I Heard the Bell-Snickle on Christmas Day

[vovat]

One of the oddest creatures in the Land of Oz (which is really saying something) is the Bell-Snickle, a creature made of rubber with bells on its ears, resembling (in the words of John Bell) an overgrown whoopie cushion. He's the main villain in The Scalawagons of Oz, but he's mischievous rather than evil. His main motivation is to be recognized as a mystery (as paradoxical as that sounds), and eliminate all other mysteries around him, causing a lot of trouble along the way. As you might have guessed (or already know, if you've read the book), he's a pretty lame villain, but an interesting creation nonetheless. Ozma eventually puts him to work as a rubber stamp in Jenny Jump's style shop, and a rubber stopper who puts a stop to various wrongs in the county. (The book was written in the early forties, so job creation would have been familiar to contemporary readers, as it might easily become in the next few years as well.) The reason I bring the Snickle up at this time of year is that his name is actually connected to a certain holiday gift-giver. You see, the term "Belsnickel" (or "Pelznickel") means "Nicholas in Furs," and was the name of St. Nicholas in parts of Germany. Later, it came to mean not the jolly saint himself, but his helper, much in the same vein as Black Peter. In Pennsylvania Dutch culture (which might well have been how John R. Neill, a resident of New Jersey, would have become familiar with the name), the Belsnickel was a fearsome creature who carried a whip and distributed coal and switches to the bad children. So does the Bell-Snickle of Oz have any connection to Santa, who is himself an established part of the Baumian fantasy universe? The book doesn't make any indication of this, but I could imagine him being a failed attempt at a new toy, which somehow made its way into Oz. But if that is the case, I would imagine the Bell-Snickle wouldn't want it to get out, as he prefers to remain a mystery.

Okay, I'm still doing the happiness meme, so what made me happy today was that I received the latest issue of The Baum Bugle, and it deals primarily with Ozian geography. That makes me more excited than it probably should. Also, yesterday, I bought the first issue of Marvel Comics' new adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. As I mentioned before, the art by Skottie Young is rather weird, especially as far as the characters' oversized heads and skinny legs go. They're accurate to the books, though, and I like his original takes on some of the characters, including the Wicked Witch of the West and Boq. I'm looking forward to the next issue, which will most likely introduce the Tin Woodman and Cowardly Lion.

Comments

bell-snickel, bell-snickel, can you guess who I am?

[bec-87rb.livejournal.com]

In Pennsylvania Dutch culture (which might well have been how John R. Neill, a resident of New Jersey, would have become familiar with the name), the Belsnickel was a fearsome creature who carried a whip and distributed coal and switches to the bad children.

Bell-snickeling in some of the more German parts of Virginia involved adults disguising themselves, then a group of you would visit around to other people's houses, and the host would have to guess who you were. Then, you eat cake! And drink booze, possibly. My auntie says that cross-dressing was part of the fun, and she remembers people trying to disguise their voices, too. She said the adults laughed themselves silly over this activity.

She mentioned that Penn Dutch people who were Brethren and Mennonite did not participate, it was Lutherans, Methodists, etc.

Re: bell-snickel, bell-snickel, can you guess who I am?

[vovat.livejournal.com]

That's pretty interesting. I've heard that there are such things as belsnickel cookies and cakes, too.

[punterschlagen.livejournal.com]

I recently spent a weekend with my sister in St. Marys, PA (that's right, no apostrophe in St. Marys), during Belsnickel, which is a major event, celebrated on Dec. 6 (St. Nicholas Day). There's a lot of German-descended people in the town who follow this tradition, with presents and special cakes and the like. Apparently bad children are threatened with switches and good kids get candy in their shoes. Also, you can hire a dressed up Belsnickel to come to your house (with a Krampus too, if you want) - to bring presents or frighten your children, depending on your whim.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

that's right, no apostrophe in St. Marys

I think I remember reading that no towns in the country have apostrophes in their names, aside from Martha's Vineyard and maybe one or two others.

From what I've seen of the Krampus, he's pretty cool. Makes the Grinch look like a pansy. {g}