Yes, that's about the shape of it, actually. Practically all the classic stories are about blood, despite the better efforts of some well-meaning types to take the blood out.
Well, it's easier to work backwards to explain it. These days, the Hogfather's a fat jolly man in a red robe who goes about (in a sleigh pulled by four boars) on Hogswatchnight to deliver gifts to children.
But he's got his origins in the winter gods that oversaw the pig-killing, and also in the ancient rituals where some poor fellow would be the one who gets a bean in his porridge and then ends up being sacrificed to the gods to make sure the sun will rise and winter will go away. It's still a superstition in some parts that you shouldn't eat beans on Hogswatch. Not that anyone really remembers exactly why; there's just a vague memory somewhere that tells you that you don't.
Which goes for the other beliefs. Ensuring you've got food for the winter becomes the annual holiday meal; celebrating fellowship and community becomes exchanging of gifts. And so on.
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Yes, that's about the shape of it, actually. Practically all the classic stories are about blood, despite the better efforts of some well-meaning types to take the blood out.
Well, it's easier to work backwards to explain it. These days, the Hogfather's a fat jolly man in a red robe who goes about (in a sleigh pulled by four boars) on Hogswatchnight to deliver gifts to children.
But he's got his origins in the winter gods that oversaw the pig-killing, and also in the ancient rituals where some poor fellow would be the one who gets a bean in his porridge and then ends up being sacrificed to the gods to make sure the sun will rise and winter will go away. It's still a superstition in some parts that you shouldn't eat beans on Hogswatch. Not that anyone really remembers exactly why; there's just a vague memory somewhere that tells you that you don't.
Which goes for the other beliefs. Ensuring you've got food for the winter becomes the annual holiday meal; celebrating fellowship and community becomes exchanging of gifts. And so on.
Well, you did ask. I hope that wasn't too dull.
-Susan