OK, not exactly a matter of serious concern, not a pressing issue in today's troubled world, but just something that annoys me a bit.
Over the past weekend I've heard this guy alternately called...
The Big Guy - The Man - The Jolly Old Elf Himself.
Let me first say that I love the idea of a benevolent and giving being who manages to cover the entire planet in under a day with gifts for good little girls and boys. It would delight me no end if such a being existed. It's the neatest thing most of us can imagine, which must explain our never ending fascination with Santa.
Then we have the following...
Saint Nicholas - Father Christmas - Kris Kringle
Whatever you call him, he flies through the sky in a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer. Eight TINY reindeer.
TINY is the point here. Clement Moore wrote, "...a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer."
He then wrote, "With a little old driver, so lively and quick,I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick."
Santa Claus, the Santa we as Americans know, the Santa given us by Clement Moore in his wonderful poem mentioned in another post, is an elf.
If that's not enough, Moore again tells us, "He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf..."
Is "elf" PC? Yes, I do believe so, because it's not meant to define or describe a being of human origin.
Instead, and this is from Teutonic mythology, the elf was originally thought to be a minor strain of nature, often males and females of great beauty. They were believed to live in deep forests and underground places, like caves. They often lived in wells and springs. For whatever reason, we sent one to The North Pole, whether magnetic or geographic or terrestrial North Pole.
Possessing magical power, the elf was believed very real for a long, long time.
But an elf is an elf, and elf is small, diminuitive, stature deprived, not big. How do you suppose his sliding down a chimney was justified? Sheesh.
I once won a cash bet based on Santa being an elf. No fewer than three people thought I was drinking my own bathwater in insisting he was an elf, a little being. I actually went and got a book with Moore's poem and shoved it in their, well, shoved it in their faces and said, "Look, look right here, Santa Claus is an elf, E-L-F. Get it?"
Is there a point here? Does there have to be? It's a couple days before Thanksgiving, so the time seemed right to unload my unhealthy feelings about Santa being inaccurately described. Doing so a few days before The Fourth of July wouldn't work as well. It's all about timing.
I feel better already.
Now, stuff and tamp that in your pipe and smoke it, which in itself is another matter; Santa smokes. Discuss as you will.
