7 Odd and Quirky Holiday Trivia from Around the World
If you didn’t read it, you wouldn’t believe it!
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For this year, I decided to research all things Christmas for your reading pleasure… and mine. When you are rushed and distracted, burning both ends of the Christmas candle, take a moment to read, laugh, or maybe even reflect on my holiday musings.
I’m going to touch on subjects from trees to angels to the birth of Christ to the things we thought we knew. This is the first of many posts about the holidays that I know you will find interesting.
Here we go…
Icelandic Elves
Icelanders believe in elves. About 54% of the population say elves are a real thing. The little 36-inch-high big-eared huldufólk (hidden people) live in places with names like Hamarinn, where the elfin king and queen hold court.
The holidays are an especially fortuitous time of year to see elves; on Christmas and New Year’s Eve, they’re known to travel, searching for new homes. Look out! They may be on the move to your house.
Krampus, The Christmas Devil
The nemesis to our beloved St. Nick is an ancient devil who goes by the name of Krampus whose name means claw. He is everything Santa is not.
For instance, Krampus, in contrast, swats wicked children with birch sticks and takes them to his lair. This half-goat, half-demon is making a come-back in recent times.
My grandkids kept asking me to find a movie about evil Santa. I found a movie with English voiceovers about Krampus. It was the first I’d heard of it and we watched out of curiosity.
I was intrigued. That’s about all I got to say about that. Hmm…
Krampus Sidekick
Fanged vampire deer? Native to Siberia, these deer with their menacing fangs are actually very harmless. They aren’t carnivorous and they don’t drink blood.
These are a species of deer that produce musk. They are hunted for their musk glands, which are “considered more valuable by weight than gold, fetching as much as $45,000/kilo on the black market,” according to the Wildlife Conservation Society.
