Showing posts with label Mother Hulda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mother Hulda. Show all posts

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Gryla, Perchta, Befana, Forest Mother, Iron Tooth, Holle, Baba Yaga and... Mrs. Claus? Ho, ho - yes!

Researching what Baba Yaga would offer for advice (or as warnings) during the holiday season, it quickly became apparent that our favorite, ferocious wise woman has many sisters, quite a few of which are very active during the Winter Solstice and while some of their names are familiar, some are far less so.
Here's some seasonal reading for you on Baba Yaga's Yuletide 'sisters': 
The Lost Female Figures of Christmas Part I 
Mōdraniht - Mother's Night
Santa Lucia - Saint Lucy
Christkind (always portrayed by a grown woman)
Snegurochka - Snow Child/Maiden
Frau Holle
 
The Lost Female Figures of Christmas Part II 
Perchta
Witte Wieven - The White Women
Befana

Grýla - Icelandic giantess
In reading about the sisters above, if you pay attention, you begin to see aspects of a modern female figure (that appears during our holiday season), emerge as well. That figure is, surprisingly, Mrs. Claus.

Although considered an American construct, that was quickly adopted by the UK, it's especially in recent times in which she seems to have become "more active", which is interesting. Not only is she helping Santa get ready for his 24 hour Christmas Eve world run, but these days we see references to her attending to small but key details that change the course of lives and sometimes history. She was credited with "saving Christmas" in the 1960's by the tale of the same name, but her character has quietly developed in complexity since then too. It's gotten to the point where she now ventures out on her own Christmas missions, without the Big Guy knowing, to take care of something she's sees as important, in person.
2016 saw her biggest update yet, thanks to a marketing campaign by Marks & Spencer. Take a look at this commercial that's touching a lot of hearts this season:
The ad has caught a lot of positive attention, and one writer, HERE, points out lots of wonderful details which might slip your attention on first viewing, but are worth sharing as they are all symbols of something else: feminine confidence, power and capability. While we won't include the whole description, here's an excerpt:
The ad, which was created by King's Speech director Tom Hooper, sees a little boy called Jake write to Mrs Claus on Christmas Eve for help. ...She reads Jake's letter (while sporting some fabulous thick-rimmed black glasses) and resolves to help him.

...New Christmas ass-kicking outfit on, and her hair subtly transformed into a Hillary Clinton power bob, Mrs Claus gets on her snowmobile and rides over the frozen landscape to an ice cave, where a bright red chopper (called R-DOLF, obviously) awaits. ...in a scene which wouldn't look out of place in a Bond film, Mrs Claus flies her ruby red helicopter from the North Pole to ...deliver the gift.
 
(At) a time of year when all around seem to be telling women how to drop a dress size before party season; which shop the best mums go to; or how to plan ahead to ensure everyone else's needs are satisfied on the big day, it's refreshing to see a middle-aged woman tearing through the skies in a helicopter as if it's the most natural thing in the world. After all, in 2016 every little girl should know that she's just as capable as any boy.

It almost seems as if things have come a full circle - or that they're certainly heading that way. This Mrs. Claus, or Mother Christmas, is quite the feminist bad ass. And somehow, they managed to change her from old and frumpy, to a mature contemporary woman who's also capable and stylish, without stooping to either slutty or sickly sweet. She's almost, but not quite, a superhero. She's a capable, feminine, high profile wife, who finds that tricky balance between acting selflessly and enjoying her perks, and doesn't need - or want - the spotlight. (We have a feeling the Winter Sisters - and Baba Yaga - approve.)

So perhaps it's not so far fetched for people to be sending Mrs. Claus requests for help during the Christmas season. After all, her ancestral cousins have been in the business of helping out during the darkest time of the year for a very long time.

Note: "Love Mrs. Claus" got a lot of best-of-the-biz to bring her to life - from award winning writers, to composers and the actress herself having quite a shiny resume. You can read all the behind-the-scenes HERE.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

17 Grimm Tales by Andreas Krapf

 Andreas Kapf is a German illustrator with a quirky sense of humor who  - lucky for us - shared his fairy tale diploma project online. The illustrations were designed specifically to show the harsher side of the more popular Grimm tales and the results have a good chance of tugging a smile out of you.


I'm including just a few of the illustrations but be sure to go check out the rest of them HERE and see the included layouts.
 

The tales include:
  • Little Red Riding Hood
  • One-Eye, Two-Eyes & Three-Eyes
  • The Boy Who Went Forth To Learn What Fear Was
  • The Brave Little Tailor
  • The Twelve Brothers
  • Rumpelstiltskin
  • The Frog King or Iron Henry
  • The Wishing Table, the Gold Ass & the Cudgel in the Sack
  • Hansel & Gretel
  • Hans In Luck
  • Mother Hulda
  • Sleeping Beauty
  • Rapunzel
  • Snow White
  • Puss in Boots
  • Cinderella
  • Brother and Sister

 

I don't know if this book is available anywhere (in the US or in Germany) but he can be contacted through his business website HERE where he designs t-shirts, posters and art-toys.