Skip to main content

Christmas Countdown Characters #4

Fascinated by the name of   this Christmas celebrity,  I have chosen a Slavic version of Santa Claus for today's Christmas Countdown Character.

D is for Ded Moroz ... Ded Moroz  can be translated as "Old Man Frost"  or Father Frost who is like a Russian Santa Claus. Traditionally shown as a tall and slender older gentleman, Ded Moroz  has a long  white beard, and is usually dressed in winter colours, red or icy blue. Most images also show him carrying a long staff.
Ded Moroz delivers gifts on New Year's Eve rather than on Christmas Eve due to the shifting of this tradition to the more secular holiday during Soviet times. While both tundra and forest reindeer are plentiful in Russia and Siberia, his  preferred mode of transport is " troika", drawn by three powerful white horses, representing the three months of Winter.   And no rosy cheeked matronly Mrs Claus for
Ded Moroz, he is accompanied by his  young, blonde and beautiful snow maiden granddaughter, Snegurochka. This legendary female figure also dresses in the wintry colors of the season to assist Father Frost in his efforts to distribute gifts. Together they fight off the wicked witch Baba Yaga, who, children are often told, will steal their gifts. Ded Moroz and Snegurochka personally deliver gifts - there is no secrecy surrounding their arrival in the dark of night.
Instead of the North Pole, the Russian Santa Claus officially makes his home a few hours away from Moscow in Veliky Ustug, where many people visit Ded Moroz to have their festive season wishes granted.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for reading my blog and please share your thoughts about my blog post by leaving a comment.Your comment won't appear immediately as comments are verified before publication in an effort to reduce the amount of spam appearing. Anonymous comments will not be published.

Popular posts from this blog

Is it a mutant? Is it an alien? It's an octopus - or is it?

Have you ever thought how strange a creature the octopus is?  This week's fascination started when I asked the question, "What colour is an octopus when it's underwater?"  The answer is  "any colour it wants to be " -  An octopus' coloration depends upon its surroundings.  An octopus possesses the ability to alter its coloration depending on its immediate environment. This defensive technique protects the animal from predators and entices prey to come close to the animal . ((from  https://www.reference.com/pets-animals/color-octopus-be94f74fcdc74ebe)    . Why did I want to know the colour of an octopus? Because I wanted to draw octopus tentacles as mermaid hair for my art journal! Then, I began to think it might be considered a little too weird and even perverse to give a mermaid octopus hair.... Facebook friends assured me that this was not so, citing Medusa and her snake hair as a precedent, and even one friend said that she thought it was l...
Post a Comment
Read more

Christmas Countdown Characters #22

So close to Christmas and it's getting harder to find Christmas celebrities but today here's  a wily W character.  W is for Wilma . Yes I am Wilma but I am NOT today's Christmas celebrity.  Wilma the weasel  is the one of the main characters  in  T he Flight Before Christmas , a 2008 animated movie    and its sequel   Little Brother Big Trouble: A Christmas Adventure . The Flight Before Christmas centres around the problem of Niko, a small reindeer afraid of flying, and in search of his unknown father who is one of Santa's Flying Forces (that is, one of the eight main reindeer who pull Santa's sleigh)  Wilma is a street wise fearless singing weasel, who Niki and his surrogate squirrel father, Julius befriend while saving Santa from a wolf pack attack .   Long story short, the climax involves  Niko, Wilma and Julius killing the wolf leader, the Flying  Squad saving themselves in order to save Christmas, Niko...
Post a Comment
Read more

Lilly Pilly

Today is Australia Day. I chose a photo of some Lilly Pilly berries as a celebratory image for this national day. Lilly Pilly is  a common name for a plant, Syzygium smithii which grows mostly in Eastern Australia, from the northern  rain forests of Queensland, throughout NSW to the southern Wilson's Promontory in Victoria. In New Zealand it is called "monkey apple, but other names used in Australia, besides lilly pilly, are Eungella Gum and Coast Satinash. The largest Lilly Pilly recorded was found in Dingo Creek Flora Reserve, near Tenterfield where I once lived.  The tree now growing in my garden was once a small seedling which I was gifted when I left Woolgoolga, a small coastal town in northern NSW. Its name  is said to come from the Aboriginal word 'weelgoolga' describing the lilly pilly which grows in profusion there. It is probably no surprise that the lilly pilly berries are edible as bush tucker, and make a beautiful jam or jelly. I have even seen re...
Post a Comment
Read more