by - December 21st, 2010
Mr. Bennett addresses the myth that "Santa
Claus lives in a workshop at the North Pole:"
"This is not quite correct.
Reports indicate that the Yule King does not live at the North Pole, but rather
underneath a frigid mountain that forms the top of the world. It is similar to
Olympus, but much starker and with much more brutal weather. And the King does
not actually live there, but instead sleeps in an enormous cavern in the very
heart of the peak. The nature of the cavern is a subject of some debate: some
believe it is like an ornate tomb or dour cenotaph, while others claim it is
filled with the statues of the King’s many servants, while others contend that
it is filled with gears and machinery. Some suggest it is a bit of all of them.
This can easily be believed, as the Country in the North (as it is called) is
reported to be a very strange and dangerous place; some reckless adventurers
who traveled there returned years later full of confusing stories, yet the
strangest thing was that they did not seem to have aged a day.
Wayland’s Smithy, which is believed to be
similar to Santa's chamber.
The Yule King’s beard, oddly enough, is
closely linked to his chamber: as he sleeps for the remaining 361 days of the
year, the beard continues to grow, eventually filling the entire room and
providing much-needed insulation against the bitter winds that swirl throughout
the Country in the North. When he wakes, his servants trim it back. The
insulation is not actually necessary – the Yule King would sleep anyway – but
it ensures that he will be well-rested, putting him in a good mood and making
his Yuletide foray much better for everyone. For example, there have been only
two known instances of the Yule King killing anyone on his Yuletide foray since
his servants started allowing his beard to grow out in 1351.
The idea of Santa’s workshop probably comes
from some confusion over the nature of his sleeping chamber. A very popular
record says that the snowy peak on his mountain stays frozen throughout the
year until the winter solstice approaches. When the light begins to fade from
the sky, the snow there does the precise opposite of what you would expect:
rather than staying frozen, it is melted by the growing dark.
Illustration from: http://www.megaliths.net/photobank.htm
(Some sources
indicate that it is melted by a particular blend of starlight, created only
when certain constellations are arranged above the mountain, which happens only
at the solstice; regardless, the effect is the same.)
The melted water then
runs down the mountain and is funneled into many carven flutes and passageways,
which eventually end in the Yule King’s sleeping chamber..."
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