David19
December 25th, 2007, 07:55 PM
Being as it's Christmas, I thought this would be a great post to make, to get people more in the spirit of things or just to enjoy reading them.
The Legend of the Nativity: (http://www.worldofchristmas.net/christmas-stories/legend-of-nativity.html)
The story of Nativity reiterates the birth of Jesus Christ that probably happened over two thousand years ago. In the town of Nazareth, there lived a pure young woman called Mary, who was engaged to a poor but good man called Joseph, who was a carpenter by profession. Since she was so good, God chose her to bear His child and He sent an angel to the Lady to prophesize the birth of the Holy Son through her womb and that she must call her Jesus. Joseph also dreamt the same thing so that he was assured of the purity and virginity of Mary. However, all people were not so kind to Mary and accused her of loose character and called her names. Joseph came to her rescue and married her.
When Mary was still pregnant, the tyrant King Herod ordered all people to go to their birth towns to pay a special tax. Since, Joseph belonged to Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph had to undertake a long journey to pay the tax. Since, Mary could not walk very far, She rode on a donkey for a few days over the hills of Gallilee. At last, they arrived at Bethlehem. Though, they were very tired and Mary was about to have the baby, it was not easy for them to find a room or a place to stay in the crowded city as every inn was already full of other people who had arrived before them. However, one kind innkeeper, seeing the perils of the couple, offered them a place in his stable where he kept his animals, which was the only place available with him.
Since, there was no help, Mary and Joseph stayed there and shaped a crib for the baby by stacking the manger with hay and straw to make Him as comfortable as possible. A few hours later, Mary gave birth to her son and wrapped him in strips of cloth. At the instant, Jesus was born to Mary; an angel appeared to some shepherds tending their sheep on the hillside overlooking Bethlehem. He told them not to be afraid and that the Son of God and their Savior has now been born. He then directed them to the stable where the Holy Child was resting his manger. Shepherds immediately set out to see the baby and were much rejoiced to behold Him there and knelt down full of love for Him and worshipped Him.
At that very instant, the three wise men who were Kings from the East also saw a new star in the sky. They were known as Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar. All three understood the special significance of this star after studying their scrolls and took gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh respectively for the new born baby and the new King of the world and set out in search of Him. They came seeking for him to the court of King Herod in Jerusalem, thinking perhaps, they would find him in his palace. They requested him to see the child that would be King of the Jews, sending a wave of panic through the tyrant who would no leave no stone unturned to save his throne. However, the King tried to deceive them by saying that he knew of no such child and if they found Him, to return to his palace and take him to the child so that he could also worship him.
The men set out again and were guided by the star to the stable in Bethlehem. They were overwhelmed by the divine presence and worshipped Baby Jesus and gave him gifts. In the night, all of them dreamt about an angel warning them about the devious plan of King Herod to kill the Infant and thus, asking them to go straight back to their countries instead of going to Herod's palace. The wise men dutifully followed the advice of the angel and set out for their homes. Soon after, an angel warned Joseph in his dream that he should immediately leave Bethlehem for Egypt for Herod wanted to kill the Baby. Joseph and Mary set out too with baby Jesus in their hands and safely crossed to Egypt, long before Herod ordered all baby boys in Bethlehem to be killed.
The Legend of Santa Claus (http://www.worldofchristmas.net/christmas-stories/legend-of-santa-claus.html):
Hundreds of years back, Nicholas was born to a wealthy Christian family in Patara in around 280 AD. The place is near Myra in modern-day Turkey. He was so kind and pious that he helped anyone who came his way and soon many legends about his good deeds became popular. Later, he became the Bishop of Myra. He had inherited a large property, which he used from time to time to help the poor and the sick. He traveled anonymously in the night to ensure that all of his parishioners are well fed and happy. During one of his visits, he heard a family lamenting about their misfortunes and poverty and how they were forced to sell the three poor sisters into slavery or prostitution as their father was unable to provide a suitable dowry to them or even provide food and clothes to them.
That very night, Nicholas threw three purses of gold secretly into their home from the chimney thus, saving them from shame and distress. Later, he became more and more popular as the protector and the patron saint of children and sailors. His feast is celebrated every year on his death anniversary on 6th of December and on this day, it considered lucky day to get married or buy more ad more things. His popularity kept growing and by the Renaissance, he was the most popular European saint, especially in Holland. Even when Protestants discouraged the veneration of saints, St. Nicholas continued to enjoy his status and positive reputation and remained one with Christmas forever as Santa Claus or Father Christmas.
The Legend of Christmas Angels (http://www.worldofchristmas.net/christmas-stories/legend-of-christmas-angels.html):
There were two angel friends. One used to sunset pink robes while other used to adorn himself with sky blue robes. They were known for singing sweet duets about glory of God and playing on pure silver trumpets. They often used to lead the orchestra for angels because of their musical abilities. Once, their orchestra leader Temira gave them and other members of the angelic orchestra, an exciting news. God had decided to send his Son to live among His people. They had to prepare a musical jubilee in one of the most important events in the history of the world. It just had to be the best and all angels with good voice had to sing and all instruments were to be played for the event.
Legend of the Magi: (http://www.worldofchristmas.net/christmas-stories/legend-of-magi.html)
Three Kings or the Wise Men are vital part of the Nativity scenes and birth of Christ reenacted in churches on Christmas. They traveled for miles to see baby Jesus and brought him the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Known as the Magi (scholars, priests or astrologers), these three men were first mentioned in the New Testament as the 'wise men from the East'. They followed the divine star that led them to the child Jesus to worship the Messiah and brought gifts for him. Since, these men were from different cultures and bore rich gifts that were laden on many camels, they caused quite a stir in Jerusalem and were highly regarded. They came inquiring about the newborn 'King of the Jews'. What made their arrival even stranger was that coming of the foreign kings and gentiles bearing gifts of gold and frankincense for the promised Messiah was foretold in the scriptures.
Accord to the legend, there were three Magi and they were so talked about that they attracted the attention of King Herod too. Herod the Great was one of the kings sharing a family name of 'Herod' who held the throne at the time of Jesus's birth. He was evil, tyrannical and delighted in torturing his Jewish subjects. He was very suspicious and levied heavy taxes on his people. When he came to know that some distinguished visitors have entered his kingdom, he consulted his priests to know more about the ancient prophecy that predicted the birth of Christ in Bethlehem and he was to be the future ruler of Israel. Then, he invited Magi to his court and told them that the Messiah was born in the city of Bethlehem and asked them to find the child and inform his whereabouts to the king so he could also go and worship the child.
The Legend of Mistletoe (http://www.worldofchristmas.net/christmas-stories/legend-of-mistletoe.html):
Mystical power of mistletoe and the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe owe itself to the legend of Goddess Frigga and her son Balder. Frigga was the Goddess of Love and her son, Balder, was the God of the Summer Sun. Once, Balder dreamt of his death. He was worried and told his mother about the strange dream. Frigga was worried not only for the life of her son but also for the life on Earth because she knew that without Balder, all life on Earth would come to an end. Thus, she did her utmost to avoid such a mishap and went everywhere and to every being in air, water, fire and earth to extract a promise that they would never harm her son. She was promised safety of her son by every animal and plant under and above the Earth.
However, Loki, the God of Evil, who was the enemy of Balder and always had evil designs in his mind, was aware that there was one plant that Frigga had overlooked. It grew on apple and oak trees and was known as Mistletoe. Thus, Loki made an arrow and placed Mistletoe at its tip. He then beguiled the blind brother of Balder known as Hoder, the God of Winter, and made him shoot this arrow at Balder. Balder immediately was poisoned and died. Everybody was worried as the Earth turned cold and life became dreary. Every creature tried to bring Balder back to life for three days but it was finally Frigga who managed to revive her son with the help of Mistletoe. Her tears on the plant became pearly white berries and she blessed the plant anyone who stands under the mistletoe plant would never be harmed and would be entitled to a kiss as a token of love.
Russian Legend of Baboushka (http://www.worldofchristmas.net/christmas-stories/legend-of-baboushka.html):
The Russian version of St. Nicholas is Baboushka meaning 'grandmother' in Russian. The character had been much popular in old Russia before the revolution of 1917. It was reputed that Baboushka was old woman who had no family, rarely received guests and was so used to live alone in a big house that all she could think of was cleaning, doing the household chores and looking after her empty property. One cold evening, when she was scrubbing her floors, the three Wise Men passed her house on their way to see the Holy Child. They spotted her in the window and asked her to come with them to see the new King of the world. But she refused stating that her floors were not yet clean.
She invited them to her house to spend the night but they said that they were in a hurry and bid her farewell and went on their way. Later, that night Baboushka regretted her decision of not going with the three men and gathering a few trinkets from her meager possessions, set off to find them and the Holy Child. She kept on walking inquiring to several people about the three traveling men and the Holy Child destined to be the King of the world but could not find them. It is said that she is still searching and wanders from place to place in search of them. On the eve of Epiphany of 6th of January, she also leaves trinkets as gifts to the good children in the hope that they will help her find Baby Jesus.
Legend of the Nutcracker (http://www.worldofchristmas.net/christmas-stories/legend-of-nutcracker.html):
E.T.A. Hoffman wrote the famous ballet of the nutcracker, which was first performed in 1892. However, the story was considered to be too morbid for kids and thus, Alexander Dumas Pere rewrote it to infuse more optimism and happiness in it. The story is about a young girl named Clara. His doting uncle Drosselmeyer gifts her a magical and mysterious nutcracker that she always keeps by her side. One night, when she was sleeping, the evil Mouse King came and tried to take her to his kingdom.
(Ancient Germanic) Yule Customs (http://home.earthlink.net/~wodensharrow/yule.html).
Christmas and Yule Customs (http://www.ecauldron.com/yulecustoms.php)
The Yule Log (http://whychristmas.com/customs/yulelog.shtml)
Yule Lore (http://www.starcraftsob.com/craft/yulelore.shtml)
Yule Lore (http://www.ealdriht.org/yule.htm) (at ealdriht.com (http://www.ealdriht.org/)).
Yule Customs from around the world (http://www.angelfire.com/wa3/angelline/yule_customs.htm)
Christmas Ghost stories (http://paranormalstories.blogspot.com/2006/12/santas-evil-sidekick.html) - Santa's evil sidekick, Krampus.
Santa Claus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus)
Santa Legends and folklore (http://www.mountainelves.com/Folklore/legends.html)
Santa folklore (http://www.inglewoodcarecentre.com/history/christmas_santa.htm)
Santa Claus Around the World (http://www.everythingesl.net/lessons/santa.php)
Christmas Folklore (http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/christmaslore/Christmas.htm) - list of different articles and sites.
Christmas Tree Traditions (http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/trees/traditions.html)
Folklore, Christmas and St. Nicholas (http://www.arthuriana.co.uk/xmas/pages/folklore.htm)
And that's all, for now at least, but if you have any other favourite Christmas and/or Yule folklore, legends, myths, and tales, feel free to share them, I know I'd be interested, and I'm sure others would too.
Or if you have any of your own personal Christmas and/or Yule related folklore, myths, legends or tales and don't might sharing.
Anyway, hope you enjoy, and Merry Christmas :).
The Legend of the Nativity: (http://www.worldofchristmas.net/christmas-stories/legend-of-nativity.html)
The story of Nativity reiterates the birth of Jesus Christ that probably happened over two thousand years ago. In the town of Nazareth, there lived a pure young woman called Mary, who was engaged to a poor but good man called Joseph, who was a carpenter by profession. Since she was so good, God chose her to bear His child and He sent an angel to the Lady to prophesize the birth of the Holy Son through her womb and that she must call her Jesus. Joseph also dreamt the same thing so that he was assured of the purity and virginity of Mary. However, all people were not so kind to Mary and accused her of loose character and called her names. Joseph came to her rescue and married her.
When Mary was still pregnant, the tyrant King Herod ordered all people to go to their birth towns to pay a special tax. Since, Joseph belonged to Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph had to undertake a long journey to pay the tax. Since, Mary could not walk very far, She rode on a donkey for a few days over the hills of Gallilee. At last, they arrived at Bethlehem. Though, they were very tired and Mary was about to have the baby, it was not easy for them to find a room or a place to stay in the crowded city as every inn was already full of other people who had arrived before them. However, one kind innkeeper, seeing the perils of the couple, offered them a place in his stable where he kept his animals, which was the only place available with him.
Since, there was no help, Mary and Joseph stayed there and shaped a crib for the baby by stacking the manger with hay and straw to make Him as comfortable as possible. A few hours later, Mary gave birth to her son and wrapped him in strips of cloth. At the instant, Jesus was born to Mary; an angel appeared to some shepherds tending their sheep on the hillside overlooking Bethlehem. He told them not to be afraid and that the Son of God and their Savior has now been born. He then directed them to the stable where the Holy Child was resting his manger. Shepherds immediately set out to see the baby and were much rejoiced to behold Him there and knelt down full of love for Him and worshipped Him.
At that very instant, the three wise men who were Kings from the East also saw a new star in the sky. They were known as Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar. All three understood the special significance of this star after studying their scrolls and took gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh respectively for the new born baby and the new King of the world and set out in search of Him. They came seeking for him to the court of King Herod in Jerusalem, thinking perhaps, they would find him in his palace. They requested him to see the child that would be King of the Jews, sending a wave of panic through the tyrant who would no leave no stone unturned to save his throne. However, the King tried to deceive them by saying that he knew of no such child and if they found Him, to return to his palace and take him to the child so that he could also worship him.
The men set out again and were guided by the star to the stable in Bethlehem. They were overwhelmed by the divine presence and worshipped Baby Jesus and gave him gifts. In the night, all of them dreamt about an angel warning them about the devious plan of King Herod to kill the Infant and thus, asking them to go straight back to their countries instead of going to Herod's palace. The wise men dutifully followed the advice of the angel and set out for their homes. Soon after, an angel warned Joseph in his dream that he should immediately leave Bethlehem for Egypt for Herod wanted to kill the Baby. Joseph and Mary set out too with baby Jesus in their hands and safely crossed to Egypt, long before Herod ordered all baby boys in Bethlehem to be killed.
The Legend of Santa Claus (http://www.worldofchristmas.net/christmas-stories/legend-of-santa-claus.html):
Hundreds of years back, Nicholas was born to a wealthy Christian family in Patara in around 280 AD. The place is near Myra in modern-day Turkey. He was so kind and pious that he helped anyone who came his way and soon many legends about his good deeds became popular. Later, he became the Bishop of Myra. He had inherited a large property, which he used from time to time to help the poor and the sick. He traveled anonymously in the night to ensure that all of his parishioners are well fed and happy. During one of his visits, he heard a family lamenting about their misfortunes and poverty and how they were forced to sell the three poor sisters into slavery or prostitution as their father was unable to provide a suitable dowry to them or even provide food and clothes to them.
That very night, Nicholas threw three purses of gold secretly into their home from the chimney thus, saving them from shame and distress. Later, he became more and more popular as the protector and the patron saint of children and sailors. His feast is celebrated every year on his death anniversary on 6th of December and on this day, it considered lucky day to get married or buy more ad more things. His popularity kept growing and by the Renaissance, he was the most popular European saint, especially in Holland. Even when Protestants discouraged the veneration of saints, St. Nicholas continued to enjoy his status and positive reputation and remained one with Christmas forever as Santa Claus or Father Christmas.
The Legend of Christmas Angels (http://www.worldofchristmas.net/christmas-stories/legend-of-christmas-angels.html):
There were two angel friends. One used to sunset pink robes while other used to adorn himself with sky blue robes. They were known for singing sweet duets about glory of God and playing on pure silver trumpets. They often used to lead the orchestra for angels because of their musical abilities. Once, their orchestra leader Temira gave them and other members of the angelic orchestra, an exciting news. God had decided to send his Son to live among His people. They had to prepare a musical jubilee in one of the most important events in the history of the world. It just had to be the best and all angels with good voice had to sing and all instruments were to be played for the event.
Legend of the Magi: (http://www.worldofchristmas.net/christmas-stories/legend-of-magi.html)
Three Kings or the Wise Men are vital part of the Nativity scenes and birth of Christ reenacted in churches on Christmas. They traveled for miles to see baby Jesus and brought him the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Known as the Magi (scholars, priests or astrologers), these three men were first mentioned in the New Testament as the 'wise men from the East'. They followed the divine star that led them to the child Jesus to worship the Messiah and brought gifts for him. Since, these men were from different cultures and bore rich gifts that were laden on many camels, they caused quite a stir in Jerusalem and were highly regarded. They came inquiring about the newborn 'King of the Jews'. What made their arrival even stranger was that coming of the foreign kings and gentiles bearing gifts of gold and frankincense for the promised Messiah was foretold in the scriptures.
Accord to the legend, there were three Magi and they were so talked about that they attracted the attention of King Herod too. Herod the Great was one of the kings sharing a family name of 'Herod' who held the throne at the time of Jesus's birth. He was evil, tyrannical and delighted in torturing his Jewish subjects. He was very suspicious and levied heavy taxes on his people. When he came to know that some distinguished visitors have entered his kingdom, he consulted his priests to know more about the ancient prophecy that predicted the birth of Christ in Bethlehem and he was to be the future ruler of Israel. Then, he invited Magi to his court and told them that the Messiah was born in the city of Bethlehem and asked them to find the child and inform his whereabouts to the king so he could also go and worship the child.
The Legend of Mistletoe (http://www.worldofchristmas.net/christmas-stories/legend-of-mistletoe.html):
Mystical power of mistletoe and the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe owe itself to the legend of Goddess Frigga and her son Balder. Frigga was the Goddess of Love and her son, Balder, was the God of the Summer Sun. Once, Balder dreamt of his death. He was worried and told his mother about the strange dream. Frigga was worried not only for the life of her son but also for the life on Earth because she knew that without Balder, all life on Earth would come to an end. Thus, she did her utmost to avoid such a mishap and went everywhere and to every being in air, water, fire and earth to extract a promise that they would never harm her son. She was promised safety of her son by every animal and plant under and above the Earth.
However, Loki, the God of Evil, who was the enemy of Balder and always had evil designs in his mind, was aware that there was one plant that Frigga had overlooked. It grew on apple and oak trees and was known as Mistletoe. Thus, Loki made an arrow and placed Mistletoe at its tip. He then beguiled the blind brother of Balder known as Hoder, the God of Winter, and made him shoot this arrow at Balder. Balder immediately was poisoned and died. Everybody was worried as the Earth turned cold and life became dreary. Every creature tried to bring Balder back to life for three days but it was finally Frigga who managed to revive her son with the help of Mistletoe. Her tears on the plant became pearly white berries and she blessed the plant anyone who stands under the mistletoe plant would never be harmed and would be entitled to a kiss as a token of love.
Russian Legend of Baboushka (http://www.worldofchristmas.net/christmas-stories/legend-of-baboushka.html):
The Russian version of St. Nicholas is Baboushka meaning 'grandmother' in Russian. The character had been much popular in old Russia before the revolution of 1917. It was reputed that Baboushka was old woman who had no family, rarely received guests and was so used to live alone in a big house that all she could think of was cleaning, doing the household chores and looking after her empty property. One cold evening, when she was scrubbing her floors, the three Wise Men passed her house on their way to see the Holy Child. They spotted her in the window and asked her to come with them to see the new King of the world. But she refused stating that her floors were not yet clean.
She invited them to her house to spend the night but they said that they were in a hurry and bid her farewell and went on their way. Later, that night Baboushka regretted her decision of not going with the three men and gathering a few trinkets from her meager possessions, set off to find them and the Holy Child. She kept on walking inquiring to several people about the three traveling men and the Holy Child destined to be the King of the world but could not find them. It is said that she is still searching and wanders from place to place in search of them. On the eve of Epiphany of 6th of January, she also leaves trinkets as gifts to the good children in the hope that they will help her find Baby Jesus.
Legend of the Nutcracker (http://www.worldofchristmas.net/christmas-stories/legend-of-nutcracker.html):
E.T.A. Hoffman wrote the famous ballet of the nutcracker, which was first performed in 1892. However, the story was considered to be too morbid for kids and thus, Alexander Dumas Pere rewrote it to infuse more optimism and happiness in it. The story is about a young girl named Clara. His doting uncle Drosselmeyer gifts her a magical and mysterious nutcracker that she always keeps by her side. One night, when she was sleeping, the evil Mouse King came and tried to take her to his kingdom.
(Ancient Germanic) Yule Customs (http://home.earthlink.net/~wodensharrow/yule.html).
Christmas and Yule Customs (http://www.ecauldron.com/yulecustoms.php)
The Yule Log (http://whychristmas.com/customs/yulelog.shtml)
Yule Lore (http://www.starcraftsob.com/craft/yulelore.shtml)
Yule Lore (http://www.ealdriht.org/yule.htm) (at ealdriht.com (http://www.ealdriht.org/)).
Yule Customs from around the world (http://www.angelfire.com/wa3/angelline/yule_customs.htm)
Christmas Ghost stories (http://paranormalstories.blogspot.com/2006/12/santas-evil-sidekick.html) - Santa's evil sidekick, Krampus.
Santa Claus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus)
Santa Legends and folklore (http://www.mountainelves.com/Folklore/legends.html)
Santa folklore (http://www.inglewoodcarecentre.com/history/christmas_santa.htm)
Santa Claus Around the World (http://www.everythingesl.net/lessons/santa.php)
Christmas Folklore (http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/christmaslore/Christmas.htm) - list of different articles and sites.
Christmas Tree Traditions (http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/trees/traditions.html)
Folklore, Christmas and St. Nicholas (http://www.arthuriana.co.uk/xmas/pages/folklore.htm)
And that's all, for now at least, but if you have any other favourite Christmas and/or Yule folklore, legends, myths, and tales, feel free to share them, I know I'd be interested, and I'm sure others would too.
Or if you have any of your own personal Christmas and/or Yule related folklore, myths, legends or tales and don't might sharing.
Anyway, hope you enjoy, and Merry Christmas :).
