Who is Olentzero?

On the eve of Christmas, the smallest residents of Spain are looking forward to the time when the kind grandfather-wizard will come to visit them and leave the most cherished gifts under the tree, because every holiday has its own favorite heroes who create and symbolize it. This wonderful character has many names; in almost every country he is called differently: Santa Claus, Father Frost, Papa Noel, etc. However, the peculiarity of Spain is the fact that children here are gifted with the attention of several New Year's heroes: Papa Noel brings gifts for Christmas, the Three Wise Men in honor of the Feast of the Three Kings, Cagatio delighting children in Catalonia, Apalpador in Galicia, and Olentzero in the Basque Country.

Olentzero is the national hero of the Basque Country, who is depicted as a good-natured coal miner or a poor village old man with a pipe in his mouth, dressed in local traditional homespun clothing: a black beret, trousers, a shirt and bast shoes with ties. He always has a flask of good Spanish wine with him so that he can stay warm on long nights when he has to deliver gifts. According to tradition, this good-natured black-bearded fat man, stained with soot, comes down from the mountains on December 24 to notify residents of the birth of the baby Jesus Christ. In addition, this hero is a harbinger winter solstice. He usually becomes the main character of all festive Christmas festivities, bringing gifts to children in the Basque Country and Navarre.

According to legend, one good fairy found a baby in the forest, named him Olentzero and endowed him with special powers of goodness, and then gave him to an elderly childless couple who lived in the forest. He grew up, matured and became a coal miner, helped his father in everything, and also loved to carve toys from wood. When his parents died, Olentzero was left to live alone in the forest. When he felt really sad, the kind coal miner collected all the toys he made in a bag, loaded them onto a donkey and went to the city to distribute the crafts to orphans. The little residents of the city were always very happy to receive a treasured gift from Olentzero, and he was pleased that he was able to bring joy to the children. He began to visit children more and more often, give them gifts and tell them interesting stories and fairy tales that I heard from my father as a child. But one fine day a misfortune happened: during a severe thunderstorm that lasted for several days, the house where the orphans lived caught fire. Olentzero, who came down from the mountain, saw this terrible sight - children crying, screaming and calling for help, and immediately rushed to save them. He managed to save several children and take them out of the burning house. When he once again ran inside to pick up another orphan, a wooden beam collapsed on him. Olentzero died, and the local residents were simply horrified by what happened. But at that moment the magic fairy appeared again and gave him a second, eternal life, so that he could continue making toys and giving them to children. Since then, every winter, on December 24, Olentzero walks around the cities and gives gifts to the little ones, and they sing songs to him. And this is his main difference from the classic Spanish Santa Claus, Papa Noel, who comes with cherished gifts for the New Year.

There is another legend that tells about the appearance of Olentzero: long ago he was considered a representative of the ancestors of modern Basques and was part of the ancient tribe of Basque giants “Gentilaki”, who were the first to see the birth of Christ. They watched the glowing clouds, but they did not know what was happening, and besides, they could not look at this magical glow for a long time. Only one blind old man managed to direct his gaze towards the glow, and it was he who predicted the birth of Christ, and Olentzero told all other people about this great event.

One of the Christmas traditions is associated with the Olentzero character - the burning of the Christmas log, the ashes of which are kept throughout the year as a symbol of purification and new life. According to legend, the charcoal miner Olentzero came down from the mountains at midnight on December 24 at the very moment when this log was being burned, in order to warm up together by the festive fire.

By the way, Olentzero was not always a positive hero. Many years ago, locals believed that he came down the pipe with a sickle to punish children who misbehaved. By the way, the same fate could befall adults who did not keep their pipes clean. But over time, the image of this Christmas hero changed, and he began to be associated with St. Nicholas, who brought gifts to children on December 6. Thus, he retrained as a good wizard with gifts. By the way, he leaves his gifts not under the tree or in Christmas boots hanging from the fireplace, but on window sills and balconies.

Perhaps nothing unites people more than common joy. And the New Year is a holiday that the entire globe has been celebrating for thousands of years. However, not everyone has fun on the night of December 31 to January 1. And, even more so, each country has its own traditions of celebration.

The main character of the New Year is everyone’s favorite magical giver - Father Frost, or Santa Claus, or St. Nicholas, or Father Christmas, or... However, he has as many names as there are New Year’s customs among different nations. He can be accompanied by his granddaughter Snegurochka or assistants - elves and gnomes.

I wonder what they call Santa Claus in Spain? And in Spain, gifts are given not by Santa Claus, but by a whole army of wizards - the Magi, Papa Noel, Olentzero and many others.

The main holiday for Spanish children is not Christmas or even New Year, but the Day of the Magi, or the Three Kings (Los Reyes Magos), as they are called in Spain.

According to biblical legend, the wise men from the East were the first to learn about the birth of Jesus Christ and hastened to present him with their gifts. This is celebrated beautiful holiday 6th January.

The night before, grandiose carnival processions are held, which end with a speech by the Magi. Children wait with bated breath for what the wizard kings will say. Their answer is always the same: “This year all children will receive gifts!” In small towns, three thrones are installed in the central square, on which the Kings sit - Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar - and personally present a gift to each child.

In Andalusia the day before Three days There is a custom among kings: children run around with tin cans dragging on the ground, thereby scaring away the evil giant who might not let the wise men into their city. And at the doors of their houses they leave bowls of water to water the camels on which the three kings arrive.

Papa Noel (Papá Noel) is a character whom we used to call Santa Claus and who used to be called Saint Nicholas.

And he looks like the well-known Santa Claus: a fat, white-bearded, middle-aged man in a red suit and cap.

On Christmas night, he enters the house through the fireplace chimney and leaves gifts for the children in New Year's socks hung up for this purpose.

Papa Noel lives at the North Pole, writes down good and bad deeds children. A whole squad of elves helps him prepare gifts. And on Christmas night he travels on a sleigh drawn by nine reindeer. It is impossible not to notice that in Spain they love him a little less than the three kings, sometimes considering this cheerful and good-natured old man a commercial product that came to the European continent from North America.

In the province of Navarre and the Basque Country, Santa Claus' colleague named Olentzero gives gifts to obedient children at Christmas. The name of this good fellow literally translates as “it’s time good people" According to one legend, Olentzero comes from the mythical race of Basques - the Gentilac giants. He was the first to know about the birth of the baby Jesus and came down from the mountains to the valley to tell people about this good news.

According to another beautiful legend, Olentzero was found as a baby by a fairy in the forest and given to an elderly childless couple. When his parents died, in order to get rid of loneliness, Olentzero began giving homemade toys to the children. One day, while saving children from a fire, he died, but the fairy wished that Olentzero would live forever and give joy to all children.

In general, Olentzero is a coal miner by profession. He is a good-natured, black-bearded fat man, dressed in old homespun clothes and stained with soot.

He loves to eat well and have a couple of glasses of something strong.

Olentzero always has a flask of good Spanish wine with him, because his long working night promises to be not easy. He does not climb into the fireplace, but leaves his gifts on the balcony.

Interestingly, parents used to scare naughty children with the coal miner Olentzero. But in the middle of the last century he was “justified” and became best friend for babies. The Basques love their kind donor very much. They sing about this to him in their songs, organize costumed processions and dance in his honor to the music of a flute and drum.

In general, residents of these regions believe that if you burn a log in your home and store its ashes all year round, you can protect yourself and your family from evil spirits.

The main Christmas and New Year's benefactor, although called different countries in different ways - Grandfather Frost, Santa Claus, Jolopukki, Papa Noel - the image is almost unchanged - this is an elderly, warmly dressed man, with a mustache and beard, often alone, sometimes accompanied by a young girl.

Catalonia, which gave the world such originals as Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso and Antoni Gaudí, while deciding who will be responsible for distributing prizes at the end of the year, distinguished itself here too, although it showed a stinginess of imagination that was surprising at first glance: the main Catalan donor is the usual a log with a painted face and a pair of twigs symbolizing either arms or legs. The strange character is called Tió de Nadal, which can be translated as “Christmas log.”

The standard worldwide practice, as we know, is this: a letter is sent to Grandfather with a list of everything that the soul yearns for, and then you need to sit back and wait patiently. In the case of Tio Nadal, a real drama is playing out.

He appears in the house immediately after the Catholic holiday on December 8, and at first everything goes perfectly for the new resident: he is sheltered warm blanket and are intensively fed with stale bread, tangerine skins, apple cores and other similar delicacies. On the night of December 24-25, the treacherous family armed themselves with sticks and began, with all their strength, to peel the poor log, which, from the stress it had experienced, pooped directly on the floor small gifts for the youngest family members - sweets, nougat, dried figs, wafer rolls. During the massacre, songs are sung, the text of which directly indicates the method of producing gifts: because of the refrain Caga tió!(“Poop, log!”) Tio Nadal is often called Cagathio.

When you first become acquainted with such a tradition, a culture shock is inevitable, but if you think logically, where else will gifts come from: the log does not have a reindeer team to go shopping for gifts, it does not leave the confines of the home, so all that it can after two weeks of being on the Christmas diet, this... well, let's not-say such nasty things again.

The character's origin story provides a simple explanation. Previously, on Christmas night, a log was thrown into the oven and burned, it brought light and warmth to the family - wonderful gifts in difficult times. Already relatively recently, when the bottom part of the pyramid of needs was safely dealt with, they decided to replace the heroic sacrificial death with beatings and bullying, especially since it is no longer so easy to burn something painlessly in a city apartment.

It is believed that the size of gifts should be correlated with the size of Tio Nadal; you should not demand from him a Mini Cooper or washing machine Miele, let her do what she is good at - making children happy by satisfying their simple food needs. For adult gifts, it is quite possible to attract someone experienced from the outside, for example, the Spanish Papa Noel.

I congratulate everyone on the upcoming holidays, I wish you to find only interesting and useful gifts, and not just anything...

Cheerful Spaniards love holidays very much. And Christmas days occupy a special place in their lives. The people of Spain have a lot of traditions and customs on New Year's Eve. And the Basques - people from the autonomous Basque Country - also have customs that are completely different from those generally accepted throughout the country. It’s worth mentioning separately about everyone’s favorite Santa Claus. Children all over the world know and love him, and the image of the New Year's miracle is similar in almost all countries. But the Basque Country has its own special Santa Claus.

This character's name is Olentzero. Of course, in Spain itself there is an analogue of the traditional Santa Claus named Papa Noel. And Basque children know him very well - he can come on New Year’s Eve and leave gifts. But, at Christmas ( main holiday year) it is Olentzero who leaves gifts for the children of the Basque Country. It’s not just his name that distinguishes him from the usual Father Frost and Santa Claus. Appearance This character is also very original and unforgettable. After all, Olentzero looks like a poor village old man. Od is dressed in traditional Basque clothing - a black beret, pants, shirt and bast shoes with ties. Olentzero always has a pipe in his mouth and a bottle of Spanish wine in his hand. Such an image children's hero, will certainly seem strange and unusual to any visitor to this region of Spain. However, Basque children, and adults too, love this good-natured old man very much and revere him in every possible way. Just like about Santa Claus, various songs are sung about Olentzero, and processions are organized through the streets in his honor. On almost all balconies of residential buildings you can see Olentzero figures who “climb” into the window to leave gifts. Of course, in all shops and cafes there are also large and small figures of this hero. And in shopping centers Olentzero, like Santa Claus, comes to listen to children's holiday dreams, holding them on his lap.

Why does Basque Santa Claus look so strange? Everything will become clear if you know the legends that explain the appearance of this character. For example, one of them says that a long time ago Olentzero was a representative of the ancestors of modern Basques. He was part of a tribe of ancient Basque giants who were the first to see the birth of Christ. They watched the glowing clouds, but did not know what was happening and could not look at this glow for a long time. And only the blind old man could keep his face in the direction of the light for a long time, and he predicted the birth of Christ. And Olentzero told all the other people about the great event. However, this legend is less popular; among modern Basques a different story is often told. It says that the fairy found a baby in the forest, gave him the name Olentzero and gave him to be raised by a childless family who lived in a deep forest in the mountains. The boy grew up and became a coal miner, like his father. But, besides this, he loved to make various toys from wood. When Olentzero's parents died, he became very lonely. Therefore, sometimes he collected all his toys in a bag and went down from the mountains to the city, distributing them to orphans from the orphanage. One day, when Olentzero arrived at the shelter, there was a fire there. The coal miner rushed to save the children, but he himself died in the fire. Then the fairy appeared and told Olentzero that he was very a good man, and therefore people will never forget him, and he will always give children joy.

Decades have passed, but children in the Basque Country still remember the kind old man, who is all dirty with coal and gives them gifts for Christmas. And it doesn’t matter which legend is true and how this character appeared. Every Christmas the kids wait for him and thank him for the gifts left under the tree. After all, a character whose name translates as “good times” cannot be bad.