Companions of Saint Nicholas
（重定向自Drapp）
![Saint Nicholas and Krampus visit a Viennese home (1896 illustration).](/Images/godic/202501/10/Nikolaus_krampus3647.jpg")
![The Hans Trapp character in a 1953 photograph taken in Wintzenheim, Alsace.](/Images/godic/202501/10/Hans_Trapp3647.jpeg")
![Knecht Ruprecht (on the left) and St. Nicholas.](/Images/godic/202501/10/Samichlaus_un_Ruprecht3647.jpg")
![A modern Krampus at the Perchtenlauf in Klagenfurt (2006)](/Images/godic/202501/10/Krampus_at_Perchtenlauf_Klagenfurt3647.jpg")
The companions of Saint Nicholas are a group of closely related figures who accompany St. Nicholas throughout the territories formerly in the Holy Roman Empire. These characters act as a foil to the benevolent Christmas gift-bringer, threatening to thrash or abduct disobedient children. Jacob Grimm (Deutsche Mythologie) associated this character with the pre-Christian house spirit (kobold, elf) which could be benevolent or malicious, but whose mischievous side was emphasized after Christianization. The association of the Christmas gift-bringer with elves has parallels in English and Scandinavian folklore, and is ultimately and remotely connected to the modern Christmas elf in American folklore.