5 Christmas spirits who deserve their own TV shows

Christmas is a time for love, cheer, and spending with your loved ones, perhaps watching films and TV shows about the holiday and Christmas spirits. After all, nothing bad can happen during this time, when Santa Claus goes from house to house, bestowing gifts to children around the world.

People tend to forget, though, that unlike the popular figure of Santa Claus, there exist other Christmas spirits. While some of these spirits and creatures spread joy and good cheer as well, some have quite different intentions.

Let’s just say that not all creatures punish naughty children with only a lump of coal. Despite the fascinating stories behind these spirits, they are not all that well known.

Let’s take a look at 5 Christmas spirits other than Santa Claus and his elves, who could do with TV shows of their own!

1. Christmas spirits who deserve their own TV shows: Gryla, The Yule Lads, and The Yule Cat

As first heard in Icelandic folklore, the tales of Gryla, the Yule Lads, and the Yule Cat, are some that should not be forgotten. Gryla is a giantess of enormous size and is said to be repulsive by appearance.

She is said to be able to know when children have been misbehaving throughout the year. She leaves her cave around Christmas time to hunt children and carry them home in her sack, where she then eats them.

As if that was not enough, she was not alone. She had a house pet in the form of The Yule Cat.

Known for being vicious, the cat attacked people who had not received any new clothes before Christmas Eve. Capitalist much?

In reality, the Yule Cat was used as a threat on workers to finish processing wool collected in Autumn before Christmas. The final members of Gryla’s household, The Yule Lads, at least, are not always vicious.

They are the sons of Gryla and her husband, Leppaludi. Unlike their mother, they are not known for killing children and instead are pranksters.

They often leave gifts on children’s windowsills, but if they had been naughty, then they often leave a rotten potato in their shoes instead. TV shows about these could range from comedic to rather grim.

2. Christmas spirits who deserve their own TV shows: Belsnickel

Some of you may be more acquainted with Belsnickel. It was one of the Christmas spirits portrayed by Dwight Schrute rather hilariously in The Office. 

Belsnickel came to be known for being one of the companions of Saint Nicholas in the folklore of Germany. He visits houses alone and is both threatening and benevolent.

He wears furs and a mask with a long tongue, usually quite ragged. He carries both candy and cakes for good children but punishes naughty ones by beating them with a switch.

The switch beating was apparently light and could be ignored by the naughty children, who still get a chance to collect the goodies Belsnickel scatters on the floor. At least he’s not eating them like Gryla, and is just playing a game of extreme pinata with them?

3. Christmas spirits who deserve their own TV shows: Frau Perchta

Frau Perchta falls in the middle between benevolent and evil Christmas spirits. From the folklore of Bavaria and Austria, Perchta would roam the countryside during the 12 days of Christmas.

She goes to different households and knows whether the children there had been working hard the entire year. Unlike other Christmas spirits, Perchta doesn’t only care about if they had been obedient or disobedient, but also about whether they had been hardworking.

Had children behaved well they are rewarded with a small silver coin the next day.

If they had not, she would slit open their bellies and remove their stomach and guts. Not satisfied with this massacre, she then stuffs them with straw and pebbles.

Talk about a disproportionate reaction! Oh, but that’s not all.

If anyone ate something on the night of her feast day other than the traditional fish and gruel, she’ll go through with the belly slitting and stuffing all over again. She can appear as both a disheveled old woman and beautiful and white as snow.

4. Christmas spirits who deserve their own TV shows: Mari Lwyd

We have come to associate horse-like spirits like the unicorn, with kind and good creatures. However, that’s not always the case.

Leaving aside the questionable mythology behind the unicorn, one of the Christmas spirits that appear in horse form is anything but kind. The Mari Lwyd appears between December to mid-January, surrounding an ancient horse ritual.

A horse skull is draped in bells and ribbons and attached to a pole, with the person holding the pole covered with a sheet. This creation is then taken from house to house.

The story supposedly goes that when Mary and Joseph were given shelter at the stables, a horse was moved out of there. The horse was pregnant and had to go search from place to place for a safe place to give birth.

The horse tries to enter a house or a bar and then tries to attack those inside. They try to restrain the horse from attacking children.

The horse departs, leaving behind Christmas desserts, and bringing good luck to the house Mari Lwyd entered.

5. Christmas spirits who deserve their own TV shows: Ded Moroz and The Snow Maiden

Ded Moroz is a legendary figure from Slavic mythology, who is very similar to Santa Claus. Very important to Russian culture, Ded Moroz, also known as Grandfather Frost, was a snow spirit.

Despite being banned in Russia after the revolution, it took its current form as the main character behind Novy God, the New Year’s holiday that replaced Christmas. He is accompanied by his granddaughter and helper, Snegurochkoa or the Snow Maiden.

While he wears a blue fur coat of heel length, she wears silver-blue robes and a furry cap. He is a benevolent Christmas Spirit who brings presents to good children and delivers them under the New Year Tree on New Year’s Eve.

While there are some films about Ded Moroz, a TV show about the Slavic character might be exactly what we need before Christmas.

Can you think of any other Christmas spirits who deserve a show of their own? Let us know in the comments below!