Secular Christmas stories man with supernatural powers living at the North Pole, much like magic and powerful characters in mythology: Santa Claus has supernatural powers and uses them to magnanimously deliver gifts to children around the world. Santa was based on the legends of Saint Nicholas. Santa was given an amplified mythological identity in the Clement Moore poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (the title of which is often misidentified as "Twas The Night Before Christmas.") Comparative mythologies have also noted the ancient Germanic myths of Thor driving a cart led by goats in the sky (which led to the folklore of the
Saint Nicholas Lycia" on the tenth line of a list of attendees at the Council of Nicaea recorded by the historian Theodoret in the "Historiae Ecclesiasticae Tripartitae Epitome", written sometime between 510 and 515. A single, offhand mention of Nicholas of Myra also occurs in the biography of another saint, Saint Nicholas of Sion, who apparently took the name "Nicholas" to honor him. "The Life of Saint Nicholas of Sion", written around 250 years after Nicholas of Myra's death, briefly mentions Nicholas of Sion visiting Nicholas's tomb to pay homage to him. According to Jeremy Seal, the fact that Nicholas had a