Christmas Tales 2022

The Magi honored the Christ child with three gifts.

 

In honor of the magi, I read three Christmas tales each December. My Christmas reads are also part of A Literary Christmas – sponsored by In the Bookcase.

 

 

 

Is there a Santa Claus by Frank Church

 

An 1897 editorial in the New York Sun to answer a simple question from a young girl. Her letter, in its entirety, read as follows:

 

Dear Editor—

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O’Hanlon

 

In response, veteran editor Francis P. Church, wrote what was to become one of the most famous editorials in American Journalism History. The most famous line…

 

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

 

Echoes through the years, enduring long after the newspaper that printed it ceased to exist. It is a beautiful tribute to the timeless value of faith and innocence.

 

The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see.

 

You can read the entire editorial and some interesting background information HERE.

 

I thought it ironic that in 1897 on a question of faith, Virginia owing to her father, had all faith in the Sun. Today our faith, mine at least, in news media is all but gone.

 

On a personal note, a few years ago, reportedly owing to a GPS malfunction, Santa Claus accidentally missed the Old Dominion, where I live. Consequently, I’ve taken to writing Santa Claus each year to admonish him…

 

Yes Santa Claus, there is a Virginia.

 

 

A Country Christmas by Louisa May Alcott

 

I may incur the wrath of LMA fans, but the simplest way to describe this short story is to say it is the model for every Hallmark Christmas movie.

 

Fancy city folk, by fate or folly, spend Christmas in a charming country setting and learn that professional success, material wealth, and sophisticated society are BAD and that only the simple country life can lead to happiness and true love.

 

Sophie Vaughan leaves her millionaire fiancé in the big city for a brief visit with her Aunt Plumy, Cousins Saul and Ruth in the wilds of Vermont. Sophie extends her stay through Christmas and invites her best friend Emily and mutual friend Randall to join her and make it an “old-fashioned frolic.”

 

***Any Hallmark Christmas Movie***

 

And though I have no taste for the movies, I credit Ms. Alcott as an early purveyor (perhaps the originator?) of the theme before it became an over-used trope. She creates interest and empathy for her characters and paints picturesque visions of the quaint countryside with mere words.

 

It was very lovely on the hill, for far as the eye could reach lay the wintry landscape sparkling with the brief beauty of sunshine on virgin snow. Pines sighed overhead, hardy birds flitted to and fro, and in all the trodden spots rose the little spires of evergreen ready for its Christmas duty. Deeper in the wood sounded the measured ring of axes, the crash of falling trees, while the red shirts of the men added color to the scene, and a fresh wind brought the aromatic breath of newly cloven hemlock and pine.

 

It was very sweet, very poignant, very enjoyable. Hopefully, that will appease the LMA fans 

 

 

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight author unknown, translation by J. R. R. Tolkien

 

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a 14th-century chivalric romance, part of Arthurian legend, written in Middle English.

 

It opens in Camelot, where Arthur and court hold feast and festivity to celebrate Christmas and the New Year. On New Year’s Eve, the revelers are startled as an enormous green knight rides his green horse into the banquet hall and asks to speak to the lord of the feast. After exchanging courtesies, the Knight assures Arthur he comes in peace. He issues a challenge to a sporting contest – an exchange of blows to the neck with his axe; he even allows any taker to make the first stroke and wait a year and a day before he returns the blow.

 

Arthur and his knights are silent, more stunned than afraid, but when the Green Knight mocks the honor of Camelot, Arthur himself accepts. Sir Gawain intercedes, however, and after a few formalities, swings the axe, cuts off the Green Knight’s head, and that should be that.

 

But the Green Knight picks up his own head and tells Gawain… alrighty, well played sir, see you in a year, and rides away.

 

I was a little nervous for Gawain, but he, Arthur, and Guinevere were unabashed and returned to celebrating. The year passes, and Gawain sets out in search of the Green Knight, who was none too specific about his address. In good faith, Gawain searches and has a few adventures along the way. He is eventually welcomed at a distant castle by a gracious host, who promises to show him to the Green Knight on time if Gawain will do him the honor of celebrating the season in his castle.

 

You might guess…Gawain keeps his appointment and his head. There is a test of honor and some mischief by the sorceress Morgan La Fey.

 

It was very fun, very chivalrous, but even with the good professor’s expert translation, just a bit challenging to read in poetic form. I must get to more Arthurian legend in 2023.

 

 

Merry Christmas

 

          ~ The Wanderer

 

May you be blessed with

the spirit of the season, which is Peace,

the gladness of the season, which is Hope,

and the heart of the season, which is Love