Jack Frost is the imaginary sprite who is supposed to trace the patterns that frost makes on trees, windows, and other objects. The sprite appears in nursery rhymes and stories as an elflike character representing nipping cold.
Jack Frost might have originated in Scandinavia. In Norse mythology, Kari, god of the winds, had a son named Jokul or Frosti. Jokul means icicle and Frosti means frost. Frosti had a son named Snjo, meaning snow. In Russia, frost is represented as Father Frost, a mighty smith who binds the earth and waters with his chains. In German tales, frost sometimes appears as an old woman. When Old Mother Frost shakes her bed, white feathers fly and snow begins to fall.
