But the 5th of December belongs to Krampus and the bunch. Both Krampus and St. Nicholas have their origins in pagan celebrations of the winter solstice. As was often the case, these celebrations ...

"This story in particular, it really kind of humanised him for me and made him a far more interesting character than I think he's normally portrayed," says University of Winchester's Brian Thornton.

Whilst the custom doesn’t have a clear cut origin story, it has also been associated with pre-Christian pagan practices ... some money as a young man, St Nicholas would throw bags of gold ...