Sinterklaas Sinterklaas Sinterklaas () or "Sint-Nicolaas" () is a legendary figure based on Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children. Other names for the figure include "De Sint" ("The Saint"), "De Goede Sint" ("The Good Saint"), and "De Goedheiligman" ("The Good Holy Man") in Dutch; "Saint Nicolas" in French; "Sinteklaas" in West Frisian; "Sinterklaos" in Limburgs; "Saint-Nikloi" in West Flemish; and "Kleeschen" and "Zinniklos" in Luxembourgish. The feast of "Sinterklaas" celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas on 6 December. The feast is celebrated annually with the giving of gifts on St. Nicholas' Eve (5 December) in the Netherlands and on the
The Patron Saint of Eels The Patron Saint of Eels The Patron Saint of Eels (2005) is a novel by Australian author Gregory Day. It won the 2006 ALS Gold Medal. A moral tale, the novel tells the story of an Italian saint, Fra Ionio, who comes down from heaven to the small Australian town of Mangowak, to save some eels trapped in a ditch and to teach life lessons to some locals. Lisa Gorton in "The Age" noted that the novel "is gentle in spirit, reverent and celebratory", and "is as much a tribute to the life of a small town as it is