Jack Frost

Jack Frost is a goblin character mentioned in the lore of Vikings. He also goes by the name of Jokul Frosti. He is considered as an adaption of Old Man Winter of the US and the United Kingdom. Traditionally, Jack Frost is held accountable for causing frosty weather during the winters and also for tanning tree leaves in autumn. His character also finds mention in films, literature, songs, television and video games as a frightening mischief maker. There is a popular Christmas Song for Jack Frost that goes like "Jack Frost nipping at your nose!" In the poem "First Death in Nova Scotia", Elizabeth Bishop talks about Jack Frost. He also features in the novels of Terry Pratchett, Christopher Golden and Neil Gaiman. However, the origin of this popular character can be found in Norse and Russian tales. Scroll down to know more about the character Jack Frost

Christmas Figure From The Viking Lore

Who Is Jack Frost
Jack Frost, a goblin, is an embodiment of cold and crisp character of Old Man Winter. The origin of this character can be traced to Norse and Anglo Saxon tradition. He is believed to create frosty fern outlines on winter morning and painters use orange, yellow, purple and red autumn leaves when portraying Jack Frost. The character Frost is usually depicted as friendly but is said to get angry real quick and can even slay people if provoked.

In Norse tales, he is depicted as the son of the winds. However, Viking tales talk about a much plainer and simpler Jokul. In Russian tales, he is depicted as Grandfather Frost or even wicked Santa Claus who punishes bad children rather than presenting gifts to them. Later on, he came to be known as Father Frost, a kind old man who wears blue robes and presents gifts to children. In some tales, it has been mentioned that Jack Frost got married to spring and had a daughter called Snow Maiden. The Snow Maiden used to help her father distribute gifts to good children during Christmas. Jack Frost, unlike most of the other Christmas gift givers, is not known to present children with extravagant gifts. Rather, he is known for causing winds to fetch the chestnuts and other different nuts from the trees so that children may gather them to eat.

Character Evolution
In later years, this character evolved and came to be depicted as brash and playful - just the opposite of the Father Frost character. He was no longer seen as an old man and was now considered as a young and fair man with long light robes. The light costume he wore made it easy for children to play with Jack Frost during Christmas time.

In literature, L. Frank Baum wrote about Jack Frost in his book "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus" in 1902. He also mentioned Jack Frost in a short story "The Runaway Shadows". In this short story, Jack is depicted as a character with the power to freeze shadows. He freezes the shadows and then extricates them from their owners and makes them separate living entities of their own.

However, in the Laurell K. Hamilton's book of Meredith Gentry series, Jack Frost appeared as an original character. In the stories written by Rupert Bear, Jack Frost was featured as a minor character. In Daisy Meadows's book "Rainbow Magic", Jack Frost was depicted as an antagonist who was bent on freezing Fairyland.

There are quite a few versions of Jack Frost in popular literature and depending on what you want to believe, he can be your favourite Christmas character or feared Christmas villain.