Contributed/Wikimedia Commons

The holidays are a rich time for folklore all over the world. The most common would be Santa Claus, who originated from Saint Nicholas, but not many people know that he has a very well-known counterpart in his history. This evil counterpart is called Krampus, and he is the Yin to Saint Nicholas’ Yang.

If you’ve ever seen the TV show The Office, you might remember a holiday episode where Dwight dresses up as Krampus to punish the coworkers he deemed naughty. While this episode is hilarious, there is a lot of fact behind how Dwight portrayed Krampus.

Krampus has a long history, most of it being rooted in Pagan traditions, where it is said that Krampus was actually the son of a Norse Goddess of the underworld named Hel. The most common depiction of Krampus that many people are familiar with or have seen in media dates back to Alpine folklore.

In this lore, Krampus is described as a demon that takes the form of a horned being with long fangs, but is eerily similar to a goat standing on its back two legs. Saint Nicholas is known to be very giving during the holiday season by rewarding those who are nice. On the off chance that a child was bad, Krampus would be used as a threat by parents towards their misbehaving children.

This absolutely terrified them. If children were so naughty that Krampus showed up, it is said that they would hear chains rattling. Next, he would whip them with switches, and if a child was extremely bad, Krampus would stuff them into a bag and drag them into the layer that he lived in. In his home, Krampus would either keep the children or, in some cases, drown or eat them.

Since Krampus played a significant role in the area, he had his own day, which is December 5th, the day before Saint Nicholas Day. It is said that on this night, Krampus was the most active. While naughty children have a sense of fear lingering over them, many people would put offerings for Krampus to keep him at ease. These offerings included decorations, such as sleigh bells and food like oranges.

Nowadays, as seen in many forms of media, Krampus is no longer a threat to children, but instead celebrated in a sense while also poking fun at him. In the Alps today, there are large festivals where, similar to a turkey trot on Thanksgiving, people run a marathon but dressed as Krampus to celebrate the holiday season.

Author