Sinterklaas ( Dutch Pronunciation: [s? nt? r'kla: s] ) or Sint-Nicolaas ( Dutch Pronunciation: [s? nt 'nikola : s] Ã, ( listen ) ) is a legendary figure based on Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of children. Other names for the image include De Sint ("The Saint"), De Goede Sint ("Good Saint"), and De Goedheiligman ("Good Saints") in Dutch; Saint Nicolas in French; Sinteklaas in West Frisian; Sinterklaos in Limburg; and Kleeschen and Zinniklos in Luxembourg.
The Sinterklaas party celebrates the day of Saint Nicholas' name on December 6th. The feast is celebrated annually with a prize on St Nicholas Night (5 December) in the north of the Netherlands and on the morning of December 6, Santa Nicholas Day, in the southern provinces of Holland, as well as Belgium, Luxembourg and northern France (French Flanders, Lorraine and Artois ). This tradition is also celebrated in the former territory of the Dutch Empire, including CuraÃÆ'§ao and Suriname.
Sinterklaas is the main source of the popular Santa Claus Christmas icon.
Video Sinterklaas
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Sinterklaas
Sinterklaas is based on the historical figure of Saint Nicholas (270-343), a Greek bishop of Myra in present-day Turkey. She is portrayed as an old, majestic and serious man with long white hair and long beard. She wears a long red robe or chasuble on a traditional white alb and sometimes a red stole, don red partners and ruby ​​rings, and holds a golden crosier, a long ceremonial shepherd staff with beautiful curved tops. He traditionally rode a white horse. In Holland, the horse is called Amerigo , and in Belgium, its name is Zwarte Piet
Sinterklaas is assisted by many naughty maids with black faces and colorful Moorish dresses. These friends are called Zwarte Piet ("Black Pete"). Zwarte Piet first appeared in the print media as an anonymous minister of Saint Nicholas at Sint-Nikolaas en zijn knecht ("St. Nicholas and his Servant/Apprentice"), published in 1850 by the teacher school Amsterdam Jan Schenkman; However, the tradition appears to date back at least as far back as early as the 19th century.
Zwarte Piet's colorful dress is based on a nineteenth-century aristocracy, with a ruff (lace collar) and a feathered hat. She is usually depicted carrying a bag containing candy for the kids. The Zwarte Pieten tossed their candy, a tradition supposedly derived from the story of Saint Nicholas that saved three young girls from prostitution by throwing gold coins through their windows at night to pay for their dowry.
Traditionally, he will also carry a birch stem (Dutch: roe ), a broom sweep made of willow branches, used to beat naughty children. Some of the older Sinterklaas songs mention that naughty children were put into Zwarte Piet's purse and brought back to Spain. Part of this legend refers to the times when the Moors invaded the coasts of Europe, and as far as Iceland, to kidnap the local people into slavery. This quality can be found in other Saint Nicholas friends like Krampus and PÃÆ'¨re Fouettard. In the modern version of the Sinterklaas celebration, however, Zwarte Piet no longer carries the roe and the children are no longer told that they will be brought back to Spain in Zwarte Piet's purse if they have been naughty.
Over the years, many stories have been added, and Zwarte Piet has grown from a rather unintelligent assistant to a valuable assistant to a dazed saint. In the modern adaptation for television, Sinterklaas has developed Zwarte Piet for every function, such as Piet's head ( Hoofdpiet ), Piet navigation ( Wegwijspiet ) to navigate steamboat from Spanish to Dutch, Piet gift-wrapping ( Pakjespiet ) to wrap all the presents, and Piet acrobatics to climb roofs and chimneys.
Traditionally Zwarte Piet's face is said to be black because he is a Moor from Spain. Today, some people would rather say that his face is blackened with soot because he has to climb through a chimney to reward Sinterklaas.
The figure of Zwarte Piet is considered by some to be racist. Therefore, the traditions surrounding the Sinterklaas holiday have been the subject of numerous editorials, debates, documentaries, protests and even violent clashes at festivals. Several major cities and television channels now feature only the characters of Zwarte Piet with some marks on the face instead of solid black, called roetveegpieten or schoorsteenpieten ("chimney Petes" ). Nonetheless, both Zwarte Piet and holidays remain popular in the Netherlands. In the 2013 survey, 92% of the Dutch public did not regard Zwarte Piet as racist or relate it to slavery, and 91% opposed to changing the appearance of the characters.
Maps Sinterklaas
Feast
Arrival from Spain
The celebration traditionally begins every year in mid-November (first Saturday after November 11), when Sinterklaas "arrives" by a steamboat in a designated seaside town, supposedly of Spanish origin. In the Netherlands this happens at different ports every year, whereas in Belgium it always happens in the city of Antwerp. Steamship anchor, then Sinterklaas down and parade through the streets of his horse, greeted by the children cheering and singing traditional songs of Sinterklaas. His assistants Zwarte Piet threw candy and small, round, gingerbread cookies, whether it be
After this national arrival, every other city celebrates itself kecht van Sinterklaas (the arrival of Sinterklaas). Local arrivals usually occur later on the same Saturday with a national arrival, the following Sunday (the day after he arrives in the Netherlands or Belgium), or one week after the national arrival. In places where boats can not reach, Sinterklaas arrives by train, horse, horse-drawn carriage or even a fire truck.
Sinterklaas is said to have originated from Spain, probably because in 1087, half of the relics of Saint Nicholas were transported to the Italian city of Bari, which later formed part of the Kingdom of the Kingdom of Spain. Others suggest that mandarin oranges, traditional gifts attributed to St. Nicholas, lead to the misconception that he must have come from Spain. This theory is supported by the Dutch poetry documented in 1810 in New York and comes with English translations:
The text presented here comes from a pamphlet released by John Pintard in New York in 1810. It is the earliest source mentioning Spain in connection with Sinterklaas . Pintard wants St. Nicholas became the patron saint of New York and hopes to build on the tradition of Sinterklaas . Apparently he got help from the Dutch community in New York, who gave him the original Dutch poem Sinterklaas . Actually, the poem does not state that Sinterklaas came from Spain, but he had to go to Spain to pick up oranges and pomegranates. So the relationship between Sinterklaas and Spain passes oranges, a treat that is greatly appreciated in the 19th century. Then the connection with oranges disappears, and Spain becomes his home. Period
leading to Saint Nicholas' Eve
In the weeks between his arrival and December 5, Sinterklaas also visited schools, hospitals, and shopping centers. He is said to ride a gray white horse on the roof at night, giving gifts through the chimney to well behaved children. Traditionally, rogue children risk being picked up by Black Pete, who carries bags of hemp and wille cane for that purpose.
Before bedtime, children put their shoes beside the chimney fireplace from the stove or coal fired fireplace (or in modern times close to the central heating radiator). They left their shoes with carrots or some straw in them and a bowl of water nearby "for the horse Sinterklaas", and the children sang Sinterklaas songs. The next day they find candy or a small gift in their shoes.
Sinterklaas Typical traditional treats include mandarin orange, Saint Nicholas Night and St. Nicholas Day
In the Netherlands, Santa Nicholas' Eve, December 5, becomes a prime opportunity to give gifts during the winter holiday season. The night is called Sinterklaasavond ("Sinterklaas evening") or Pakjesavond ("night gift", or literally "night pack").
On the night of December 5, the main prize will somehow arrive, or a note will be "discovered" explaining where in the gift house is hidden by Zwarte Piet who leaves the gunny sack with them. Sometimes the neighbors will knock on the door (pretending to be Piet Zwarte) and leave the sack outside so the children can take; this varies per family. When the prize arrives, the living room is decorated with them, just like on Christmas Day in English-speaking countries. On December 6, Sinterklaas departed unceremoniously, and all the celebrations ended.
In South Holland and Belgium, most children have to wait until the morning of December 6 to receive their prizes, and Sinterklaas is seen as a party almost exclusively for children. These shoes are filled with poems or wish lists for Sinterklaas and carrots, straw or sugar cubes for horses on the fifth night and in Belgium often a bottle of beer for Zwarte Piet and a cup of coffee for Sinterklaas is placed next to them. Also in some areas, when it is time for children to let go of their pacifiers, they put them into their shoes ("secured by Sinterklaas") and replaced with chocolate the next day.
Currently it is often creatively camouflaged by packaged in a funny, unusual or personalized way. This is called surprise (from French).
Poems from Sinterklaas usually accompany the prize, with a personal message to the recipient. Usually this is a funny poem that often tempts the recipient because of a famous bad habit or lack of other characters.
In recent years, influenced by the North American media and Anglosaxian Christmas traditions, when children reach an age where they are told "the great secret of Santa Claus", some people turn to Christmas Eve or Christmas Day to give now. Older children in Dutch families where children are too old to believe in Santa Claus anymore, also often celebrate Christmas with gifts instead of pakjesavond . Instead of gifts like those brought by Sinterklaas, family members usually draw names for events that are comparable to Secret Santa. Due to the popularity of his older "cousin", Sinterklaas, Santa Claus is not commonly seen in the Netherlands and Belgium.
History
Pre-Christian Europe
HÃÆ'Ã… © lÃÆ'¨ne Adeline Guerber and others have drawn parallels between Sinterklaas and his aides and the Wild Hunts of Wodan or Odin, the main god among the Germans, worshiped in Northern Europe and the West before. for Christianization. Riding a white horse Sleipnir he flew in the air as Wild Hunt leader, always accompanied by two black crows, Huginn and Muninn. The maids would listen, like Zwarte Piet, in the chimney - which was only a hole in the roof at that time - to tell Wodan about the bad and good behavior of humans. Because of its speculative character, however, this older "Germanic" theory has little support among contemporary scholars, although it continues to be popular in non-scientific sources. At the same time, it is clear that the tradition of Saint Nicholas contains a number of elements that are not of ecclesiastical origin.
Since some elements of the celebration of Sinterklaas are not related to Christianity, there is a theory of the origin of pagans from various holiday habits originating from areas where the Germanic people are Christianized and retained elements of their indigenous tradition, survived life. in various forms to be the modern depiction of Sinterklaas . The non-Christian elements in Sinterklaas are practically derived from pagan religions:
- Santa Claus drove his white horse's roof of various names; Odin drove the sky with his gray horse, Sleipnir.
- Santa Claus gave brown letters to children, as Odin gave the letters to humans.
- Santa Claus brings a staff member and has a mischievous assistant with a black face, who listens in the chimney to find out if the children are bad or good and report to Sinterklaas; Odin has his black spears and crows, Huginn and Muninn, who report what happened in the world to Odin.
Medieval
The Sinterklaasfeest appeared during the Middle Ages. The party is an opportunity to help the poor, by putting money in their shoes (which evolved into gifts in children's shoes) and wild parties, similar to Carnival, which often leads to an "upside down" costume that overturns everyday roles, and bulk mass drunks.
In the early tradition, students chose one of their classmates as "bishops" on St. Nicholas, who will rule until December 28 (Days Innocents), and they sometimes act out of the events of the life of the bishop. As the festival moved into the city streets, it became more lively.
the 16th and 17th centuries
During the Reformation in 16th and 17th century Europe, Protestant reformers such as Martin Luther converted Saint gifts to Christ Child or Christkindl and moved dates to present gifts from December 6 to Christmas Eve. Some Protestant municipalities and clerics forbade the celebration of Saint Nicholas, because the Protestants wanted to abolish the worship of saints and sacred worship, while maintaining a mid-life gift party.
After the successful uprising of the most Protestant northern provinces in the Low Countries against the rule of Roman Catholic King Philip II of Spain, new Calvinist bupatis, priests and clerics were barred from celebrating Santa Nicholas. The newly independent Dutch Republic formally became a Protestant state and abolished public Catholic celebrations. Nevertheless, the feast of Saint Nicholas was never completely lost in the Netherlands. In Amsterdam, where the general celebrations of Saint Nicholas are so popular, major events such as street markets and exhibitions are kept alive with people emulating Nicholas wearing red clothing instead of taboos of bishops and partners. The Dutch government finally tolerated the celebration of the personal family of Saint Nicholas Day, as seen in Jan Steen's The Feast of Saint Nicholas.
19th century
In the nineteenth century, the saints emerged from hiding and the party became more secular at the same time. The modern tradition of Sinterklaas as a children's party is likely confirmed by the children's book Sint-Nicolaas en zijn knecht ('St. Nicholas and his assistant'), written in 1850 by teacher Jan Schenkman (1806-1863). Some say he introduced pictures of Sinterklaas delivering chimney gifts, riding on the roofs of houses with gray horses, and arriving from Spain by steamboat, which at the time was an exciting modern invention. Perhaps built on the fact that Saint Nicholas historically was the patron saint of sailors (many churches dedicated to him had been built near the harbor), Schenkman could have been inspired by Spanish customs and ideas about saints when he described him arriving through water in his book. Schenkman introduced the song Zie ginds komt de stoomboot ("Look over there, steamboat arrived"), which is still popular in the Netherlands.
In the Schenkman version, the medieval figures of the artificial devil, later transformed into Oriental or Moorish aides, are described for the first time as black Africans and are called Zwarte Piet (Black Peter).
World War II
During the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940-1945) many traditional verses of Sinterklaas were rewritten to reflect recent events. Royal Air Force (RAF) is often celebrated. In 1941, for example, the RAF dropped a candy box over occupied Holland. One classic poem that turns into contemporary is as follows:
This is a variation of one of Sinterklaas' most famous traditional sinter, with "RAF" replacing "Sinterklaas" in the first row (two expressions having the same characteristics at first and second, and in the third and fourth rows). The Dutch word
Initially Sinterklaas was only accompanied by one (or sometimes two) Zwarte Pieten , but after the liberation of the Netherlands, the Canadian troops organized the Sinterklaas party with many of Zwarte Pieten, and since it has become a habit, every Piet usually has his own duties.
Sinterklaas in the former Dutch colony
In CuraÃÆ'§ao, the Dutch-style Sinterklaas event is being held to this day. The character of Zwarte Piet has their faces painted all the colors of the rainbow. Prime Minister Ivar Asjes has spoken negatively about the tradition. In 2011, the government of Gerrit Schotte threatened to withdraw grants for Dutch tradition after activist CuraÃÆ'§aoan Quinsy Gario was arrested, when he protested in Dordrecht against the use of Zwarte Piet.
Dutch-style Sinterklaas events are also held in Suriname to this day. In 2011, opposition lawmakers and former president Ronald Venetiaan called for an official ban on Sinterklaas because he regarded Zwarte Piet as a racist element.
In 1970, the drama of Suriname Eugène Drenthe envisioned the character of Gudu Ppa ("The Father of Wealth" in Sranantongo) as a substitute for post-colonial Sinterklaas. Instead of a white man, Gudu Ppa is black. His aide represents a different Suriname ethnic group, replacing Zwarte Piet. December 5 was officially renamed to Kinderdag ("Children's Day") in Suriname. Although promoted by the military regime in the eighties, Gudu Ppa never really understood it.
But was Irving the first to revive the Dutch folklore about Sinterklaas? In New York, two years earlier John Pintard published a pamphlet with illustrations of Alexander Anderson in which he called for the making of Saint Nicholas as patron of Saint New York and initiated the Sinterklaas tradition. He was apparently assisted by the Dutch because in his pamphlet he incorporated old Dutch Sinterklaas poems with English translations. In Dutch poetry, Saint Nicholas is referred to as 'Sancta Claus'. Ultimately, his initiative helped Sinterklaas to appear as Santa Claus in the celebration of Christmas, returning - free of dignity and episcopal ties - via England and then Germany to Europe again.
The Saint Nicholas Society of New York celebrates the feast on December 6th to the present day. The town of Rhinebeck in Dutchess County, New York, founded by Dutch and German immigrants, has an annual Sinterklaas celebration. These include Sinterklaas' crossing the Hudson River and then a parade to the city center.
During the Reformation in seventeenth-century Europe, many Protestants converted gift carriers from Sinterklaas to Christ Child or Christkindl (broken in English to Kris Kringle). Similarly, the gift-giving date changes from 5 or 6 December to Christmas Eve.
src: www.tijdmetkinderen.nl
Sinterklaas in fiction
In a scene on Miracle on 34th Street , a Dutch girl confessed Kris Kringle as Sinterklaas. They spoke in Dutch and sang Sinterklaas's song as he sat on his lap, admiring Susan Walker, who was then convinced that he was the real Santa Claus.
Sinterklaas has been the subject of a number of Dutch novels, films and television series, primarily intended for children. Sinterklaas themed films include Winky Horse (2005) and the sequel Where Is Winky's Horse? (2007).
Sinterklaas-themed films intended for adults including drama Makkers uw Wild Geraas (1960), who won the Silver Bear award at the 11th Berlin International Film Festival; the romantic comedy Alles is Liefde (2007) and the remake of Zot van A. Belgianya (2010); and a horror film directed by Dick Maas Sint (2010).
De Club van Sinterklaas is a Sinterklaas themed soap opera intended for children. The popular television series has been running since 1999 and has had a number of spin-off series. Since 2001, Sinterklaas's "news" program aimed at children is broadcasted daily on Dutch television during the holiday season, Sinterklaasjournaal . The Dutch-Belgian Nickelodeon Series Slot Marsepeinstein has been airing since 2009.
Most of the first half of A War of Gifts by Orson Scott Card is about the Sinterklaas tradition, including chapter 4 "Sinterklaas Eve" and 5 "Sinterklaas Day".
In the fourth episode of The Librarians ("And Santa's Midnight Ride") series, Santa (Bruce Campbell) is an "eternal avatar" that has existed in various incarnations throughout history. After experiencing the mistletoe toxicity, he briefly transforms into Sinterklaas, using his magic to make toys appear in people's shoes, before regaining control over his current incarnations.
Sinterklaas also appeared in Sesamstraat , the Dutch version Sesame Street .
src: i.ytimg.com
Related holiday figures
Other holiday figures based on Saint Nicholas are celebrated in parts of Germany and Austria ( Sankt Nikolaus ); Hungary ( MikulÃÆ'¡s ); Switzerland ( Samichlaus ); Italy ( San Nicola in Bari, South Tyrol, Alpine municipality, and many others); parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia ( Sveti Nikola ); Slovenian ( Sveti Nikolaj or Sveti Miklav? ); Greek ( Hagios Nikolaos ); Romanian ( Mo? Nicolae ); Albania ( ShÃÆ'Â Kol Kolli , Nikolli ), among others. See more: Saint Nicholas Day.
![Sinterklaas is comin' to town! â€]()
src: esnutrechtblog.files.wordpress.com
See also
- A friend of St. Nicholas
- Low Country Folklore
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Note
src: groenvandaag.nl
External links
- Media related to Sinterklaas on Wikimedia Commons
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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