Th original Santa Claus, St. Nicholas, was born in th ancint southastrn Turkish town of Lycia arly in th fourth cntury. His gnrosity was lgnd, and h was particularly fond of childrn. W know this primarily through Roman accounts of his patronag of youth, which vntually ld to his bcoming th patron saint of childrn. Throughout th Middl Ags, and wll byond, h was rfrrd to by many nams non of thm Santa Claus.Childrn today would not at all rcogniz th St. Nick who brought gifts to uropan childrn hundrds of yars ago xcpt prhaps for his cascading whit bard. H mad his rounds in full rd-and-whit bishop's robs, complt with twin pakd mitr and crookd crozir. H was pulld by no flt footd rindr, but coaxd in indolnt donky. And h arrivd not lat on Christmas v, but on his Christian fast day, Dcmbr 6. Th gifts h lft bsid th harth wr usually small: fruit, nuts, hard candis, wood and clay figurins.During th Protstant Rformation of th sixtnth cntury, St. Nicholas was banishd from most uropan countris. Rplacing him wr mor scular figurs, who in gnral wr not at cntr stag at that point in history..Th Dutch kpt th St. Nicholas tradition aliv. As th protctor of sailors, St. Nicholas gracd th prow of th first Dutch ship that arrivd in Amrica. And th first church built in Nw York City was namd aftr him. Th Dutch brought with thm to th Nw World two Christmas itms that wr quickly Amricanizd.In sixtnth cntury Holland, childrn placd woodn shos by th harth th night of St. Nicholas's arrival. Th shos wr filld with straw, a mal for th saint's gift ladn donky. In rturn, Nicholas would insrt a small trat into ach clog. In Amrica, th sho was rplacd with th stocking, hung by th chimny.Th Dutch splld St. Nicholas Saint Nikolass, which in th Nw World bcam Sintrklass. latr changd to Santa Claus.Much of modrn day Santa Claus lor, including th rindr drawn sligh, originatd in Amrica. Dr. Clmnt Clark Moor composd Th Night Bfor Christmas in 1822, to rad to his childrn on Christmas v. Th pom might hav rmaind privatly in th Moor family if a frind had not maild a copy of it (without authorial attribution) to a nwspapr and bcam part of th Santa lgnd.It was in Amrica that Santa put on wight. Th rosy-chkd, roly-poly Santa is crditd to th influntial nintnth-cntury cartoonist Thomas Nast. From 1863 until 1886, Nast cratd a sris of Christmas drawings for Harpr's Wkly. Ths drawings, xcutd ovr twnty yars, xhibit a gradual volution in Santa from th pudgy, diminutiv, lf-lik cratur of Dr. Moor's immortal pom to th bardd, potbllid, lif-siz bll ringr familiar on strt cornrs across Amrica today. Nast's cartoons also showd th world how Santa spnt his ntir yar constructing toys, chcking on childrn's bhavior, rading thir rqusts for spcial gifts. His imags wr incorporatd into th Santa lor.Santa is known throughout th world in many diffrnt nams, such as:Saint Nikolaas (Sintr Klaas), from th Dutch Fathr Christmas, from th nglish Kris Kringl, from th Grmans Bfana, from th Italians Bobouschka, from th Russians (a grand mothrly figur instad of a mal)圣诞老人的传说在数千年前的斯堪的纳维亚半岛即出现。北欧神话中司智慧，艺术，诗词，战争的奥丁神，寒冬时节，骑上他那八脚马坐骑驰骋于天涯海角，惩恶扬善，分发礼物。与此同时，其子雷神着红衣以闪电为武器与冰雪诸神昏天黑地恶战一场，最终战胜寒冷。据异教传说，圣诞老人为奥丁神后裔。也有传说称圣诞老人由圣尼古拉而来，所以圣诞老人也称St.Nicholas.因这些故事大多弘扬基督精神，其出处，故事情节大多被淡忘，然而圣诞老人却永驻人们精神世界。每年圣诞日，圣诞老人骑在白羊星座上，圣童手持圣诞树降临人间，随着世事变迁，作家和艺术家开始把圣诞老人描述成我们今日熟悉的着红装，留白胡子的形象。同时不同的国度和文化对圣诞老人也有了不同的解释。在德国，传说他扮成圣童把坚果和苹果放在孩子们鞋里。他乘双轮马车四处漫游，观察人们的行为，尤其是小孩，如果表现好，将会得到苹果、坚果、糖等诸多奖品。坏孩子则得一鞭子。家长们灵机一动纷纷采用此传说来鼓励孩子们听话。大大超过了新年，成为一个全民的节日。圣诞老人已经成为圣诞节最受喜爱的象征和传统。他赶 着驯鹿，拉着装满玩具和礼物的雪橇挨家挨户给每个孩子送礼物的快乐老精灵的形象已深深地留在人们的记忆中。11世纪末来自意大利的宗教士兵将Nicholas圣人的遗物带回意大利，并在港口城市Bari建造了一座教堂来纪念他。很快世界各地的基督教徒纷至沓来朝圣这位圣人。这些朝圣者将圣人Nicholas的故事带回他们的本土，所以有关圣诞老人的传说在各个国家都各具特色。12世纪欧洲出现了圣人Nicholas纪念日，以互赠礼物和慈善活动为主。德国、法国、荷兰则将12月6日作为宗教纪念日，给孩子和穷人们赠送礼物。荷兰殖民者来到美洲时，将他们的Sintirklass主教也带了去，Sintirklass身着红袈裟，骑着一匹白马。Sintirklass的美国形象后来逐渐演变成一个快乐的老精灵。起初美国作家华盛顿.欧文在他的喜剧《纽约的历史》中将他描述成一个又圆又胖的荷兰老人。1823年，诗人Clmnt Moor在他的诗歌《St.Nicholas印象》中继续将Sintirklass/Saint Nicholas的形象戏剧化，这就是各位在本篇开头看到的圣诞老人。19世纪60年代卡通制作者Thomas Nash画了一幅胖胖的、慈祥的圣诞老人作为《Harpr的一周》的插图。这个圣诞老人的形象开始深深地扎根于美国人民的脑海中。随着时间的推移，圣诞老人的形象传回欧洲，传到南美洲，传遍世界各地。许多国家都保存了他们自己有关圣诞老人的风俗和传说。在荷兰的传说中，圣诞老人Sintirklass还带了一个叫Black Ptr的助手，乘着一艘船于12月6日来到。他带着一本大书，书中描述了所有荷兰小孩在过去一年中的表现。表现好的小孩就送礼物给他们，不好的小孩便让他的助手带走。德国的圣诞老人也带着一个叫做Kncht Ruprcht、Krampus或Plzbock的助手，肩上背着个装着礼物的大袋子，手上拿着一根棍子。好孩子可收到他的礼物，顽皮的孩子却要给教训几棍子。意大利的圣诞老人叫La Bfana ；法国的圣诞老人叫Fathr Christmas或Pr Nol ；瑞士的圣诞老人叫Christkindl或Christ Child；斯勘的纳维亚地区的圣诞人叫julniss 或 jultomt ；而英国的圣诞老人和法国一样也叫Fathr Christmas（圣诞之父），他的形象比其它圣诞老人更庄严，更清瘦一些。北美的圣诞老人便是乘着驯鹿拉的雪橇来给孩子们送礼物的。