Europe's Terrifying Anti-Santa

Know Your Krampus.

The Offering.

The Swat.

The Photo Op.

Hi everyone, and welcome back to our new segment 【Lore And More】-《奇谈杂货铺》. Hi, 安澜.

Hi, Lulu, hi everyone.

This is the segment where we steep in the strange brews of global folklore, it’s the night before Christmas. It's actually not.

It's not.

But it's around Christmas time.

It is.

So 安澜, let me paint you a Christmas picture.

Twinkling lights, sweet carols, a jolly man in red-bringing gifts for the good children, and a horned hairy beast dragging the naughty ones away in a basket to hell.

What? Hang on. That took a very sharp left turn from gingerbread and happy children, a basket? That sounds less ‘Merry Christmas’, and more ‘medieval nightmare’. Who is this Christmas party crasher?

Oh, you don’t know him? Meet Santa Claus’s shadow, his ancient, fanged enforcer. While Santa checks his list, this creature enforces it. We're talking about the Krampus. Have you ever heard of the Krampus?

I’ve heard of him. We don't have him in the UK, but I know in Alpine regions of Europe, Austria and southern Germany, they believe in Krampus.

So forget coal in your stocking, this evil twin of Santa will punish the misbehaving children or people, if you misbehave, you might just get your visit from the Christmas devil himself.

Okay?

You were always a good child. You never got visited by Krampus.

I think if I got visited by Krampus, you probably heard about it long before now.

So I thought today we dive into an alternative Christmas story in this Law And More.

But before we go any further, I would like to say that, you know, as we talk about figures, these folkloric figures, we are stepping into a world of evolving stories, not fixed history.

Oh, yeah.

So there's no single original version. His traits come from a mix of original traditions and symbolism.

This is not a history exam. This is more just looking at someone's winter nightmares.

Very atmospheric.

Yeah.

So brace yourself for the origin of Krampus. So to name Krampus, like you said, you heard it probably from German lore. So this word likely comes from some version of old German word  'krampen' meaning 'claw/hook'. He's not really a Victorian invention. His origins are mostly pagan. So pre-Christianity.

He's actually a figure probably from Winter Solstice folklore.

Yes. So the winter solstice is the shortest day of the year or the longest night. So the winter solstice was a huge festival in pre-Christian Europe. And it's really actually Christmas got added to those existing festival because actually according to evidence, if Jesus was born, he was born in March.

Yeah. So Christmas is actually not Jesus's birthday. No.

Anyhow, that's a whole other story. But coming back to winter solstice是冬至. Actually, a lot of horror films are about either Summer Solstice or Winter Solstice.

Yeah.

Krampus was this wild, hairy fertility spirit, which is understandable这种丰产生殖的一个妖精或者一个妖怪. Or a son of the Norse underworld goddess, who evolved to embody the harsh, punishing spirit of winter.

And I know that goddess her name is Hel.

Yeah, but it's h-e-l, not h-e-l-l .

Yes.

And then it's the start of Christianity.

With the spread of Christianity, the church couldn't really eradicate these deep rooted pagan beliefs. So they did the next best thing: they sort of absorbed and repurposed them.

Oh, yeah.

And Krampus was paired with St. Nicholas or Santa Claus. There's actually a Krampus night, Krampusnacht(德语).

Okay.

It's almost like... if you will think about good cop, bad cop, 一个红脸, 一个白脸, Santa and Krampus.

Okay. So how would I recognize this terrifying devil?

Well. It's very easy because he looks nothing like Santa. He's essentially like a monster.

Okay?

Although anthropomorphic goat-man, twisted horns, a full pelt of brown or black fur, a long tongue and cloven hooves, like satanic really.

Yeah.

And he carries chains and also some branches so that he can beat a naughty children.

Okay?

Most terrifyingly, he often lugs a wicker basket on his back, 就是背个篮子，一个藤编篮子 to cart the worst, the naughtiest kids away to his lair, or worse hell.

Yeah. Basically, what I'm hearing is this is like an early disciplinary tool, be good or the goat-man gets you. That's pretty intense parenting.

Haven't you heard those childhood stories especially older people like to tell, it's like, if you don't behave someone's gonna get you, sometimes is the scary... is the boogeyman, sometimes is the wolf, sometimes is Krampus.

No, not really.

So how did your parents get you to behave?

Usually they would say behave or I will smack you. Quite basic really.

All right, all right. So now for centuries, the tradition around Krampus, Krampus night developed, they used to have this something called 'Krampuslauf' , which is translated into Krampus run. So on this night, young men in villages would wear incredibly crafted, often terrifying wooden masks and fur suits.

I’ve seen that.

I'm not sure if they still have those reenactment of the old rituals.

They do. I have seen those in Austria. So it's, as you say, it's called the'Krampuslauf', so Krampus run. And it's actually a really old ritual. There's lots of festivals in the past that have that same idea of people dressing up in furs and like hitting people with sticks, and mostly it was related to fertility.

Yeah, it only makes sense. Anything having to do with Winter Solstice is to do with fertility because Winter Solstice is the time when darkest, longest night and farmers, the agrarian societies would probably worry about crops growing next year.

So they would hope for like a bountiful New Year.

Yeah, precisely.

Yeah, this carried on. And in the 20th century the tradition was banned when fascists took over the German speaking part because they thought it was too barbaric and just anti-Christian. But it was still kept alive in secret in rural villages.

And then obviously, after the war in the 20th century and now 21st century, it has come back again and grown bigger and more popular because now people like to trace back those folkloric traditions.

But there's also a little bit of a fight back, isn't there? Because it's an edgier version of Christmas. So Christmas is meant to be the season of giving. But let's be honest. It's also a very commercial time of the year. It's very saccharin.

True.

So Krampus is something a bit more primeval and it's almost like the world needed a little bit more darkness to balance the Christmas light.

Exactly, it's like...I don't know if it's cautionary. But I think human beings need that, it's a basic survival needs.

Yeah, so that's why Krampus is now becoming really popular in pop culture. There was a horror comedy film called Krampus and he's become like a shorthand for the dark Christmas. It's a push back against Christmas consumerism and also the endless cheer of Christmas.

Actually, I've seen the parody of Krampus or mention of Krampus in many TV shows including, what was it, I watched that for years, Supernatural《邪恶力量》, they did one episode on Krampus. It's basically the evil twin of Santa.

Yeah, and psychologically it makes a lot of sense because it's a little bit of dark energy as well, because Christmas is a holiday that pressures everyone to be happy and perfect. So if you're not happy and things go badly, of course there's gonna be a monster that shows all of that fear, frustration and imperfection that we are supposed to repress to “enjoy Christmas”.

Wow. You really deep dive of the human psyche.

Yeah.

Whilst I just wanna believe Krampus really existed.

OK. Fair do’s.

All right, so before we wrap this up, let's do the Survivor’s Guide. How to survive Krampusnacht.

Ok, for our listeners who might be planning to go to Austria or southern Germany into the mountains this December, let's get practical. What's the etiquette for when a demonic goat-man comes to your house?

First of all, know your Krampus.

Mhm.

Whether it's a real monstrosity standing there trying to take you away if you've been naughty or a college kid in a store-bought costume. The former probably deserves respect.

The latter probably just wants your glühwein, your mulled wine.

Also give him some schnapps. That's also a very good idea that might distract him.

Schnapps is a drink, isn't it?

It's a very strong drink.

And also if you get beaten with the rods, with the sticks, that's not a bad thing, that's actually a festive blessing.

It's swatting away bad spirits and laziness, so don't be lazy.

But if he pulls out the sack, run away! And also always ask before taking a photo.

Well, a respectful request might get you a great shot.

Yeah. A less respectful requests might get a beaten.

Or you just might be chained and taken away.

All right, so the Krampus from a pre-Christian winter demon to Santa Claus’s fearsome counterpart, the evil twin, a symbol of suppressed folklore that roared back as a global icon of Christmas’s darker, wilder, and more psychologically complex or disturbing side.

Yeah. And my takeaway is this that every light has a shadow and Christmas with all of its brilliance and light has a long, horned, fantastically furry shadow named Krampus.

That's a nice finish. And thanks for listening to Lore and More, 【奇谈杂货铺】.

If you have any request you want us to talk about in this segment, let us know, or just let us know what you think about this episode.

So until next time.

We'll see you next time.

Bye bye.