|
Belsnickel (also Belschnickel, Belznickle, Belznickel, Pelznikel, Pelznickel, from ''pelzen'' (or ''belzen'', German for to wallop or to drub〔(Schunk, Gunther. "Pelzmärtel und Herrscheklaus" )〕) and ''Nickel'' being a hypocorism of the given name ''Nikolaus'') is a crotchety, fur-clad Christmas gift-bringer figure in the folklore of the Palatinate region of southwestern Germany along the Rhine, the Saarland, and the Odenwald area of Baden-Württemberg. The figure is also preserved in Pennsylvania Dutch communities.〔("Belsnickel", Indobase )〕 ==Cultural perspective== Belsnickle is related to other companions of Saint Nicholas in the folklore of German-speaking Europe. He may have been based on another, older, German myth, Knecht Ruprecht, a servant of Saint Nicholas, and a character from northern Germany.〔(Toland, Bill. "Meet Belsnickel, the Counter Claus", ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', November 25, 2012 )〕 Unlike those figures, Belsnickel does not accompany Saint Nicholas but instead visits alone〔 and combines both the threatening and the benign aspects which in other traditions are divided between the Saint Nicholas and the companion figure. Belsnickel is a man wearing furs and sometimes a mask with a long tongue. He is typically very ragged and disheveled. He wears torn, tattered, and dirty clothes, and he carries a switch in his hand with which to beat naughty children, but also pocketsful of cakes, candies, and nuts for good children. In Lower Austria he is sometimes followed by a creature, called Krampus, covered with bells and dragging chains.〔(Reichmann, Ruth. "Belsnickel in Indiana", ''Indiana German Heritage Society Newsletter'', Vol. 18, No. 1, winter 2002-3 )〕 Krampus is a wild, horned figure akin to the devil. His name translates to "claw". A first-hand 19th-century account of the "Beltznickle" tradition in Allegany County, Maryland, can be found in ''Brown's Miscellaneous Writings'', a collection of essays by Jacob Brown (born 1824). Writing of a period around 1830, Brown says, "we did not hear of" Santa Claus. Instead, the tradition called for a visit by a different character altogether: 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Belsnickel」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|