You may ask how I came to chose Father Christmas of the Three Mountains as my “handle” for my portrayal of Santa Claus and as the name of my business.

I 1st put the red suit on in 2017 and would visit with family and a few friends and on Christmas Eve would wave to travelers headed over Mt. Hood for the holiday. A friend of mine knew this and approached me to see if I would portray Santa Claus for an event where she was in charge of children’s activities. This event was an S.C.A. (Society for Creative Anachronism), a nonprofit organization dedicated to recreating the 600-1600’s through role-playing, arts & crafts, and other subject matter of the time period.

This event was held in what is known as The Barony of Three Mountains (Multnomah and Clackamas Counties in Oregon USA). I agreed to doing this event. Now the name Santa Claus, was 1st printed in 1773, nearly 200 years after the time period which was being recreated for this event. Whereas Father Christmas was 1st used in 1616 and the personification of Father Christmas was known as early as the 15th century. This was a much more likely fit for the role I would have in such an event.

I chose the name Father Christmas of the Three Mountains based on this event, and liked it so much so that I kept it and created my logo based on this name.

I continue to participate in this even annually, and interesting enough I am no longer known as Father Christmas, but rather as Father Yule. Likewise, my Mrs. Claus at this event is known as Mother Yule.

The Barony of the Three Mountains took its name from the Klickitat Native American Tribe’s legend of “The Three Mountains” which is a legend about Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Adams located here within the Pacific Northwest. A story of love, rivalry, betrayal, and jealousy. If you get the chance google the story and have a good read.

Father Christmas of the Three Mountains

Daily writing prompt

Where did your name come from?

View all responses