Legend of the demons during Christmas

The witch Frau Perchta, the evil Krampus . are scary evil creatures in Christmas.

The custom of many countries during Christmas is always encouraging children to work well to receive gifts from Santa. Besides, it is also meant to deter young children that they will have to receive punishment for their bad behavior.

The characters that appear in the stories of Christmas not only have the old Snowman, but also the villains - the devil always makes children frightened, become more obedient. These villains appear with many names, images and in different places .

1. Christmas cat

The Yule cat or Christmas cat is a monster that appears in Icelandic folklore. Yule cats are described as very large and evil, they often hide in snowy rural areas during Christmas and eat meat without anyone wearing new clothes to wear before Christmas.

According to the customs of many Icelandic families, those who complete their work on time will be paid to buy new clothes for Christmas, and lazy people will not.

In order to encourage children to work hard, parents often tell stories about Yule cats and say that Yule always knows who is lazy to eat them. The fear of being eaten by cat Yule is considered by Icelanders as a motivation to improve the spirit and responsibility in the harvest of crops before Christmas.

At the same time, it serves as a reminder of hard work to help parents with new clothes. Therefore, it is not surprising that many people noted that Icelandic residents always spend more time working than other Europeans.

2. Witch Frau Perchta

Stories told in Germany and Austria portray the portrait of a witch named Frau Perchta . She is the one who has the right to "grant" rewards and punishment within 12 days during Christmas.

Frau Perchta is also better known for his fondness for punishing people who cause sin. It is separating their internal organs from the body and replacing them with garbage.

Perchta's story is believed to originate from a legendary Alpine goddess - the goddess of nature , who hides in the forest all year and only communicates with people during Christmas. The goddess will always observe all human actions for a year and punish those who cause many sins during this Christmas.

3. The chimney sweeper Zwarte Piet

Zwarte Piet or also called Black Peter is Santa's assistant in stories in the Netherlands. Although not a monster, he is the one who will punish those who have bad attitudes or behave badly during Christmas.

Many documents record that, in the 1850s, unwise children were often threatened, the Zwarte Piet would kidnap them from their parents and take them to a remote Spanish country. He was portrayed with a large figure and a charcoal-like face.

Besides, many other versions said that he was a chimney sweeper so he had such a black face.

4. The old man frowned at Belsnickel

Belsnickel is the male character in legend stories in southwestern Germany . Around 1-2 weeks before Christmas, Belsnickels often appear in front of houses and scare children, especially those who like to play and not listen to their parents.

He often dressed in ragged, dirty and scowl, domineering face. In his hand, he always holds a stick, a dry tree branch as if to be ready to hit the spoiled children.

There are other versions that say: to check the honesty and actions of children, he often asked them to sing or answer questions. If he is good, he will throw candies on the ground, and still encounter a spoiled child, they will not escape his stick.

Although they were never injured, they always felt scared and tried to become more obedient to receive gifts from Santa on Christmas Eve. The tradition of children who try to obediently listen to their parents also exists in some other areas in Newfoundland (Canada) or some Brazilian communities in the state of Santa Catarina.

5. The demon Krampus

Krampus means 'claw' , and this creature is depicted as a devil . This creature originated in German folklore, however, its influence spread far beyond the German border, to Austria, Hungary, Slovenia .

The demon Krampus is a replica of Santa , responsible for beating and punishing all poor children. Upon discovering the bad kids, Krampus will force them to put them in their pockets and bring them to their lair. There, he will give many scary punishments. So any child is afraid of Krampus so he must be more obedient.

6. Gryla elves

The legend of the Iceland region said Gryla was a goblin who lived in the mountains. This evil character has hooves, horns, 13 tails, a big nose and full of acne.

Gryla's origins date back to the pagan era and then turned into a character to scare children. On Christmas Eve, Gryla visits the towns and cities from the mountains, finding and catching naughty kids. The goblin then returned to the cave with a bag filled with crying children, boiling and eating them.

Gryla has 13 children called Yule Lad and they often harass Iceland families for 13 days before Christmas. Recently, Yule Lad was used as an image of good dwarfs and gifts for children.