Christmas gift-bringer the leader of the Wild Hunt at the time of Yule. Santa Claus's reindeer has also been compared to Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse of Odin in Norse mythology. Jacob Grimm ("Deutsche Mythologie") traces the threatening or scary companions of Saint Nicholas (such as the Krampus of the Austro-Bavarian dialect region) to Christianized versions of house-spirits (kobolds, elves). After Christianization, the benign mid-winter gift-bringer was associated with the 4th-century Christian Saint Nicholas of Myra. This association took place mainly in the territories of the Holy Roman Empire, including German-speaking Europe, the Low Countries, the Czech lands, Hungary and Slovenia. The basis
Odin Middle Dutch "woet" 'madness' (modern Dutch:"woede" 'anger'), and Old High German "wuot" 'thrill, violent agitation'. Additionally the Old Norse noun "æði" 'rage, fury' and Old High German "wuotī" 'madness' derive from the feminine noun "*wōđīn", from "*wōđaz". The weak verb "*wōđjanan", also derived from "*wōđaz", gave rise to Old Norse "æða" 'to rage', Old English "wēdan" 'to be mad, furious', Old Saxon "wōdian" 'to rage', and Old High German "wuoten" 'to be insane, to rage'. Over 170 names are recorded for Odin. These names are variously descriptive of attributes of the god, refer to myths involving him, or refer to