Fancy Tales Related to Christmas

A lot of what is widely regarded as true about Christmas or held as a

tradition cannot or has not been verified, or, has changed through the years.

Even Christmas Day itself, Dec. 25, has been questioned about whether that is

the exact day on which Jesus was born. Skeptics have asked why would shepherds

be out in the cold watching their flocks by night during the winter. Those

skeptics have put forward the thought that Jesus may really have been born in

the spring instead. It is therefore little wonder that there are many fancy

stories and tales that are told about Christmas and the Christmas season.

The most common fancy tale that everyone tells, particularly to children,

is about Santa Claus, also called St. Nicholas. But even if it were accepted

that Santa Claus existed, where does he live and how is he able to get to all

the houses of good boys and girls on Christmas Eve?

In the United States, Santa Claus is said to have two homes. There is a

home in Torrington, Connecticut, which is used as a distribution point for Santa

and his many helpers, who are elves, to hand out gifts. And then, a second home

is said to be located in Wilmington, New York, and that is where Santa Claus and

his delivery reindeer crew are located.

But Santa can be visited in Cyberspace at anytime and what about the

widely held belief that Santa Claus really lives in a village at the North Pole?

The people of Finland also claim that their country is the official

residence of Santa Claus. That's because in Finland, you can actually visit a

village any time during the year and see Santa's workshop and observe Santa and

his elves hard at work as they prepare for their very important Christmas gift

delivery job on Christmas Eve. The only day when Santa's workshop is closed to

visitors is of course, on Christmas Eve.

Maybe a very smart visitor could visit Santa's workshop on the day before

Christmas Eve to see if there are any clues to how Santa and his reindeers plan

to make their trip the next day. That's because as the tale goes, in Finland

Santa Claus and his reindeers do not reach their destinations around the globe

by flying.

Finland welcomes visitors to Santa's workshop but there is nothing said

about whether visitors actually have any chance of having a word with the man

himself. While the chances of doing so are believed to be non-existent, among

the questions that inquiring minds could ask Santa is whether Rudolph is the son

of Donner (and to confirm the spelling - Donner or Donder) or whether Santa

spotted him in a different reindeer village one foggy Christmas Eve when he had

already started on his Christmas toy-delivery mission.

If mere mortals got a chance to question Santa, then he also would likely have

some questions for us humans. He may want to know whose idea was it to have

Christmas trees and for the gifts to be placed under them.

The tradition of Christmas tree as it exists today comes from Germany by

way of immigrants. But it isn't clear how the tradition really gained a foothold

in Germany. One story is that Christians in Germany during the 16th century

started to bring trees that were decorated into their homes. Some of those

Christians would build pyramids for Christmas. The pyramids were made of wood

and would be decorated with evergreens and candles if wood was in short supply.

It is however Martin Luther, a Protestant reformer, who is said to have

been the first to add lighted candles as decoration to a tree based on his

inspiration from the brilliant light of twinkling stars that shone through

evergreen trees as he walked home one winter evening.

As the legend goes, Martin Luther placed a tree in a primary room of his

house and placed wires with small, lighted candles around the branches of the

tree. And that is how, as the tale goes, the Christmas tree as known today, was