Okay, so I said I wasn't going to post anymore before Xmas. But Loren has a terrific post on the connection between Santa Claus and the Snömannen, Yeti-like creatures believed to inhabit the remote areas of the forest of Lapland:Old stories of the Wildpeople and Snowmen (Snömannen) are interwoven into those of Santa Claus. The traditional “Wildman of the Middle Ages” was described as a bestial, ape-like creature, with a beard. Its body was covered in thick, matted hair and smelled of a foul odor. The habitat of the wildman was the northern woods, where he lived in a cave or den. His traditional beast of burden was the reindeer. The Wildman shares all these traits with the hairy hominoids we know so well.
"Its body was covered in thick, matted hair and smelled of a foul odor. "
ReplyDeleteSo that's where hippies came from!