The Dark Side of Christmas - The Grither

When people think of the North Pole what are some of the things that come to mind?  Well for most it's gotta be where Santa lives,  where his reindeer's reside and where his elves work all year round. It's just an all-round happy place for that special time of year. Covered in snow and with it being the northernmost point of the earth, there is a certain mystique about the place.

This mystique for the most part is of positive curiosity,  everyone wants to see where Santa supposedly comes from,  but there is also a dark and dangerous side here that lies within the caves of the region.  A subject of folklore to most, The Grither is often talked about by families around a fire.

This was the case one Christmas Eve. Excited kids asked their father to tell them a story,  a scary story,that they are now old enough to hear one.  Their father after his patience was tested finally gave in to their demands and sat the two kids in from of the fire while he sat on the couch ready to start story time.

He started " There is a creature who lies within the caves of the North Pole called The Grither. No one ever knows what it looks like because everyone that had seen it had been eating by it.  Hands were as big as basketballs supposedly and the smell of rotten flesh from it's body you could smell a mile away. The monster is as big as your imagination allows and it is the most terrifying thing to roam around this time of year"

One of the kids whined "I think I have heard enough dad,  maybe I am not old enough for this yet" the other kid looked at his brother before asking his father to continue.  "Oh he has to continue now,  you have said his name" shouted in the kids Mother from the room outside. The story continued after their father reassured them " Don't worry my sons it's just a story"

"He is said to come for those that mention it's name and don't finish the story. When he comes for you all you will see is a....... " , one of the kids abruptly stopped him " Please Dad I don't wanna know what happens,  maybe next year when I'm older and braver ", his father agreed to call a halt to the story and told his boys to get ready for bed.

As the parents were bringing the boys upstairs the front door blew open,  a blizzard of snow took over the boys vision and when it passed they couldn't believe what they had seen.  A large figure covered in blood stood at the front door.  There was that horrible wet smell reeking from the heavy breathing intruder.  The boys quickly ran upstairs and hide under their bed, loud thuds soon followed. 

They huddled together while shaking with fear. The bedroom door opened slowly and inside it came, step by step searching and sniffing around the room. A strange noise came from it's mouth before it called out each of the boys names. The older boy opened its eyes and peeped out from under the bed waiting to see some terrifying creature, but what he saw was a pair of human legs and a white pair of trainers.

"Don't worry boys it's just me messing around, I got the costume from the store, come out from under the bed" playfully and humorously said the father, much to the boys relief. They joked and laughed about it until it really was time for bed and their mother came up and tucked them both in.

Sometime during the night, when all were fast asleep, the front door opened once more. Dirty prints were left on the steps of the stairs and the banister was covered in green goo. The boys woke suddenly to a large shadow standing over them both. "Dad stop we know it's you" said one of them while giggling along with it.

The bathroom lights went on and this time to the boys utter terror, in shouted their father "Boys, who are you talking to?"

The Dark Side of Christmas : The Kallikantzaros

In Greek mythology there is said to be a rather special tree known as the World Tree of Christmas. It is thought that the roots of the tree that were all linked underground brought great happiness to everyone around this time of the year as the link between them was at its most prominent on December 25th and going straight through to January the 5th, the 12 days of Christmas. This tree was a place of worship for not only locals but from people from all over the world who gathered in hope of gaining some of the positive energy that the tree gave out during the twelve days.

With every good aspect to something there seems to be a bad one, and this comes in the form of the Kallikantzaros. These are small green goblins that live under the ground burrowing through the soil like moles desperately trying to cut the roots of the famous tree away, for the sole purpose of bringing misery to everyone who sought the opposite. It was only during the twelve days each year that these nasty goblins would appear as they worked in tandem with the winter solstice in which the sun ceases its seasonal movement.

Many speculate that these are harmless to people, with their only intention of destroying the tree, but as with the movement of time the Kallikantzaros have evolved. They not only aimed to destroy the world tree but also any Christmas tree that belongs to a family with more than three kids, as they didn't have the ability to count past three so they see anyone with kids above that number as some form of evil and their tree was the source of this power.

Their appearance differs from story to story with descriptions ranging from being green and very hairy to being red and scaly with horns on either side of their forehead to help with the digging. In Irish mythology the Kallikantzaros are very similar to the Leprechauns, in appearance and in how they are very mischievous in their ways. Another fellow related character would be the garden gnome, there is history of the gnomes coming to life at certain points of the year and wreaking havoc only to just revert back to their stone like feature and watch as the children get punished for the crime.

One last detail about the Kallikantzaros is how someone becomes one. There are two ways but they both must be done - If a family has a fourth child between the twelve days (Dec 25th - Jan 6th) and if that child dies between them dates before he reaches the age of four. If this happens then the soul of the child is trapped within the clutches of the goblin like creatures and no lore or legend has an answer of how to escape.

The Dark Side of Christmas: Gryla

In the mountains of Iceland is said to live a scary old woman, but this woman was not like any other, in appearance nor in how she carried herself, there is some debate to whether she is actually human with more saying that she is in fact a troll. In a dull and dreary cave was where she resided, she was always in a bad mood and had thirteen short tails that were tucked beneath her shabby gown. Curly long nails and a spotted face added to her hideousness.

She was married three times, the first two times she killed her husband because they were not able to give her what she wanted ; the ability to have kids of her own. This made Gryla develop a hatred for children, especially the happy ones. Once a year around the time of Christmas she would set off looking for happy children and kidnap them via her large rucksack that she hunched over her broad shoulders and walked back to the cave with. She would not kill the children but would snip their nails and cut their hair before adding it to a large pot to make her favourite dish of all - Kids Stew.

She believed by doing this that it would somehow get rid of what she believed was a curse put upon her that she couldn't have kids, so year after year she grabbed hapless children before scarring them for life. This all stopped when something happened to Gryla, one day she awoke to find that at the end of each of her tails lay a new born baby, thirteen in total and these would be know as The Yule Lads.

After these kids were born her anger lessened and she became tired, her and her husband Leppaludi, a similar ugly looking troll with a hatred for happiness, decided to rest for whatever time they had remaining. Not to be forgotten was her pet cat, a large black cat known as the Yule Cat who accompanied Gryla on her kid snatching escapades of yesteryear  but now roams around the cave content that her master is happy.

Her age is unknown but is said to be over 300 years old and her only weakness was the bright Christmas lights of the City/Towns. She was a fearsome troll once upon a time and her story is still told around schools and all sorts of Christmas gatherings, "Beware of the grumpy old lady and her cat" this sign can be seen all around Iceland and is said to refer to the legend of Gryla. Her whereabouts in the world of folklore has been a mystery for many years now but her kids still live on. There is one thing that can be sure, Gryla was as fearsome and frightening as they come with many giving her the title as "The mother to all the evil of Christmas".

 

The Dark Side of Christmas : Hans Trapp

Christmas is a time of year for giving and to be with your family but along with the many stories you hear of happiness there are also a few tales of terror around this time.

According to the legend , there used to be a man called Hans Trapp who was rich and powerful and lived in the heart of the Alsace. He had a very bad reputation, known to be awfully cruel and very vain and heartless, he spent his life doing whatever means necessary just so he could live a better life no matter how bad of a crime he had to commit he didn't mind doing it. A bitter and narcissistic man, Trapp hated to see others happy.

He was said to worship Satan and delve into the realms of black magic, this was how he gained his wealth and power but when the Catholic Church found out about this he was arrested and brought before the Pope in Rome and thrown out of the church for the crime of sacrilege. On his return to the Alsace, everyone abandoned him, they took his land and money and exiled him deep into the forest away from society.

He was pushed into a region of Bavaria known as the mountain of Geisberg and here he built a small shack made from sticks where he would take refuge while slowly losing his sanity dreaming and planning his revenge on all who took what he had away from him. Over time as his anger grew and food became more scarce he had cravings for human flesh, these cravings got more intense up until all that took over his thoughts was him biting into the flesh of a human arm or leg.

Roaming around looking for sticks and hay he had an idea to disguise himself as a scarecrow in an effort to lure young kids in. One day a boy passed by, he was no more than 10/11 years old but Hans saw him as the perfect victim , he was drooling at the mouth as his taste for flesh became uncontrollable he jumped out and attacked the boy. He brought the body of the boy back and roasted him over an open fire, he licked his lips preparing to finally taste what he had so wanted for a long time until at the moment of the flesh entering his mouth he was struck down by lightening. Many believe this was an act of God as he would not allow the crimes of Hans Trapp to continue anymore and he put an end to him once and for all.

The story of Trapp is still told around these parts of the world around Christmas time as a way of scaring kids into doing good by muttering the words "Hans Trapp will come for you". The visual of Hans is that of an old hunched over man with a long grey/black beard and always wore a long brown coat but that was him before he was exiled, since then he is known as the scarecrow man with many believing that if your kids act out in a bad way then he comes knocking on your house waiting to devour your child.

If Hans does visit your house the first thing you will hear is the sound of sticks breaking in the yard and the swoosh of his invisible steps through the snow. If this is heard then the only ways to prevent him from entering is to attach a small figure of a scarecrow with a cross and say out loud the prayer of Saint Nicholas, this guards the house from the presence of Hans.

Across many regions this terrifying tale is told, some believe it to be true and have their own experiences while others believe it to be nothing more than a sick way of scaring your kid into doing good. Either way the legend lives on to this day and is just one of the many stories to the dark side of Christmas.