Have You Been Nice?
That’s Grandfather Frost [Дед Мороз] and he is the Russian ‘gift giver’. He is assisted by the Snow Maiden [Снегурочка], but ever the jolly, fun-loving people, the ‘gifts’ are a bit different. Threats of coal or sticks would be weird to a people who are trying to stay warm, they would consider them welcome.
Generally there are sweets, maybe salo [salted fatback], and other high energy food.
For the ‘naughty’ list there is the staff. You don’t get beaten, merely touched, which turns you into a popsicle. [I told you they were fun-loving.]
Tonight’s the night – you’ve been nice, right?
Note: There is no picture of the Snow Maiden because this is a ‘family blog’ and when the Soviet Union became Russia et al. the budget for her costume was greatly reduced as yards of fur and silk disappeared.
4 comments
You made me google the Snow Maiden [Снегурочка]… and a few of them were definitely.. effing cold looking. That said, I love Grandfather Frost’s costume! And yes! I have been absolutely completely good.
Lying is a good thing, right?
A problem is the creeping dilution caused by the ‘Santa Claus effect’ which is obvious in the number of red costumes. This is a really traditional Ded Moroz costume with a traditional beard. He is not a ‘jolly old elf’, but a stern reminder of the Russian winter. Snegurochka is from a fairy tale set in spring, and is literally a ‘snow maiden’, i.e. made of snow, so she melts at the end of the tale. [fun-loving people, the Russians] Her costume is traditionally sky blue [golobaya] while Ded Moroz wears sea blue [sinii], both with white fur trim [Arctic fox and/or ermine]. She hands out the goodies and he delivers the ‘staff’. Her hat normally features embroidered snowflakes, and looks like the halo on Russian icons.
Lying would seem to be the best way to make it to the top in politics and Wall Street, so it must be a ‘good thing’, for a given definition of good 😉
Whoa! Grandfather Frost has a great looking outfit there, and he certainly does look stern and frosty enough.
Speaking of fun-loving, it seems like a lot of the northern European countries have some seriously grim (or should I say grimm) fairy tales. As a child, I can still remember crying when reading the Little Match Girl. My mother kept insisting that she was only going to sleep, and it was just a dream. You had to love my mother.
One thing about fairy tales, a lot of them were very brutal to the point that they were often re-written into nicer versions in the 19th and early 20th century. If you have studied folk lore, a ‘fairy tale wedding’ is not a good thing to have happen to you.
Your mother had a pretty sell to convince anyone who grew up in a cold climate that falling asleep in the snow wasn’t fatal. I hated that one, too, and couldn’t understand why anyone would think that was a good story for children.