Santa Claus and Snow Maiden - who are they? Distant relatives or just acquaintances? Snow Maiden: urban legends and modern "horror films"

Unlike the main New Year's wizard, the "granddaughter" does not drink, does not bring gifts, but rather endures Santa Claus, oversaturated with "magic".

But who, after all, is such a Snow Maiden and what secrets does this New Year's image hide?

The first and most amazing secret of the Snow Maiden lies in her absolute uniqueness. Of course, a modern Russian Snow Maiden may have Belarusian, Ukrainian and even Kazakh sisters, however, in fact, they are all continuation of the same image, which was finally formed along with the Soviet tradition of celebrating the New Year.

So, there are no analogues of the Snow Maiden in the world, except for the dubious image of the wife of Santa Claus.

Moreover, unlike Santa Claus, the Snow Maiden is not recorded in the Russian folk rite either.

Despite this, Snegurka has been with us for a long time - from the very moment when a fairy tale about a girl from the snow appeared in Russian folklore, who came to life.

The film "The Snow Maiden" directed by Pavel Kadochnikov. Lenfilm. 1969 year. THE USSR. In the photo: Evgenia Filonova as Snow Maiden. Photo: www.russianlook.com

Of course, at that time this girl had nothing to do with the New Year or gifts.

According to one version, the story of the Snow Maiden directly comes from the funeral rite of Kostroma.

The Slavic rite of the funeral of Kostroma was a farewell to winter and at the same time a request to the forces of nature for the fertility of the land. According to one version of the rite, a stuffed girl was drowned in the river, according to the second - they burned it at the stake, like a Pancake. In another version, Kostroma drank wine to death at a merry feast, which makes it very close to all lovers of New Year's drinking parties.

One way or another, but Kostroma, the forerunner of the Snow Maiden, was dealt with quite deliberately. And the death of a girl made of snow while jumping over a fire is, if you will, a light version of the ritual story.

If Kostroma, who was also the goddess of fertility, possessed, in the opinion of the Slavs, quite contradictory nature, then the Snow Maiden initially looked like a kind and naive girl.

Climbing history

Translated the Snow Maiden from folklore to literary characters Russian collector of folklore Alexander Afanasyev, who in 1867 placed tales about the Snow Maiden in the second volume of his research "Poetic views of the Slavs on nature."

In 1873, the playwright Alexander Ostrovsky, impressed by Afanasyev's work, wrote the play The Snow Maiden. In this story, the Snow Maiden appears in the image we are familiar with today - a pale blonde in blue and white winter clothes. It is here that the Snow Maiden first encounters Santa Claus, who turns out to be her ... dad. And the mother is Vesna-Krasna, who could not resist the male charisma of the gray-bearded sorcerer. However, Ostrovsky's story of Snegurochka is sad: left in people's care, she becomes a victim of misunderstanding and jumping over the fire.

It is interesting that Ostrovsky's play was received very coldly, and it is not known what career Snegurochka would have had if the composer had not joined the case in 1882 Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov... His opera based on the play "The Snow Maiden" was a wild success, after which the ice girl began to move towards the status of the second New Year's face.

Even in the pre-revolutionary period, Russian teachers began to use the image of the Snow Maiden in Christmas tree scenarios. True, as a rule, it comes about staging certain scenes from Ostrovsky's play with her participation. Also, figures of the Snow Maiden begin to hang on the Christmas tree as a decoration.

And yet, at that time, the Snow Maiden remained exclusively minor character... The decisive transformation came in 1935, when the Soviet Union began to celebrate at the official level New Year.

Now the Snow Maiden has become “ right hand»Santa Claus, an intermediary in communication between him and the children at matinees. At the same time, for an unclear reason, their related status changed. If Ostrovsky's Snow Maiden was the daughter of Santa Claus, then in new version she appeared to be his granddaughter.

Santa Claus and Snow Maiden with children at the New Year tree. Photo: RIA Novosti

Although it cannot be ruled out that this Snow Maiden is in fact the daughter of the one that melted while jumping over the fire. In any case, the Soviet Snow Maiden had no tendency to melt.

At the celebration of the New Year, 1937, Santa Claus and Snegurochka first appeared together at a Christmas tree in the Moscow House of Unions. It is interesting that at that time the Snow Maiden appeared in the form of a little girl and only after some time "grew up".

Terem on Lagernaya street

It is quite possible that this change in texture was caused exclusively by practical considerations - after all, students of theater schools and novice theater artists coped with the roles of hostesses of children's matinees much better than students of elementary grades.

Unlike Santa Claus, the fate of Snegurochka hung in the balance for some time - for example, during the war period this image disappeared from the New Year holidays.

The Snow Maiden was saved by two famous Soviet writer -Lev Kassil and Sergey Mikhalkov... It was they who wrote the scripts for the Kremlin Christmas trees in the early 1950s, and made the granddaughter of Santa Claus an obligatory participant in the performances. Only after that did the Snow Maiden finally “staked out” a place for herself near the Christmas tree.

The Snow Maiden is so kind and harmless that she is constantly held hostage by various evil spirits who have material claims to Santa Claus. In my memory, the Snow Maiden only once took the initiative in her hand, helping out grandfather. In the cartoon "When the Trees Are Lit," an atypically determined Snow Maiden went on a sleigh to the capital in order to bring back the gifts that Santa Claus had lost. And she coped with her task perfectly.

The Snow Maiden is now an independent girl, and she has her own residence, located in Kostroma. It was in these parts, in the Shchelykovo estate, that the playwright Alexander Ostrovsky and wrote a play about the Snow Maiden. "Terem Snegurochka" in terms of the number of visitors may well give odds to the residence of Father Frost in Veliky Ustyug.

The only oddity regarding the Snow Maiden's habitat is her Kostroma address - the granddaughter of Santa Claus lives on Lagernaya Street, 38.

Distant relatives or just acquaintances?

The most die-hard seekers Western counterparts it is believed that the Snow Maiden has something in common with Saint Lucia, who in Germany and the Scandinavian countries during the period of the prohibition of the cult of saints and, in particular, Saint Nicholas, acted as a Christmas giver of gifts for children. In the countries of Scandinavia and Finland, the holiday of St. Lucia, celebrated on December 13, has survived to this day, and serves as a kind of eve of Christmas.

There is also the Italian Befana, either an old woman, or a young woman who comes to the children on the night of Epiphany and puts gifts to obedient children in pre-prepared socks. For bad children, Befana puts ash in their socks. By the way, this lady is well known to Russian children as well - her somewhat modified image was described by Gianni Rodari in his "Travel of the Blue Arrow".

Malanka is also mentioned, participating in the New Year's rituals in Bassarabia, Podolia and Galicia.

However, all these ladies, of course, cannot be compared with our unique and inimitable Snow Maiden, who every year relieves children from embarrassment in front of a gray-bearded magic old man, and then meekly delivers Santa Claus, who has played a part, to his abode. That is why the Snow Maiden is exclusively our character, in which every Russian woman can see herself.

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  © Public Domain / USSR Ministry of Communications
• © Public Domain / USSR Ministry of Communications
• © Public Domain / USSR Ministry of Communications
• © Public Domain / USSR Ministry of Communications
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  ©

Father Frost

So, is Santa Claus true or fiction? Does he have a real beard or is it just a piece of cotton wool stolen from pharmacy booth? Are the deer briskly carrying his team, or are they costumed horses with plastic antlers? Is Santa Claus really a magic staff or is it just a fragment of a high jump pole? There are many opinions, but only one thing is correct - there is Santa Claus!

The history of such a holiday as New Year and many facts confirm that Santa Claus actually exists. The year of his birth is unknown to anyone, since it was a very long time ago, respectively, his age is estimated at more than one hundred years.

The fact that this grandfather has relatives has not been proven, but it has not been refuted either, there is only information about his granddaughter, the Snow Maiden.

The permanent residence of Father Frost is the residence in Veliky Ustyug - a small village in Vologda region, but grandfather is often on the road, and it is very difficult to find him on the spot. Santa Claus works only one week a year (the age is still solid), the rest of the time he rests from the labors of the righteous at popular resorts in the world and prepares for the next New Year - he makes gifts, trains deer and repairs sledges.

How old is Santa Claus?

In some countries, the ancestors of Santa Claus are considered "local" gnomes. Others featured medieval itinerant jugglers who sang Christmas carols. The image of Santa Claus has been taking shape over the centuries, and each nation has brought something of its own into its history.

But among the ancestors of the elder there was, it turns out, a very real person. In the IV century, Archbishop Nicholas lived in the Turkish city of Myra. According to legend, it was very kind person... So, once he saved three daughters of a distressed family by throwing bundles of gold through the window of their house. After the death of Nicholas, they were declared a saint. In the 11th century, the church where he was buried was robbed by Italian pirates. They stole the remains of the saint and took them to their homeland.

The parishioners of the church of St. Nicholas were outraged. Burst out international scandal... This story made so much noise that Nicholas became an object of veneration and worship of Christians from different countries the world.

In the Middle Ages, the custom was firmly established on Nikolin's day, December 19, to give gifts to children, because this is what the saint himself did. After the introduction of the new calendar, the "saint" began to come to children at Christmas, and then on New Years. Everywhere the good old man is called differently: in Spain - Papa Noel, in Romania - Mosh Jarila, in Holland - Sinte Claas, in England and America - Santa Claus, and here - Santa Claus.

Have Eastern Slavs presented fabulous image Moroz is a hero, a blacksmith who fetters the water with "iron frosts". Frosts themselves were often identified with violent winter winds. There are several folk tales where the North Wind (or Frost) helps lost travelers by showing the way.

Our Santa Claus is a special image. It is reflected in Old Slavic legends (Karachun, Pozvizd, Zimnik), Russian folk tales, folklore, Russian literature (play by A. Ostrovsky "The Snow Maiden", poem by N. Nekrasov "Frost, Red Nose", poem by V. Ya. Bryusov "To the King of the North Pole", the Karelian-Finnish epic "Kalevala").

Posvizd - slavic god storms and bad weather. As soon as he shook his head - a large hail fell on the ground. Instead of a cloak, the winds drew behind him, snow fell from the floor of his clothes. Pozvizd rushed rapidly across the heavens, accompanied by a retinue of storms and hurricanes.

In the legends of the ancient Slavs, there was another character - Zimnik. He, like Frost, was presented as an old man of small stature, with white hair and a long gray beard, with an uncovered head, in warm white clothes and with an iron club in his hands. Where he passes - there wait for a cruel cold.

Among the Slavic deities, Karachun stood out for his ferocity - evil spirit shortening life. The ancient Slavs considered him an underground god who ruled the frost.

But over time, Frost changed. Stern, walking the earth in the company of the Sun and Wind and freezing to death the peasants who met on the way (in the Belarusian fairy tale "Frost, Sun and Wind), he gradually turns from formidable into a just and kind grandfather.

The Santa Claus costume did not appear immediately either. At first he was portrayed in a cloak. TO early XIX For centuries, the Dutch painted him as a slender pipe smoker, skillfully clearing chimneys through which he threw gifts to children. At the end of the same century, he was dressed in a red fur coat trimmed with fur. In 1860 american artist Thomas Knight decorated Santa Claus with a beard, and soon the Englishman Tenniel created the image of a good-natured fat man. We are all familiar with such a Santa Claus.

According to ancient mythology and symbolism of color, the traditional look of Santa Claus presupposes:

Beard and hair- thick, gray-haired (silvery). These details of the appearance, in addition to their "physiological" meaning (the old man is gray-haired), also bear a huge symbolic character, denoting power, happiness, prosperity and wealth. Surprisingly, it is the hair that is the only detail of the appearance that has not undergone any significant changes over the millennia.

Shirt and Pants- white, linen, decorated with white geometric patterns (symbol of purity). This detail was practically lost in modern view about the suit. Performers of the role of Santa Claus and dressers prefer to cover the performer's neck with a white scarf (which is permissible). As a rule, they don't pay attention to trousers or sew them red to match the color of a fur coat (a terrible mistake!)

Fur coat - long(ankle-deep or shin-deep), always red, embroidered with silver (eight-pointed stars, jibs, crosses and other traditional ornament), trimmed with swan down. Some modern theatrical costumes, alas, sin with experiments in the field colors and replacement of materials. Surely many have seen a gray-haired wizard in a blue or green fur coat. If so, you should know - this is not Santa Claus, but one of his many " younger brothers". If the fur coat is short (the shin is open) or has pronounced buttons - in front of you is a suit of Santa Claus, Per Noel or someone else from the foreign brothers of Santa Claus. But replacing swan down with white fur, although not desirable, is still acceptable.

Cap- red, embroidered with silver and pearls. A fringe (hall) with swan down (white fur) with a triangular cut on the front (stylized horns). The shape of the cap is semi-oval (the round shape of the cap is traditional for Russian tsars, it is enough to recall the headdress of Ivan the Terrible). In addition to the imposing attitude to color, described above, theatrical costume designers of our time tried to diversify the decoration and shape of Santa Claus's headdress. The following "inaccuracies" are characteristic: replacement of pearls with glass diamonds and gems (acceptable), absence of a cutout behind the edging (not desirable, but occurs very often), a cap of the correct semicircular shape (this is Vladimir Monomakh) or a cap (Santa Claus), a pompom (he same).

Three-fingered gloves or mittens- white, embroidered with silver - a symbol of purity and holiness of everything that he gives from his hands. Three-fingered is a symbol of belonging to the highest divine principle since the Neolithic. What is the symbolic meaning of modern red mittens is unknown.

Belt- white with a red ornament (a symbol of the connection between ancestors and descendants). Nowadays, it has been preserved as an element of the costume, having completely lost its symbolic meaning and the corresponding color scheme. It's a pity...

Shoes- silver or red, silver-stitched boots with raised toes. The heel is chamfered, small or completely absent. On a frosty day, Santa Claus puts on white felt boots embroidered with silver. White color and silver are symbols of the moon, holiness, north, water and purity. It is by footwear that you can distinguish a real Santa Claus from a "fake". A more or less professional performer of the role of Santa Claus will never appear in public in boots or black boots! As a last resort, he will try to find red dance boots or ordinary black felt boots (which is certainly not desirable).

Staff- crystal or silver-plated "under crystal". Twisted handle, also in silver-white colors. The staff is completed by a lunar (a stylized image of the month) or the head of a bull (a symbol of power, fertility and happiness). It is difficult to find a staff these days that match these descriptions. The fantasy of decorators and props has almost completely changed its shape.

Santa Claus's tale from the patterned porch of the estate on New Year's Eve

Many people ask me how old I am and why I founded my patrimony here, although my Motherland is all Russia and I am welcomed everywhere, housing is ready for me everywhere, in every province there is my residence. She also exists in the capital city of Moscow, but I live where I need it most. I am the same age as the Slavic peoples, but since ancient times with the Ustyuzhans, who share with me the fate of the Russian people, the fate of the ancient Russian cities of Ustyug and Gleden, from which Veliky Ustyug went.

It all began a long time ago, eleven centuries ago, in the reign of Sineus, Rurik's brother, in the Vologda lands.

Then my brother Santa Claus, who recently visited me again, came with them from the Varangian lands. He, too, is always on campaigns and wanderings, visited with the Vikings in Iceland and America along the short path, and I with my explorers along the distant, through Siberia.

This is my fiefdom, we both have enough work.

So that's it. The story is that Slavic peoples, which I always accompany, at that time moved to the north and east. Having reached the mouth of the Yug River, they built here the Gleden fortress, now there is an Orthodox monastery on this place.

Gleden and Veliky Ustyug stood at the crossroads of all roads, all Slavic movements to the north and east.

The city met many noble guests, Peter the Great himself, the emperor, who, by his decree, ordered Santa Claus to honor and put up New Year trees, was here.

It is no coincidence that so many sailors and explorers came out of these places. They moved along the rivers at that time.

Here, nature has formed a cross of four rivers flowing to all four cardinal directions.

The Sukhona flows from the west, the Northern Dvina goes north, the Vychegda descends from the east, and the South - from noon. For centuries, explorers have been exploring vast areas, reaching the shores of America.

They walked like rivers in the warm and cold seasons, they called me for help. I paved impassable swamps, maintained a sled path, marked animal tracks for daring hunters in the forest thickets, kept forest game and fish stocks on the way.

It was very necessary at the time. So I stayed with the Ustyuzhans on their distant campaigns, and now I will not leave them. You can't leave your friends.

Merchants followed the daring discoverers of new lands. Unprecedented goods flocked to Ustyug from four sides, the trade and handicraft people grew richer.

But once, when the Ustyuzhan people went on a campaign, the rich Gleden was burned by the enemies, and the fortress walls were washed away by a terrible spring flood. The inhabitants scattered across the forests, part of them moved across the river, where the Ustyug settlement was set up, part of them founded the village of Morozovitsa, near the ashes of Gleden, where I lived for many years.

Hard times were in Russia. The Ustyuzhan people became proud of their wealth, they became arrogant, proud, they began to forget the faith of their fathers, who, so as not to perish in distant campaigns, erected so many Orthodox churches.

Once a storm broke out, and a dark cloud moved over the city. Among the lightning, the inhabitants saw gloomy stones flickering with fire, ready to fall and crush, burn all living things.

And then the proud and rich Ustyuzhan turned for help to the beggar and barefoot citizen Procopius. He was a native of the Varangian lands, a once strong warrior and merchant who gave all his wealth to the poor and had long wandered among the Ustyuzhan people, living only on their alms. He constantly prayed for the welfare of the Ustyuzhan people in the main temple of the city - the Assumption Cathedral. Procopius was simple and harmless, he helped people with advice, he did not offend anyone, he lived in peace with everyone, he predicted many events and knew how to avoid diseases. Citizens believed him, understood that through him the forgiveness of the powers of heaven was possible.

Together with him, they asked for forgiveness from God for the insults inflicted on each other, the Ustyuzhan people, they asked in council, day and night. The pleas weakened - the Cloud was approaching, intensified - the Cloud departed. To the joy of the people, Tucha finally moved away from Ustyug. Stones fell into20 kilometers on the Striga river.

Now these stones have a great, healing power, calling for patience and harmony, and such power that the mayor of Moscow took one of the stones and laid it in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior to keep peace in the Russian land.

Then the Ustyuzhans prayed, the city remained intact, they built a temple in honor of St. Righteous Procopius, who since then has been the defender of Ustyug the Great. And the stone on which Procopius was sitting is still in sight, so everyone can sit on it.

But floods are sent to the city from time to time, and they will end after the complete completion of all Russian strife. This time is approaching with every New Year.

But the time of the explorers has gone, about whom only the monuments of Ustyug the Great tell us.

And to remind me of this, of the unity of people in our Fatherland, the Ustyuzhans set me new house on my patrimony.

That is why I am here in Veliky Ustyug.

Come to the guys on new year holidays Grandfather and granddaughter began only at the end of the 19th century.

Many people think that Santa Claus has Russian origin, and his pedigree goes back to the image of a frosty old man from Russian folk tales. This is not entirely true, or rather, it is not at all true. Sometimes it is mistakenly believed that Santa Claus and Snow Maiden have been companions of festive New Year trees since ancient times, but this happened only at the end of the 19th century. In the legends of our ancestors, there was Frost - the sovereign of the winter cold. His image reflects the ideas of the ancient Slavs about Karachun - the god of the winter cold. Frost was presented as an old man vertically challenged with a long gray beard. From November to March, Moroz always has a lot of work. He runs through the woods and knocks with his staff, which causes crackling frosts. Frost sweeps through the streets and paints the window panes with patterns. It freezes the surface of lakes and rivers, stings on the nose, gives us a blush, amuses us with fluffy snowfalls. This image of the winter ruler develops artistically and is embodied in Russian fairy tales in the images of Ded Studenets, Ded Treskun, Moroz Ivanovich, Morozko. However, although these frosty grandfathers were not devoid of a sense of justice and compassion and sometimes gifted kind and hardworking people wandering into their possessions, they were not associated with the arrival of the New Year and the distribution of gifts was not their main concern.

The prototype of Santa Claus is a real person from Asia Minor

The prototype of modern Santa Claus is considered real person named Nicholas, who was born in the III century in Asia Minor (on the Mediterranean Sea) in a wealthy family and later became a bishop. Having inherited a considerable fortune, Nikolai helped the poor, the needy, the unfortunate, and especially took care of the children. After his death, Nikolai was canonized. In 1087, pirates stole his remains from the church in Demre, where he served as a bishop during his lifetime, and transported them to Italy. The parishioners of the church were so outraged that a big scandal broke out, which, as contemporaries would say, unwittingly fulfilled the function of advertising. Gradually, from a saint who was known and appreciated only in his homeland, Nicholas became an object of veneration for all Christians in Western Europe.

In Russia, Saint Nicholas, nicknamed Nicholas the Wonderworker or Nicholas of Mirliki, also won fame and worship, becoming one of the most revered saints. Seafarers and fishermen considered him their patron and protector, but this saint especially did a lot of good and miraculous things for children.

Nisse. Norway.

This is how the tradition of preparing stockings or shoes for gifts appeared.

There are many legends and legends about the mercy and intercession of Saint Nicholas for children. Western Europe... One such story tells that a certain poor father of a family could not find the means to feed his three daughters, and, in despair, was going to give them into the wrong hands. Having heard about this, Saint Nicholas, making his way into the house, thrust a bag of coins into the chimney. At that time, the old, worn-out shoes of the sisters were drying in the stove (according to another version, their stockings were drying by the fireplace). In the morning, the amazed girls took out their old shoes (stockings) filled with gold. Needless to say, there was no limit to their happiness and jubilation? Kind-hearted Christians with affection retell this story to many generations of their children and grandchildren, which led to the emergence of the custom: children put their boots on the threshold at night and hang their stockings by the bed, expecting to receive gifts from St. Nicholas in the morning. The tradition of giving gifts to children on St. Nicholas Day has existed in Europe since the 14th century, gradually this custom moved to Christmas night.

Uzbek Santa Claus with the Snow Maiden.

How Santa Claus appeared

In the 19th century, together with European emigrants, the image of St. Nicholas became known in America. The Dutch saint Nicholas, who was called Sinter Klaas in his homeland, reincarnated as the American Santa Claus. This was facilitated by Clement Clark Moore's book The Coming of St. Nicholas, which appeared in America in 1822. It tells about the Christmas meeting of a boy with Saint Nicholas, who lives in the cold North and drives a fast reindeer team with a sack of toys, giving them away to children.

The popularity of the good Christmas "old man in a red coat" among Americans has become quite high. V mid XIX century this Saint, or Père Noel, became fashionable even in Paris, and from France the image of Santa Claus penetrated into Russia, where western european culture was not alien to educated and wealthy people.

Russian Santa Claus

Naturally, it was not difficult for the Christmas grandfather to settle down in Russia, since similar image from ancient times was present in Slavic folklore, developed in Russian folk tales and fiction(poem by NA Nekrasov "Frost, Red Nose"). The external appearance of the Russian frosty grandfather absorbed both ancient Slavic ideas (an old man of short stature with a long gray beard and a staff in his hand), and the peculiarities of the Santa Claus costume (a red fur coat trimmed with white fur).

Russian Santa Claus.

Where did Frost get his granddaughter Snegurochka

Such is brief background appearances at the Christmas holidays, and later on the New Year trees of the Russian Father Frost. And it is all the more pleasant that only our Santa Claus has a granddaughter Snegurochka and she was born in Russia.

This cute companion began to accompany grandfather on Christmas trees only with late XIX century. She was born in 1873 thanks to the fairy tale play of the same name by A.N. Ostrovsky, who, in turn, artistically reworked one of the options folk tale about a girl sculpted out of snow and melted by the warm sun's rays. The plot of the play by A.N. Ostrovsky is significantly different from the folk tale. Here the Snow Maiden is the daughter of Frost. She comes to people from the forest, fascinated by their beautiful songs.

Lyric, beautiful story Many people liked about the Snow Maiden. Famous philanthropist Savva Ivanovich Mamontov wanted to put her on home scene Abramtsevo circle in Moscow. The premiere took place on January 6, 1882. Sketches of costumes for her were made by V.M. Vasnetsov, and three years later famous artist makes new sketches already for staging the opera of the same name by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, based on the play by N.A. Ostrovsky.

Two more were involved in creating the appearance of the Snow Maiden. famous artist... M.A. Vrubel in 1898 created the image of the Snow Maiden for a decorative panel in the house of A.V. Morozov. Later, in 1912, N.K. Roerich, who participated in the work on the production dramatic performance about the Snow Maiden in St. Petersburg.

The modern look of the Snow Maiden has absorbed certain features of the artistic versions of all three masters of the brush. She can come to the Christmas tree in a light-colored sundress with a hoop or a bandage on her head - just as V.M. saw her. Vasnetsov; or in white clothes, woven of snow and down, lined with ermine fur, as M.A. Vrubel; or in a fur coat that N.K. Roerich.

Yakut Santa Claus.

The story of a snow girl who came to people became more and more popular and "fit" very well into the programs of the city's Christmas trees. Gradually, the Snow Maiden becomes a constant character of the holidays as an assistant to Santa Claus. This is how a special Russian custom of celebrating Christmas was born with the participation of Santa Claus and his beautiful and intelligent granddaughter. Santa Claus and Snow Maiden entered social life countries as mandatory attributes of the coming New Year. And Snegurochka still helps her elderly grandfather to amuse the children with games, lead round dances at the Christmas tree, and give out gifts.

by the way

What is Santa Claus called in different countries

• Australia, USA - Santa Claus. An American grandfather wears a cap and a red jacket, smokes a pipe, travels through the air on reindeer, and enters the house through a pipe. Australian Santa Claus is the same, only in swimming trunks and on a scooter (you know, it's hot on January 1 in kangaroo country).
• Austria - Sylvester.
• Altai Territory - Sook-Taadak.
• England - Father Christmas.
• Belgium, Poland - Saint Nicholas. Legend has it that he left golden apples in a shoe in front of the fireplace to the family who took him in. It was a very long time ago, therefore Saint Nicholas is considered the very first Santa Claus. He rides a horse, dressed in a miter and white bishop's mantle. He is always accompanied by the servant-Moor Black Peter, who carries a bag with gifts for obedient children behind his back, and in his hands - rods for rascals.
• Greece, Cyprus - Saint Basil.
• Denmark - Uletomte, Ulemanden, Saint Nicholas.
• Western Slavs - Holy Mikalaus.
• Italy - Babo Nuttale. Besides him comes to obedient children Kind fairy Befana (La Befana) and gives gifts. The naughty ones get a coal from the evil sorceress Befana.
• Spain - Papa Noel.
• Kazakhstan - Ayaz-ata.
• Kalmykia - Zul.
• Cambodia - Ded Heat.
• Karelia - Pakkainen.
• China - Sho Hing, Sheng Dan Laoren.
• Colombia - Pope Pascual.
• Mongolia - Uvlin Uvgun, comes accompanied by Zazan Okhin (Snow Maiden) and Shina Zhila (New Year boy). New Year in Mongolia coincides with the holiday of cattle breeding, so Santa Claus wears the clothes of a cattle breeder.
• Netherlands - Sanderklaas.
• Norway - Nisse (small brownies). Nisse wear knitted caps and love tasty things.
• Russia - Ded Moroz, Ded Treskun, Morozko and Karachun in one person. He looks a little harsh. He wears a fur coat to the ground and a high hat, in his hands is an ice staff and a bag of gifts.
• Romania - Mosh Jerilă.
• Savoy - Saint Chaland
• Uzbekistan - Korbobo and Korgyz (Snow Maiden). To Uzbek villages in new year's eve riding on a donkey rides in a "snow grandfather" in a striped robe. This is Corbobo.
• Finland - Joulupukki. This name was not given to him in vain: "Youlu" means Christmas, and "pukki" - a goat. Many years ago, Santa Claus wore a goat skin and delivered gifts on a goat.
• France - Grandfather January, Père Noel. The French "Grandfather January" walks with a staff and wears a wide-brimmed hat.
• Czech Republic - Grandfather Mikulas.
• Sweden - Kris Kringle, Yulnissan, Yul Tomten (Yolotomten).
• Japan - Oji-san.

In Russia, not a single New Year can do without the Snow Maiden. This fabulous beauty is the embodiment of purity, youth, fun and makes winter holiday brighter and more joyful.

Since childhood, we are used to seeing her next to Santa Claus at all New Year's events, but few of us wondered where the Snegurochka's parents were. Let's try to figure it out!

• Who is the Snow Maiden and where did she come from?
• Who are the parents of the Snow Maiden and where are they now?
• Who is the author of the fairy tale about the Snow Maiden?
• Who is the Snow Maiden to Santa Claus?

Who is the Snow Maiden and where did she come from?

For a long time, folklore mentions three fairytale hero who are directly involved in the New Year's festivities - Santa Claus, Snowman and Snow Maiden. And if a good old man has his prototypes in many other countries of the world, then for a sweet blonde girl such a prototype does not exist either in mythology, or in the legends and tales of other peoples.

The Snow Maiden is a primordially Russian heritage, a kind of angel who can persuade even a shy child not to be shy in front of Santa Claus and tell a rhyme or sing a song.

There are several versions of the origin of the Snow Maiden. One of them is associated with the ancient Slavic funeral rite of Kostroma, a ritual character symbolizing fertility. According to another version, the origins of the appearance of the snow beauty go back to pagan beliefs about the mythological god of the waters and the night sky - Varuna, who in some legends is the prototype of Santa Claus.

It is believed that the Snow Maiden is the embodiment of ice-bound river waters, fraught with the onset of warm spring days.

Who are the parents of the Snow Maiden and where are they now?

Although in folklore The Snow Maiden was known even in pagan times, for the first time they started talking about her throughout the country in the second half of the 19th century, when a fairy tale about the Snow Maiden, or the Snow Maiden, fashioned from snow, was published in Russia. According to this story, a peasant Ivan and his wife Marya once lived in the same Russian village. Peace and love have always reigned in their house, but they lived together until old age, and did not manage to have children.

One winter a lot of snow fell in their village. Ivan and Marya went out into the yard and began to sculpt a snow doll. Suddenly, the Snow Maiden began to stir, as if alive, and married couple accepted this miracle as the blessing of God who sent them a child. The tale has a sad ending: while jumping over the fire with her friends, the snow girl melted.

However, over time, her image took root in the popular mind, and from the end of the 19th century it began to be actively used in scripts on New Year's trees. Since Ivan and Marya were ordinary people having grown old, they died, so the Snow Maiden is now an orphan.

Who is the author of the fairy tale about the Snow Maiden?

For the first time, the tale of the Snow Maiden and her old parents in 1869 was recorded in his works "Poetic Views of the Slavs on Nature" by the outstanding Russian collector of folklore Alexander Afanasyev.

The author also has a pagan version of the appearance of a winter heroine, according to which the Snow Maiden is a snow nymph. It is born at the beginning of winter from the snow, and with the arrival of spring days it evaporates and takes with it the desires of the villagers.

In 1873, the playwright Alexander Ostrovsky, impressed by Afanasyev's stories, created the play The Snow Maiden, in which he described the winter beauty as a pale-faced girl with blond hair, dressed in a fur coat with a fur trim, a hat and mittens. In this work, the author introduced the Snow Maiden as the 15-year-old daughter of Father Frost and Vesna-Krasnaya, who let her go to the people in the Berendeyevka settlement under the supervision of Bakula the bobyl.

As in Afanasyev's legend, in Ostrovsky's play the Snow Maiden melted, but for a different reason - from a bright sunbeam, which was brought to her by the vengeful and evil god of fertility Yarilo.

Who is the Snow Maiden to Santa Claus?

If you believe Ostrovsky's play, then Santa Claus is the father of the Snow Maiden, but in 1935, after the USSR was officially allowed to celebrate the New Year, they began to be mistaken for grandfather and granddaughter. In the pedagogical manuals for the New Year's activities, the young beauty acts as an assistant to the old man and his mediator in games with the kids at the Christmas tree.

Who came up with the idea of ​​calling Snegurochka the granddaughter of Frost is still unknown, but their first joint appearance took place in 1937 at the House of Unions in Moscow, and since then it just so happened that the good old man is the girl's grandfather.

Snegurochka's birthplace

Legend has it that the birthplace of the Snow Maiden is the Berendeevo kingdom in the Kostroma region. In the Yaroslavl province, which borders the Kostroma region, there is the village of Berendeevka. According to legend, this is where the Snow Maiden lives.

Without this character, the New Year in our country is unthinkable, although there has never been any Snow Maiden in Russian folklore. Moreover, there are no direct analogues of the Snow Maiden anywhere else in the world, with the exception of the post-Soviet countries.

Unlike the main New Year's wizard, the "granddaughter" does not drink, does not bring gifts, and often endures Santa Claus oversaturated with "magic").

But who, after all, is such a Snow Maiden and what secrets does this New Year's image hide?

The first and most amazing secret of the Snow Maiden lies in her absolute uniqueness. Of course, a modern Russian Snow Maiden may have Belarusian, Ukrainian and even Kazakh sisters, however, in fact, they are all continuation of the same image, which was finally formed along with the Soviet tradition of celebrating the New Year.

So, there are no analogues of the Snow Maiden in the world, except for the dubious image of the wife of Santa Claus.

Moreover, unlike Santa Claus, the Snow Maiden is not recorded in the Russian folk rite either.

Despite this, Snegurka has been with us for a long time - from the very moment when a fairy tale about a girl from the snow appeared in Russian folklore, who came to life.

Of course, at that time this girl had nothing to do with the New Year or gifts.

According to one version, the story of the Snow Maiden directly comes from the funeral rite of Kostroma.

The Slavic rite of the funeral of Kostroma was a farewell to winter and at the same time a request to the forces of nature for the fertility of the land. According to one version of the rite, a stuffed girl was drowned in the river, according to the second - they burned it at the stake, like a Pancake. In another version, Kostroma drank wine to death at a merry feast, which makes it very close to all lovers of New Year's drinking parties.One way or another, but Kostroma, the forerunner of the Snow Maiden, was dealt with quite deliberately. And the death of a girl made of snow while jumping over a fire is, if you will, a light version of the ritual story.If Kostroma, who was also the goddess of fertility, had, in the opinion of the Slavs, a rather contradictory character, then the Snow Maiden initially looked like a kind and naive girl.

The Russian collector of folklore Alexander Afanasyev translated the Snow Maiden from folklore into literary characters, who in 1867 placed fairy tales about the Snow Maiden in the second volume of his research "Poetic views of the Slavs on nature."

In 1873, the playwright Alexander Ostrovsky, impressed by Afanasyev's work, wrote the play The Snow Maiden. In this story, the Snow Maiden appears in the image we are familiar with today - a pale blonde in blue and white winter clothes. It is here that the Snow Maiden first encounters Santa Claus, who turns out to be her ... dad. And the mother is Vesna-Krasna, who could not resist the male charisma of the gray-bearded sorcerer. However, Ostrovsky's story of Snegurochka is sad: left in people's care, she becomes a victim of misunderstanding and jumping over the fire.

It is interesting that Ostrovsky's play was received very coldly, and it is not known what career Snegurochka would have had if the composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov had not joined the case in 1882. His opera based on the play "The Snow Maiden" was a wild success, after which the ice girl began to move towards the status of the second New Year's face.

Even in the pre-revolutionary period, Russian teachers began to use the image of the Snow Maiden in Christmas tree scenarios. True, as a rule, we are talking about staging certain scenes from Ostrovsky's play with her participation. Also, figures of the Snow Maiden begin to hang on the Christmas tree as a decoration.

And yet, at that time, the Snow Maiden remained an exclusively minor character. The decisive transformation came in 1935, when the New Year was celebrated at the official level in the Soviet Union.

Now the Snow Maiden has become the "right hand" of Santa Claus, a mediator in communication between him and the children at matinees. At the same time, for an unclear reason, their related status changed. If Ostrovsky's Snow Maiden was the daughter of Santa Claus, then in the new version she appeared as his granddaughter.

At the celebration of the New Year, 1937, Santa Claus and Snegurochka first appeared together at a Christmas tree in the Moscow House of Unions. It is interesting that then Snegurochka appeared in the form of a little girl and only after a while “grew up.” It is quite possible that this change in texture was caused exclusively by practical considerations - after all, students of theater schools and novice theater artists coped with the roles of hostesses of children's matinees much better than primary school students.

" In 1935, Pavel Postyshev, a candidate member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, appeared in the newspaper Pravda with an article in which he actually rehabilitated the New Year and called for happy New Year's holidays for children.On December 30, 1935, in Kharkov, where Postyshev had recently worked as the first secretary of the regional party committee, the first New Year's carnival ball in the USSR was held. About 1200 schoolchildren took part in it.

Postyshev's initiative was recognized as timely, and 11 months later the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions secretariat decided: "Since the celebration of the New Year has become and is a national holiday and is celebrated by the working people, this holiday must be legalized."

From that moment on, both children's and adult New Year's celebrations received a permanent residence permit in the Land of the Soviets.

On January 1, 1937, a carnival ball of excellent students was held at the Moscow House of Unions, which opened the tradition of the country's main Christmas tree. Interestingly, even on the highest level the term "the main tree of the country" was rather arbitrary. When Lazar Kaganovich asked Joseph Stalin where to put the country's main Christmas tree, the leader of the peoples replied:

We have all the main trees!

Nevertheless, the "Kremlin Christmas tree" unofficially had the most high status... It should be noted that initially, as mentioned above, it was held in the House of Unions, located at the current building of the State Duma.

Even in war time despite all the difficulties, children New Year's parties were carried out. And in 1945 a festive scale Christmas tree in the House of Unions symbolized the approach of Victory. On the main staircase, young guests were greeted by mummers who played on musical instruments... The guys especially liked the hare orchestra. "Hares" played carrots instead of pipes. In the lobby there were amusement rides: a swing, a Ferris wheel, a carousel. Puppet jazz played in front of the "magic room" under the direction of conductor Gutalin Gutalinovich. December 23, 1947, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR declared January 1 "a holiday and a non-working day." Thus, the New Year in the USSR received not only recognition, but also an official status.The main Christmas tree of the country was held in the House of Unions until 1954, when for the first time the New Year children's party was admitted directly to the Kremlin, or rather, to the St. George Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace.In 1961, with the opening Kremlin Palace Congresses, the main Christmas tree of the country migrated there.The Kremlin Christmas tree was the most, as they say, "status" - in the days of winter new year holidays the show was shown on television.The best students of Moscow and other cities of the country were awarded with tickets to the Kremlin Christmas tree. It was believed that at the Kremlin Christmas tree there were not only the best performances, but also the best gifts.

Good traditions make this world a better place. And the main Christmas tree of the country over the decades has warmed the hearts of hundreds of thousands of boys and girls with the light of its New Year's lights. "