As a child, I was always warned by my grandmother to wrap up warm so that Jack Frost didn’t get to me. I, as a four year old child did as I was told and never questioned who this Jack Frost fellow was. However, I have been reading a lot into folklore over the last few months and I have been very interested in some of the stories which I have read it was when searching through folklore that I stumbled upon Jack Frost once again. I welcomed him back into my life (for the purposes of research) and felt the need to find out who or what this creature is and why exactly he was going to “get me” if I did not wrap up warm in winter time.
English folklore says that it is Jack Frost, a little elfish creature that spreads frost on a cold winter’s morning. The origins of Mr Frost are unclear; some believe he is a Viking invention “Jokul” of “Frosti” meaning “Icicle” or “Frost”. It is said that Jack Frost is son of Kari, God of the winds. Others think the fellow is an Anglo-Saxon creation, which ever you choose to believe, it still means that Jack Frost personifies the crisp cold weather of winter and therefore is to blame for the ice on the roads when we are trying to get to work in winter time or when are car doors are jammed shut as they have been frozen to the body of the car.
In Russia, Jack Frost is known as Father Frost, whose job is to bind together Earth and water with heavy chains, In Germany, it is an old woman who creates the snow when she shakes out her bed of white feathers.
Jack Frost has been portrayed in many works of fiction over the years, Cecily Pike wrote a nursery rhyme about the creature which began with the words “Look out! Look out! Jack Frost is about! He’s after your fingers and toes!” This is a scary prospect for a child to be singing about, but if it helps to make children wrap up warm then I guess it works. Other works of fiction include; the appearance of Jack Frost in Santa Claus 3, where he tried to steel the job of Santa, the creature also appears as a minor character in Terry Pratchett’s Reaper Man and Hogfather, amongst other literary appearances.
Jack Frost also has references in popular culture; Bob Dylan used the name Jack Frost as a pseudonym when he produced his album Love and Theft (2001) and his record Modern Times.
So next winter, when you see the first signs of frost, just think about the small elf-like creature who is responsible for depositing it there, and before you moan about the icy ground once you’ve slipped over, just stop and think how beautiful the frost looks when its on the trees. Just don’t forget to wrap up warm your fingers and toes are quite valuable after all!