Jack Frost

19th century cartoon of Jack Frost as a United States major-general during the American Civil War

Jack Frost is an elfish creature who personifies crisp, cold, winter weather; a variant of Father Winter (AKA Old Man Winter). He is a figure some believe to have originated in Viking folklore.

He is said to leave frosty crystal patterns on windows on cold mornings. Those who believe in Viking folklore roots state that the English derived the name Jack Frost from the Norse character names, Jokul ("icicle") and Frosti ("frost"). Another theory is that he is a much more recent import into Anglo-Saxon culture from a Russian fairy tale. In the Finnish epos Kalevala Canto number 30, translated from Finnish into English by Keith Bosley, Jack Frost is the son of Blast, "Pakkanen Puhurin Poika" (see Finnish Kalevala). Other tales in Russia represent frost as Father Frost, a smith who binds water and earth together with heavy chains. In Germany however, it is an old woman who causes it to snow by shaking white feathers out of her bed.

In fiction

• Cecily Pike wrote a children's nursery song describing Jack Frost as a "gay little sprite" and beginning with the words "Look out! Look out! Jack Frost is about! He's after your fingers and toes!"
• Laurell K. Hamilton's Meredith Gentry series has a character who within the context of the book is discovered to be the original Jack Frost.
• Jack Frost is a Russo-Finnish film from 1964. Its Russian title is Morozko, who is the Russian equivalent of Jack Frost. It was riffed mercilessly on Mystery Science Theater 3000, episode #813. In another production, Jack Frost is jealous of Frosty the Snowman because of all the attention he gets from the children, so he tries to preempt him by stealing his magic hat.
• Jack Frost was a claymation Rankin-Bass Christmas TV special (1979) in which Jack Frost fell in love with a human girl and so asked to become human. Father Winter granted his wish, but told him that if he did not have a house, a horse, a bag of gold, and a wife by "the first sign of spring" he would become a sprite again.
• Jack is the star of three movies, two of which are named Jack Frost.
  • In one Jack Frost, a serial killer is turned into a snowman, and continues his rampage. This movie spawned a sequel also starring this version of Jack Frost.
  • In the other Jack Frost, Michael Keaton plays a human by the name of Jack Frost, who is killed in a car crash on Christmas Eve. A year later, he returns as a snowman to spend time with his son and make up for all the times his band forced him to miss out on events in his son's life.
• Jack Frost is also a trademark character for the Japanese game developer ATLUS and mascot of Megami Tensei video game series.
• Jack Frost is the name of a superhero published by Timely Comics (now Marvel Comics) in the 1940s. He appeared as a man covered in ice and could project ice and cold.
• Jack Frost is the alter-ego of Dane McGowan in the comic book series The Invisibles, written by Grant Morrison.
• Jack Frost appears in The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause played by Martin Short. This character is jealous of the attention Santa Claus (Tim Allen) receives and wants to assume the position of Santa Claus.
• Jack Frost is a pseudonym of the guitarist of the Seven Witches. Apart from his work on Seven Witches he has also released two solo albums, many famous (heavy) metal artists joining him.
• Jack Frost is a song by doom metal band Saint Vitus
• Jack Frost appears as a minor character in the books Reaper Man and Hogfather by Terry Pratchett.
• Jack Frost is an evil ice general in AdventureQuest.

• Jack Frost appears as a major character in Ed McCray's novel Jill Chill & the Baron of Glacier Mountain [http://www.edmccray.com}

In pop culture

• Jack Frost was used by Bob Dylan as a pseudonym for when he produced his 2001 album Love and Theft, as well as his 2006 record, Modern Times.
• Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow is a Christmas song by progressive rock band Jethro Tull.

Frost is a Main Character in The Merry Gentry Series Written By Laurell K. Hamilton

See also

• Father Frost

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