*wanders in, adds some food to the table and three large jars of pickles*
*goes and settles in a comfy chair*
well i do not know if this is the best way to start our conversation but....
i just found this out.
i was flipping through Art: A Field Guide because i like to keep up on my art terms and artist and all that (double art history art major)
well under section two: subjects and stories, i came across
Pickled Children"Bizarre and unlikely tale. During a famine, Saint Nicholas of Myra stayed with and innkeeper who had murdered three children and planned to feed their pickled bodies to his guests. The saint restored them to life, and the innkeeper fled."
i was quite shocked because wasn't St. Nicholas of Myra (4th century BCE)
Santa Claus....i thought he was the one who threw the three bags of gold in to the poor sisters windows three nights in a row so their father would not sell them to prostitution. well i flipped to that section and
Nicholas of Myra (4th century BCE)"Role model for Father Christmas. Very popular saint and the protector of children, sailors, and travelers. Bishop of Myra in Asia Minor. Buried at Bari in Italy. Look for a saint dressed like a bishop, with three golden balls or purses and perhaps an anchor or three pickled children.
i was amazed and started to poke around the internet. it took a little searching and a lot of stories list it at the end. official saint sites say that it was a misunderstood tail. apparently not something they want him remember for. i also found a story that it is a Canadian folktale kind of like Hansel and Gretel. two kids venture out to find broth for their sick grandmother. they find and evil butcher who thinks they look scrawny but the gaint is coming soon and pickled children is he like best.
St. Nicholas and the Childrenso after some astonished searching i found out that good ol' st. Nick resurrected these children from various forms of dismemberment in every tale. so not only did he raise them from the dead but put their bodies back together too!
so now i know why some Christmas Trees have pickles on them. i always thought it was some local thing somewhere. like some town makes good pickles so they have pickle ornaments. noooo apparently it is a reference to St. Nick! well at least the ornaments are just pickles...and not jars of pickled children!
pickle anyone?
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