#schmutzli

day 30 of horror mythology: schmutzli

The Alphabet of Christmas, by Benito Cereno and Chuck Knigge, day 19: S is for Schmutzli, all covered in soot

Schmutzli is the companion of Saint Nicholas in the German-speaking regions of Switzerland, where the saint is known as Samichlaus. The word schmutz means dirt, which is reflected by Schmutzli’s dirty appearance, covered in soot from going up and down chimneys. 

You’ve probably gotten the idea of the dark companion by now. His job is to accompany Saint Nicholas and play bad cop to his good cop, threatening naughty children with his weapon of choice, which in this case is a birch broom.

There is apparently a story book that gives Schmutzli’s origin, saying that he was a poor woodcutter rewarded for picking up the treats that fell out of a hole in Samichlaus’s sack, but this doesn’t scan for me. It doesn’t fit the existing lore, and also being a dark companion of Saint Nicholas is not generally a reward. It’s usually a penance. While Saint Nicholas definitely has some helpers like Piet and Ruprecht that don’t seem to have crimes in their background, the ones that look like Schmutzli tend to have dark pasts. Needless to say, I go with a different origin for Schmutzli.

You can see a comic Chuck and I made starring Schmutzli here. Or you can watch a short video of Schmutzli in action that recounts some of his possible origins here.

S is also for:

Santa Claus, of whom you may have heard

Speckless and Steady, reindeer

Schimmel, Slechtveervandaag, and Sasmona, horses

Schimmelreiter, a Krampus

Shealah, another of those most mysterious of beasts, a Maritimes gift-bringer 

Happy Saint Nicholas Day!

This story is based on a rare example of a St Nicholas story that has its origins in the New World. Don’t look too hard for accurate historical details, though. This is a “once upon a time” kind of tale. Additionally, this is not at all some claim to be the origin of the term “baker’s dozen,” which has its origins in the Middle Ages. This is just a story.

In the traditional version of the story, the baker’s visitor is usually St Nicholas himself in disguise. We, however, took the chance to introduce Schmutzli, who is Saint Nicholas’s companion in Switzerland, and who as a result would not be familiar to a Dutch American. Saint Nicholas’s traditional Dutch companion, Piet, makes an appearance on the last page.

Samichlaus and Schmutzli

Every year on December 6, kids in Switzerland better not be procrastinating because this is the traditional Santa Day. On this day, "Samichlaus" (as he is called in Swiss German) and his companion "Schmutzli" emerge from their cottage in the woods to visit children at their homes. They do not fly on a reindeer-pulled sleigh, either, but rather shuffle through the snow with a donkey.