Belsnickel, the Christmas Wild Man

Episode 60

For our holiday episode, Timothy and Alison talk Belsnickel, the wild man of Pennsylvania Christmastime. Much fiercer and stranger than a simple proto-Santa Claus figure, Belsnickel was called a "bad faerie" and "half-man, half-beast" - which came from the forest at night to haunt children. Timothy and Alison read multiple historical accounts of the frightening Belsnickel smacking walls, peeking in windows, speaking in unknown languages, and generally behaving like a bigfoot creature. Timothy also presents an old song and a poem about Belsnickel uncovered in the research for this episode.

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Episode 60 notes and links:

The cover art is by Timothy. 

Intro by Clint Granberry of OK Talk: https://oktalk.podbean.com

Moritz Maier and Jerry Drake helped with the translation of the Belsnickel song and Cody Dickerson pointed us to the Belsnickel poem.

Timothy’s books: https://www.amazon.com/Timothy-Renner/e/B072X44SD5

Sarada: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ArtBySarada

Michael Anderson: https://drekka.bandcamp.com

Alison: https://www.etsy.com/shop/odpeacock

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Intro and background music by Stone Breath. You can find more at http://stonebreath.bandcamp.com

All of the music in this episode and the closing song is by Timothy - from the Belsnickel album: https://stonebreath.bandcamp.com/album/belsnickel