The Krampus Kalendar: K is for KRAMPUS

In the twenty-first century, we have become so used to the idea of Santa bringing gifts to good little boys and girls on Christmas Eve it is easy to forget that not so long ago, bad little boys and girls were likewise punished.

In the wild heartlands of Europe such legends are not so easily forgotten, and so it is that in countries such as Austria and Hungary, on 5 December, communities remember Krampus, a demonic anti-Santa who accompanies St. Nicholas during the Christmas season, warning and punishing bad children.




In the Alpine regions, traditionally young men dress up as the Krampus and roam the streets, frightening children and women with rusty chains and clanging bells. In some rural areas the tradition goes so far as to include the birching of young girls!

Images of Krampus usually show him with a basket on his back, used to carry away bad children and dump them into the pits of Hell. The name Krampus itself originates from the Old High German word krampen, meaning ‘claw’.

So when the chubby, cheery fellow with the bulging sack of presents asks if you've been good or bad, you had better have been good, for goodness sake…

Krampus is the Big Bad of both the gamebook 'TWAS - The Krampus Night Before Christmas and the roleplaying game 'TWAS - The Roleplaying Game Before Christmas, which is currently funding on Kickstarter.

   

To find out more about the festive season and its many traditions, order your copy of the Chrismologist's Christmas Explained: Robins, Kings and Brussel Sprouts today!

The book is also available in the United States as Christmas Miscellany: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Christmas.

      

Gruss vom Krampus!

Today is 5th December, which means that this evening is Krampusnacht, the night when the Christmas Devil stalks the streets of Austrian and German mountain settlements, searching for naughty children to whip with his birch switch and carry away to hell in his wicker basket.

Krampusnacht feels more like Halloween than Christmas. To mark this occasion in the winter calendar, men dressed as Krampus drink alcohol, run through the streets, and frighten children. Often, they chase delinquent children around and actually hit them with sticks! The Krampus costume itself traditionally consists of a hand-carved wooden mask and a suit made from sheep or goat skin. Cowbells are worn around the wearer’s hips.

Of course, Krampus is the villain of 'TWAS - The Krampus Night Before Christmas (which is accepting reviews on Amazon now), but he is also the Big Bad of 'TWAS - The Roleplaying Game Before Christmas, which needs some love on Kickstarter right now.

Don't forget to pledge your support before midnight, to benefit from the Early Bird rewards on offer.

And it's not too late to send some Krampus Kards this Christmas. If you need some more, they can be purchased from the ACE Gamebooks Etsy shop here.

Coming Soon - Christmas Explained (a.k.a. What is Myrrh Anyway? v2.0)

Coming to a Christmas stocking near you soon from Snowbooks* is Christmas Explained: Robins, Kings and Brussel Sprouts.

Some readers of this blog may already have What is Myrrh Anyway? in their collection of Christmas books (published in 2008 by Icon Books), Well Christmas Explained is the brand new hardback edition of the book (and actually has the word 'Christmas' in the title).

If you have already read What is Myrrh Anyway? then you'll know that the book's a great read - "As welcome as a warm glass of mulled wine on a wintry night," according to the Good Book Guide - but you will also be thinking, "Why do I need to buy it again?"**

And to you I would say, "Because the text has been completely revised and updated, and at least another 10,000 words of content added. That's why."

So if you want to know where tinsel comes from, or when a frost fair was held actually on the surface of the River Thames, or if you've ever wondered why we build snowmen at Christmas***, then add Christmas Explained to your wish list this festive season.


* Rather appropriately.

** Unless you're buying it as a suitably festive gift for someone else.

*** If it actually snows.

Keep Calm and Pull A Cracker

I picked these up during a family break in Suffolk, so that's at least some of this year's Chrismologist advent calendar entries sorted.