Who is Jack Frost and what is he doing with our windows?

Dear friends, we are on the verge of the Christmas holidays, but we are sure that even at this time of the year you have not abandoned your English language training. Training Center Raya London is once again bringing to your attention this short and fun article to discover new things about British culture, while helping you learn English. Switch between the language versions of our page and you will be able to compare the text in Bulgarian and English.

So … Have you ever wondered who had made these beautiful frosty drawings on your car window sitting there in an early frosty morning? Who is nipping our fingers and toes when we find ourselves standing outside in the cold weather during winter? And who was the one who made sure that the leaves will no longer dance in their green colour, but in the fall they will become pumpkin-yellow, fiery red or rusty-orange when they do their dance towards the cooling earth? The children know more about this than we do, and they will whisper to us, “Jack Frost!”.

But who is Jack Frost ?! We, as adults, want to know exactly where this mischievous stranger came from and what on Earth he did to our windows?!

The origin of all tales, stories and mentioning of the frosty naughty character is either Anglo-Saxon or Nordic, i.e. the stories about him come from the North Germanic tribes, the ancestors of today’s Scandinavians. He is mentioned in both cultures and there is a whole chapter about him on Kalevala – epic poetry based on Karelian and Finnish myths, compiled in the 19th century by Elias Lönnrot – a scholar and collector of northern traditional poetry. The first mentioning of this character in literature dates back to 1734 in the book “Round about our Coal Fire or Christmas Entertainments”.

The name Jack probably comes from the English language of the 16th and 17th centuries AD, where in spoken language the word “jack” just had the meaning of a man, a person. There is a similar figure in almost all mythologies of the population of Earth – Russian, Tibetan, Japanese and many others. Sometimes he appears to be the hero, sometimes – he is the mischievous one, the villain. He doesn’t have a certain appearance, that is why in every different story– fairytale, movie, musical – he has a different face. But something that is always typical about him is that there are icicles in the end of his features, with sharp, frost tips, and his colours are the colors of winter – white-bluish. He is not just frosting our windows with fern-like patterns, he is also often the one taking control of the weather, bringing snowstorms and cold. In some tales, his equivalent figure is a woman who, by tapping her fluffy pillows through the window, is actually making the snowfall.

One of the most beloved transformations of the image of Jack Frost is in the animated film of DreamWorks Company in 2012 – The Rise of the Guardians. The character there is a slim, tall and irritated boy with white hair, who knows nothing about himself, but he discovers that he can do various ice spells. Together with other fairy-tale characters, he fights against the fears that attack children’s dreams.

In addition to Santa Claus, Jack Frost is another important winter figure who inhabits the tales and myths of so many nations. It somehow gives to winter and cold a nice and bearable face.

Dear friends, continue your English language training at the Training Centre Raya London and you will soon feel how advanced you are even starting from a beginner level. We wish you bright, warm and blessed holidays! Our new articles will come soon! If you like them, share them with friends on social media!

Author: Iveta Radeva