Grandfather Frost is Comin' to Town

There is a sweet old man who lives in the icy north. He’s got a big white beard and dresses up in brightly colored robes. Once a year, in the dead of winter, he delivers toys to all the boys and girls in Russia. He is, of course, Ded Moroz.

Wait! Who?! Ded Moroz is Russia’s Santa Claus. He travels the country with his grandchild, the Snow Maiden, or Snegurochka, delivering gifts to children on New Year’s Eve. Also known as Grandfather Frost, he likes wearing a large fur coat and a big fur cap. He walks with a wooden magic stick when he isn’t riding in a troika (sleigh), pulled by three horses.

Times change, and the thoughts about Ded Moroz did as well. People have warmed to the old man considerably. Plays have been written about him. The famous Russian composer, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov wrote the opera The Snow Maiden, based in part on Ded Moroz and his granddaughter. By the 19th century, Ded Moroz was popular throughout Russia.

There is a long history of Grandfather Frost like there is of his brother, Santa Claus (derived from Saint Nicholas who lived around the year 300). The origin of Ded Moroz comes from ancient Slavic folklore. In fact, Ded Moroz predates Saint Nicholas. Back in the old days, he was thought of as a Slavic wizard of winter. Many feared his icy wrath, and in hopes he wouldn’t ruin their crops, they left him gifts in the forest.

In the early 1920s, following the Russian Revolution, however, Christmas traditions were discouraged by the Russian government. Ded Moroz evolved to change with the times. He soon became a symbol, not of Christmas, but of New Year’s.