When I dug into his origin story, I was surprised to find out that he is actually an assistant to Saint Nicholas, and the two work together during the Christmas season.
According to Alpine folklore, while Saint Nicholas provides well-behaved children with small gifts—such as oranges, chocolate, walnuts, and dried fruit—Krampus goes around with a birch rod or a pitchfork to punish the naughty ones. In other versions, Krampus carries around a sack to transport them to the underworld.
Krampus’ name originates from the German word “krampen” which means “claw” and his roots stretch all the way back to pre-Christian pagan folklore. During the 12th century, the Catholic church tried to ban Krampus celebrations because they believed it was a form of devil worship, but to no avail.
On the other hand, Saint Nicholas (the origin of modern Santa Claus) was a real person who lived from 270 to 343. He was from the city of Myra in modern-day Turkey and lived during a very turbulent time in Roman history. He was a Christian bishop that was known for his lavish generosity and secret gift-giving. His most famous gift was dropping off a sack of gold through the window of a small house belonging to a poor man with three daughters. The money was enough to pay for their dowries, effectively saving them from being forced into prostitution.
I remember my teacher telling me this story about Saint Nicholas when I was a kid in the 6th grade and someone raised their hand and asked her to define the word “prostitution”. After some hesitation, my teacher explained to us that it was when a man or woman sold their body for money. For the longest time, I took it literally and imagined a person selling their organs or cutting off lumps of flesh to make ends meat. 😅
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