Old Mother Frost is a project I began when my son's first Yule/Christmas was approaching. I assumed finding a children's story on the pagan origins of Christmas wouldn't be difficult. I was wrong. I became frustrated after a few hours, and my Internet search quickly turned into research. That research quickly turned into jot-notes, and those jot notes quickly turned into my first draft of 'Old Mother Frost'. Old Mother Frost is a collection of legends and folklore I gathered about a German goddess named Frau Holle. She has many names; among them are: Mother Hulda, Mother Holle, Holla, Holda, Perchta, Berchta, Berta, Bertha, and The Oak Queen. Frau Holle is the Goddess of Hearth and Home, and in some tales she rides through the skies with The Wild Hunt. Sometimes she is depicted with several children as she guards and cares for their souls; and other times she is only present during the longest and coldest parts of the year, which just happens to be Yuletide.
Her most iconic feature is still heard throughout Germany today when it starts to snow. It's then you'll hear people say, "Frau Holle must be making her bed again." This is because Frau Holle lives in the sky. When she wakes up she shakes her bed out of the window, and the feathers that fall from it turn to snow.
Her nature is kept alive throughout my book in a simple way tailored for children: She's a magical matriarch who cares deeply for children. She finds importance in children being well-behaved, taken care of, and helping around the house; and she will reward such behaviour with a blessing or a gift. Frau Holle is very old and often depicted as an 'Old Hag' with shape-shifting abilities. I made sure her story starts with an elderly version of herself, only for her to come to Earth appearing as a young maiden called 'Mother Hulda'. The story includes aspects of Nordic descent that modern children from many backgrounds can relate to: The Yule Tree (Christmas Tree), crafting, candles, cooking, and a gift left behind for children the night of December 24th; which coincidentally is the date that concludes the 12 days of Yuletide. **Edit: The date of Yule is celebrated on different days depending on personal beliefs/customs. In the ancient world pagans/heathens would celebrate it for three days and on the third full moon after Winternights; Following that it was celebrated on the Winter Solstice; Then it was given the date of December 21; Today modern Scandinavia celebrates it on December 24th every year. My goal for this book is to reintroduce the pagan origins of Christmas back into the English-speaking world in a humble and all-inclusive way. It's important for me to do this because I want to raise my son feeling connected to his Swedish/German heritage without feeling left-out of the Christmas dominated western culture. I hope you've enjoyed my first introduction of my little story. I am very excited to officially launch 'Old Mother Frost' on November 13th, 2020 (in respect for Remembrance Day prior to the holiday kick off). If you are interested in getting a copy of 'Old Mother Frost', please click on the 'Waiting List' button at the top of the page or e-mail me your request. In the meantime, feel free to follow me on my social media pages. I provide weekly content to help provide parents with kid-friendly facts, resources and quotes on Facebook and Instagram. If you're looking for ways to introduce your kids to Norse Mythology, Vikings, and the history of the Old Norse lifestyle give my pages a like or follow by searching @PaganKids.
For any purchasing or business inquiries, email me at: booksbyhartman@gmail.com, or click on the 'Waiting List' button on my home page. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog! Sincerely, Jennifer Hartman
Author, Old Mother Frost
#NorseMythology #PaganLiterature #ChildrensBooks #NorsePagan #Yule
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