun that became the most reprinted in the U.S. and included the famous reply, " Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus ". In Russia, Ded Moroz emerged as a Santa Claus figure around the late 19th century where Christmas for

13699-737: The predominant gift-giver in December; 36% of the Dutch only give presents on Sinterklaas evening or the day itself, 6 December, while Christmas, 25 December, is used by another 21% to give presents. Some 26% of the Dutch population gives presents on both days. In Belgium, presents are offered exclusively to children on 6 December, and on Christmas Day all ages may receive presents. Saint Nicolas/Sinterklaas' assistants are called " Pieten " (in Dutch) or " Père Fouettard " (in French), and they are not elves. In Switzerland, Père Fouettard accompanies Père Noël in

13832-611: The profit. In short, the herring industry was setting up the foundations for what would later become the transcontinental trade system and the Dutch Golden Age , with Amsterdam at its centre, hence the saying "Amsterdam is built on Herring bones". The Low Countries were part of the Hapsburg inheritance and came under the Spanish monarchy in the early sixteenth century. The Dutch rebelled against Philip II of Spain , who led

13965-532: The raids. The most famous deportee was the young Jewish girl Anne Frank , who died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp . At the end of the Second World War, communication with the rest of the country broke down, and food and fuel became scarce. Many citizens traveled to the countryside to forage. Dogs, cats, raw sugar beets , and tulip bulbs—cooked to a pulp—were consumed to stay alive. Many trees in Amsterdam were cut down for fuel, and wood

14098-464: The realm of uncertainty, never being entirely believed by the participants, but also never being resolutely doubted. Legends are sometimes distinguished from myths in that they concern human beings as the main characters and do not necessarily have supernatural origins, and sometimes in that they have some sort of historical basis whereas myths generally do not. The Brothers Grimm defined legend as " folktale historically grounded". A by-product of

14231-596: The record was 3,921, which was set during the Santa Dash event in Liverpool City Centre in 2005. A gathering of Santas in 2009 in Bucharest, Romania attempted to top the world record, but failed with only 3,939 Santas. Santa Claus has been featured in many video games. The tradition of Santa Claus being said to enter dwellings through the chimney is shared by many European seasonal gift-givers. In

14364-534: The region of Lycia in the Roman Empire , today in Turkey. Nicholas was known for his generous gifts to the poor, in particular presenting the three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes. He was very religious from an early age and devoted his life entirely to Christianity. In continental Europe (more precisely the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria,

14497-661: The restoration of the episcopal hierarchy in 1853. One of the principal architects behind the city's Catholic churches, Cuypers , was also responsible for the Amsterdam Centraal station and the Rijksmuseum . In 1924, the Catholic Church hosted the International Eucharistic Congress in Amsterdam; numerous Catholic prelates visited the city, where festivities were held in churches and stadiums. Catholic processions on

14630-471: The same person. Santa is generally depicted as a portly, jolly, white- bearded man, often with spectacles , wearing a red coat with white fur collar and cuffs, white-fur-cuffed red trousers, a red hat trimmed with white fur, a black leather belt and boots, carrying a bag full of gifts for children. He is popularly associated with a deep, hearty laugh , frequently rendered in Christmas literature as "ho, ho, ho!" This image originated in North America during

14763-738: The seaside, in The Mirror of the Sea . Shortly before the First World War , the city started to expand again, and new suburbs were built. Even though the Netherlands remained neutral in this war, Amsterdam suffered a food shortage, and heating fuel became scarce. The shortages sparked riots in which several people were killed. These riots are known as the Aardappeloproer (Potato rebellion). People started looting stores and warehouses to get supplies, mainly food. On 1 January 1921, after

14896-582: The second half of the 17th century, Amsterdam experienced an influx of Ashkenazim , Jews from Central and Eastern Europe . Jews often fled the pogroms in those areas. The first Ashkenazis who arrived in Amsterdam were refugees from the Khmelnytsky uprising occurring in Ukraine and the Thirty Years' War , which devastated much of Central Europe. They not only founded their own synagogues, but had

15029-472: The shallow river IJ turned into a wide estuary, which from then on offered the Amstel an open connection to the Zuiderzee , IJssel and waterways further afield. This made the water flow of the Amstel more active, so excess water could be drained better. With drier banks, the downstream Amstel mouth became attractive for permanent habitation. Moreover, the river had grown from an insignificant peat stream into

15162-410: The staple market of Europe for bulk cargo . This was made possible due to innovations in the herring fishery , from which Amsterdam reaped great wealth. Herring had demand in markets all around Europe. Inventions of on-board gibbing and the haringbuis in 1415, made longer voyages feasible, and hence enabled Dutch fishermen to follow the herring shoals far from the coasts, giving them a monopoly in

15295-455: The top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered an alpha world city . The city is the cultural capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters in the city. Many of the world's largest companies are based here or have established their European headquarters in the city, such as technology companies Uber , Netflix , and Tesla . In 2022, Amsterdam

15428-540: The veneration of saints in many countries on 24 and 25 December. The custom of gifting to children at Christmas was propagated by Martin Luther as an alternative to the previous very popular gift custom on St. Nicholas, to focus the interest of the children to Christ instead of the veneration of saints. Martin Luther first suggested the Christkind as the bringer of gifts. But Nicholas remained popular as gifts bearer for

15561-420: The war and other events of the 20th century, almost the entire city centre had fallen into disrepair. As society was changing, politicians and other influential figures made plans to redesign large parts of it. There was an increasing demand for office buildings, and also for new roads, as the automobile became available to most people. A metro started operating in 1977 between the new suburb of Bijlmermeer in

15694-562: The world . The Dutch capital is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, with about 180 nationalities represented. Immigration and ethnic segregation in Amsterdam is a current issue. Amsterdam's notable residents throughout its history include painters Rembrandt and Vincent van Gogh , 17th-century philosophers Baruch Spinoza , John Locke , René Descartes , and the Holocaust victim and diarist Anne Frank . Due to its geographical location in what used to be wet peatland ,

15827-726: The world outside the United Kingdom is found at the Begijnhof . Regular services there are still offered in English under the auspices of the Church of Scotland . Being Calvinists, the Huguenots soon integrated into the Dutch Reformed Church , though often retaining their own congregations. Some, commonly referred to by the moniker 'Walloon', are recognizable today as they offer occasional services in French. In

15960-400: The world's most famous. Its artistic heritage, canals and narrow canal houses with gabled façades , well-preserved legacies of the city's 17th-century Golden Age, have attracted millions of visitors annually. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange , founded in 1602, is considered the oldest "modern" securities market stock exchange in the world. As the commercial capital of the Netherlands and one of

16093-420: Was a move in a years-long struggle for power in the area between the count of Holland and the Amstel family who governed the area on behalf of the bishop of Utrecht. By 1327, the name had developed into Aemsterdam . The bishop of Utrecht granted Amsterdam zone rights in either 1300 or 1306. The Mirakel van Amsterdam  [ nl ] in 1345 rendered the city an important place of pilgrimage . During

16226-545: Was also a member of the Society of Suriname , an organisation founded to oversee the management of the Dutch colony of Surinam , which was economically dependent on slave plantations . On 1 July 2021, the mayor of Amsterdam , Femke Halsema , apologised for the city's involvement in the slave trade. Amsterdam's prosperity declined during the 18th and early 19th centuries. The wars of the Dutch Republic with England (latterly, Great Britain ) and France took their toll on

16359-588: Was an earlier bearer of gifts, which has to some degree become conflated with Santa Claus, for instance in the Finnish Joulupukki tradition. Early representations of the gift-giver from Church history and folklore, especially St Nicholas, merged with the English character Father Christmas to create the mythical character known to the rest of the English-speaking world as "Santa Claus" (a phonetic derivation of " Sinterklaas " in Dutch ). In

16492-488: Was around 50,000. During the 1660s, Amsterdam's population reached 200,000. The city's growth levelled off and the population stabilized around 240,000 for most of the 18th century. In 1750, Amsterdam was the fourth largest city in Western Europe , behind London (676,000), Paris (560,000) and Naples (324,000). This was all the more remarkable as Amsterdam was neither the capital city nor the seat of government of

16625-502: Was completed in 2018. Since 2014, renewed focus has been given to urban regeneration and renewal, especially in areas directly bordering the city centre, such as Frederik Hendrikbuurt . This urban renewal and expansion of the traditional centre of the city—with the construction on artificial islands of the new eastern IJburg neighbourhood—is part of the Structural Vision Amsterdam 2040 initiative. Amsterdam

16758-670: Was earned, much like his title ("Santa"), decided by a vote of those naturally immortal. This work also established Claus's motives: a happy childhood among immortals. When Ak, Master Woodsman of the World, exposes him to the misery and poverty of children in the outside world, Santa strives to find a way to bring joy into the lives of all children, and eventually invents toys as a principal means. Santa later appears in The Road to Oz as an honored guest at Ozma's birthday party, stated to be famous and beloved enough for everyone to bow even before he

16891-582: Was enriched particularly after the 1960s, by addressing questions of performance and the anthropological and psychological insights provided in considering legends' social context. Questions of categorising legends, in hopes of compiling a content-based series of categories on the line of the Aarne–Thompson folktale index, provoked a search for a broader new synthesis. In an early attempt at defining some basic questions operative in examining folk tales, Friedrich Ranke  [ de ] in 1925 characterised

17024-433: Was fictitious. Thus, legend gained its modern connotations of "undocumented" and " spurious ", which distinguish it from the meaning of chronicle . In 1866, Jacob Grimm described the fairy tale as "poetic, legend historic." Early scholars such as Karl Wehrhan  [ de ] Friedrich Ranke and Will Erich Peuckert followed Grimm's example in focussing solely on the literary narrative, an approach that

17157-411: Was founded at the mouth of the Amstel River, which was dammed to control flooding. Originally a small fishing village in the 12th century, Amsterdam became a major world port during the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century, when the Netherlands was an economic powerhouse. Amsterdam was the leading centre for finance and trade, as well as a hub of secular art production. In the 19th and 20th centuries,

17290-481: Was moved to 25 December to coincide with Christmas Day. The Victorian revival of Christmas included Father Christmas as the emblem of good cheer. His physical appearance was variable, with one image being John Leech's illustration of the " Ghost of Christmas Present " in Charles Dickens 's festive story A Christmas Carol (1843), as a great genial man in a green coat lined with fur who takes Scrooge through

17423-493: Was ranked the ninth-best city to live in by the Economist Intelligence Unit and 12th on quality of living for environment and infrastructure by Mercer. The city was ranked 4th place globally as a top tech hub in 2019. The Port of Amsterdam is the fifth largest in Europe. The KLM hub and Amsterdam's main airport, Schiphol , is the busiest airport in the Netherlands , third in Europe , and 11th in

17556-512: Was taken from the houses, apartments and other buildings of deported Jews. The city was finally liberated by Canadian forces on 5 May 1945, shortly before the end of the war in Europe. Many new suburbs, such as Osdorp , Slotervaart , Slotermeer and Geuzenveld , were built in the years after the Second World War. These suburbs contained many public parks and wide-open spaces, and the new buildings provided improved housing conditions with larger and brighter rooms, gardens, and balconies. Because of

17689-406: Was the author. St. Nick is described as being "chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf" with "a little round belly", that "shook when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly", in spite of which the "miniature sleigh" and "tiny reindeer" still indicate that he is physically diminutive. The reindeer were also named: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder and Blixem (Dunder and Blixem came from

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