Santa Claus much to Odin, the old blue-hooded, cloaked, white-bearded Giftbringer of the north, who rode the midwinter sky on his eight-footed steed Sleipnir, visiting his people with gifts. […] Odin, transformed into Father Christmas, then Santa Claus, prospered with St Nicholas and the Christchild, became a leading player on the Christmas stage." In Finland Santa Claus is called Joulupukki (direct translation 'Christmas Goat'). Pre-modern representations of the gift-giver from Church history and folklore, notably St Nicholas (known in Dutch as Sinterklaas), merged with the English character Father Christmas to create the character known to Americans and the rest of the English-speaking
Santa Claus in film what he will be if he isn't Santa. Several films have been created which explore the consequences should an impostor Santa take over. Probably one of the first films featuring a fake Santa Claus is the 1914 silent film, "The Adventure of the Wrong Santa Claus", written by Frederic Arnold Kummer. In this film, a bogus Santa steals all the Christmas presents and amateur detective Octavius (played by Herbert Yost) tries to recover them. Arguably the most notorious impostor appears in the 1966 cartoon based on Dr. Seuss's children's book, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!", wherein the Grinch attempts to