Lapland is traditionally considered the home of Santa Claus. This frosty country occupies an area in the north of Sweden, Finland, Norway and in the west of the Kola Peninsula. This is the homeland of the Lapps or Sami. The heraldic symbol of Lapland is the Wild Man - a huge, red and hairy man with a club on his shoulder, dressed in a loincloth made of leaves. His name is Snomannen in Swedish.
The Sami believe that this creature lives in the hard-to-reach forests of the Arctic Circle. In Sweden and Finland you can find sculptures, signs and posters depicting a popular character. Sometimes his statues stand at the forks of the door, images of the red Snomannen with a snow-white beard are painted on worries, on the walls of buildings. This large, monkey-like, filthy, bearded creature has been featured in Sámi legends since the Middle Ages.
Its body is covered with matting or wet hair, and emits an eerie stench. The ancient Sami depicted him with horns and with a huge club in eukas. Snomannen has a wild, frenzied disposition, he is incontinent and rude, lustful and depraved. His vices are gluttony and drunkenness. Snomannen lives in the northern chas in a cave or in a den. It feeds mainly on reindeer meat.
In different parts of Lapland, the Wild Man has different names - Stallo, Clos, Div, Jadek, Jass, Clapperbock, Kinderfresser (which means "baby eater"), Tomasniklo. He is sometimes referred to as the Red Satan. Over the centuries, the brutal figure of the Wild Man has changed and began to resemble a clown or a fairground fool, it is this character that is the forerunner of modern Santa Claus.
Santa Claus's assistants before he got the elves were devilish creatures covered in soot - the Dark Helper, Krampus, Julgubben, Black Peter, Peltz Nickel, and Ru Klass. They are very similar to the Wild Man.
It is impossible not to pay attention to how much Snomannen's descriptions resemble those of Bigfoot or Yeti. The latter looks like a monkey, covered with rough, dirty hair. On his broad face, the brow ridges protrude, the nose is flattened, and the jaw is square. The upper limbs of the monster are much longer than the arms of a person. His feet are huge, and there is no wool on the soles.
In the mountainous regions, the Yeti sheds and is covered with white wool in winter. The Bigfoot lives mainly in the polar regions, his favorite food is cranberries, his home is a cave or den. Bigfoot hunts a deer, eats its meat raw, and peels off its skin to sleep on it. Interestingly, the word "yeti" itself is similar to the Swedish word "jatte", which means "giant".
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In January 2010, there were reports in Norwegian newspapers that several teenagers had encountered Bigfoot. They were picking cranberries in a hard-to-reach area of Norway and noticed a huge ape-like creature in the distance. It deftly picked berries with both paws and sent them into its mouth. The creature snuffled and grumbled. The guys were afraid to come closer. The berry pickers spent the night in a light collapsible house. At night, some animal came to the house and scratched at the corners, uttering a wild roar and almost knocking down the building.
In the morning, the teenagers saw dented bushes and excrement. They thought it was Bigfoot. It is significant that one of the notes describing this incident was called "Snomannen's Visit".
Everyone recognizes that Santa Claus's home is in Lapland, but several countries are fighting for the right to be considered his homeland. In Sweden, Tompteland is declared the headquarters of Santa Claus. Here 360 million years ago, a meteorite hit the Earth's surface with a force equal to the explosion of a thousand atomic bombs. At the site of the impact, a crater was formed, which eventually filled with water, so Lake Silyan appeared. It is in these places, according to beliefs, that the Wild Man, Snomannen, or, as the Sami call him, Stallo, lives in a dense forest.
In Tompteland, the Swedish Santa Claus lives with helpers, trolls, Snomannen and the Snow Queen.
Tourists visiting Thompteland during the Christmas holidays, in addition to Santa Claus, can see our friend Snomannen. His face is black, and his body is dressed in animal skins, he holds a club in his hand, a red cap flaunts on his head.
Sometimes Stallo, which means "metal man" in Sami, is entirely dressed in black or a shiny suit. This tradition probably came from the Viking warriors who donned chain mail. According to Sami legends, Stallo especially loves to mess around before Christmas. He rides in a sleigh and steals food from barns and cellars. He raises the wind, which lifts the skirts of young girls, he can climb into bed with young widows or faithful wives, whose husbands went hunting.
To cajole Stallo and ward off the libertine from the matrimonial bedrooms on Christmas Eve, the Sami leave porridge, beer and tobacco on the doorstep for him. Near the wells, the Sami drive a pole into the ground. It serves so that Stallo can tie a sled to a pole. The Sami believe that if the monster does not find water and drinks, he will break the child's skull, suck the brain and drink blood. That is why it is called the baby eater.
The Stallo sled (Sami) is harnessed by lemmings, wild rodents that live in the Arctic Circle. These animals were mentioned by the Catholic missionary priest Olaus Magnus, who visited Sweden in 1555. He claimed that in Lapland, lemmings fall from the sky. According to the churchman, God punished the pagans in this way for not wanting to accept Catholicism.
Sergey MIKHAILOV