Jack Frost is a personification of frost, ice, snow, sleet, winter, and freezingcold. He is a variant of Old Man Winter who is held responsible for frosty weather, nipping the fingers and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, and leaving fern-like patterns on cold windows in winter.
Starting in late 19th century literature, more developed characterizations of Jack Frost depict him as a sprite-like character, sometimes appearing as a sinister mischief-maker or as a hero.
Background
Frost on a window
Jack Frost is traditionally said to leave the frosty, fern-like patterns on windows on cold winter mornings (window frost or fern frost) and nipping the extremities in cold weather. Over time, window frost has become far less prevalent in the modern world due to the advance of double-glazing, but Jack Frost remains a well-known figure in popular culture. He is sometimes described or depicted with paint brush and bucket coloring the autumnal foliage red, yellow, brown, and orange.[1]
History
Tales of Jack Frost may originate from Anglo-Saxon and Norse winter customs. The Finnish equivalent Pakkasukko has an entire chapter named after him in Kalevala, the Finnish national epic compiled from their ancient oral tradition. In Swedish folklore, the equivalent is Kung Bore (King Bore); the name originating from Swedish 17'th century writer Olaus Rudbeck.
There are various other mythological beings who take on a similar role yet have a unique folklore to them. In Russia, he has taken on a different form as Grandfather Frost, and in Germany there is instead a different entity altogether known as Mrs. Holle. The Hindu Kush mountain range is named after stories of a resident giant who would kill (kesh) those who attempted to pass, and has been compared to England's Jack Frost.[2][3]
The earliest reference to Jack Frost in literature[4] is in the book 'Round About Our Coal Fire, or Christmas Entertainments' published in 1734.[5]
Jack Frost is mentioned in many songs – such as the wintertime song "The Christmas Song" (aka "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire") – and movies. He has been presented as a villain in some media and a hero in others.
Hannah Flagg Gould's (1789-1865) poem "The Frost" features a mischievous being responsible for the quieter phenomena of winter, beautiful ice paintings on windows but who also got upset at lack of gifts and caused the cold to break and ruin things.[6]
In Margaret T. Canby's "Birdie and His Fairy Friends" (1874), there is a short story titled "The Frost Fairies." In this story, Jack Frost is the king of the Winter Spirits and is described as a kind fellow who wants to help children, whereas a king of a neighboring kingdom, King Winter, is cruel to them. The story tells the origins of how Jack Frost began to oversee the coloring of the leaves of the forest in fall.
In Charles Sangster's "Little Jack Frost", published in The Aldine, (Vol.7, No.16, 1875) Jack Frost is a playful being who runs around playing pranks and 'nose-biting', coating places with snow before being chased off by Dame Nature for spring.[7]
In L. Frank Baum's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1902), Jack Frost is the son of the otherwise unnamed Frost King. He takes pleasure in nipping "scores of noses and ears and toes", but Santa Claus, who likes Jack (who he sees as a "jolly rogue") though he mistrusts him, asks him to spare the children. Jack says he will, if he can resist the temptation. The same Jack appears in "The Runaway Shadows", a short story by Baum. In this story, he has the power to freeze shadows, separating them from their owners, making them their own living entities.[citation needed]
Jack Frost has appeared as a minor character in the Rupert Bear stories.
In the Rainbow Magic books by Daisy Meadows, Jack Frost is an antagonist who causes trouble in Fairyland. He is accompanied by pesky goblins who steal the fairies' important objects, and try to sabotage them.
In Amy Wilson's The Lost Frost Girl, Jack Frost’s daughter Owl discovers powers she’s inherited from Jack and ventures into the world of the fae.[8]
Comics
Jack Frost appears in Windsor McCay's comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland, first being mentioned in a strip published in 1906 and then appearing in another strip published the subsequent year.[9]
Jack Frost is the alias of Dane McGowan one of the main characters from the 1990s Vertigo series The Invisibles.
In Jack of Fables (a Fables spinoff) the titular character became Jack Frost for a period of time. A second Jack Frost ("Jack too, or Jack two") appears as the son of Jack Horner and The Snow Queen.
Films
Jack Frost, a Russian film from 1964, has the title Morozko—the Russian equivalent of Jack Frost.
^Bartholomew F. Bland, Laura L. Vookles, William H. Gerdts, Laura L. Vookles. (2010) Paintbox Leaves: Autumnal Inspiration from Cole to Wyeth. Hudson River Museum. p. 41. ISBN0943651301.Tveten, John L. and Gloria Tveten. (2008). Nature at Your Doorstep: A Nature Trails Book. Texas A&M University Press. p. 47. ISBN1603440364.
^“The Upper Basin of the Kabul River,” C. R. Markham. Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography New Monthly Series, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Feb., 1879), pp. 110-121.
^Rollo's Museum. Jacob Abbott. Boston, Weeks, Jordan, and Company. 1839, p. 185.
