Stranger still

Maybe it's topical,or maybe I'm morbidly amused by the bizarre connotations I keep unearthing regarding these water demons.

Remember how all these water demons from Germanic/Anglo/Scandinavian countries all hail by some variation of  "nykyr"?

According to some anthropologists and linguists, Old Saint Nick was in fact most likely derived from these ancient water demons. "Old Nick" wasn't just a reference to the Devil, but in some cultures, in some communities, there was a hazy line between the devil, demons, and a powerful figure that swept in at the end of the year demanding reckoning.

Where part of the pagan ritual to assure the prosperity of the New Year was to offer it sacrifices, and in return you would either get riches, or if it was displeased with you, in some cases it would simply steal your goddamn children.

"Krampus" of the ancient Austrian folk tales isn't a far cry from the "nykyrs". Black Peter would whip or punish, sometimes take away naughty children. With every benevolent "Saint Nick" figure, there is a bizarre, accompanying punitive figure who doles out your fortunes, according to the behavior of the children. They were a reflection of the community, after all. If your children were disobedient and wild, it was a sign your community was lacking.

I feel like I'm seeing this as a theme, over and over again. You don't give the devil the payment due, he'll simply take it from you. Often in the form of your future-- your children.

So is this was happened to the communities that were desperate enough to believe in this strange, Janus type figure? They would gamble with their lives by making deals with this thing, and then if they didn't pay, they would be punished.

A strange kind of later winter ritual. In a time where we think of it as a cuddly, wam time of year, it must have been a terrible strain on pre-Christian communties.