Not Yeti Friday - Snowlems

When it's winter, you celebrate in a seasonal manner by building snowmen. You just do.**

In 1950, Gene Autry wanted another hit after his "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" song became so popular the previous Christmas. So his writers pitched the idea of a snowman who comes to life.



Frosty the Snowman is the most famous example of a snowlem, or snow golem. Not to be confused with their cousins the ice golems, snowlems are a common trope in fiction. Consult the great TV Tropes to learn more.

The earliest representation of the snowlem as a bit of an evil monster that I could find is this disturbing 1932 cartoon:



Yes, snowlems can be nasty. Allow me to digress for a moment.

We all know the nickname for the yeti is the Abominable Snowman. According to the wikipedia entry, it's all due to a wacky mistake. When learning the Tibetan name for the beast, reporter Henry Newman mistranslated it as "Filthy Snowman", rather than what it actually was: "MAN-BEAR SNOWMAN". Henry did the only sensible thing and took some creative license, changing the name from "Filthy" to "Abominable". I think we're all glad he didn't go with Filthy Snowman.

It seems safe to say we can largely credit Henry for the popularity of the yeti. I mean, just honoring it with the appellation "Abominable" served it very well over the years. It's probably why Hergé, Rankin/Bass, and Looney Tunes put yeti in their stories to begin with. "Abominable" just captures the imagination, and provokes the question, "Is he really that abominable?"

But wow, can you imagine if he'd gotten the translation right? We'd be calling him Man-Bear Snowman! Would we think of him more as a Were-bear, rather than an ape-guy?

Anyway, one thing Henry got right was the "Snowman" part of the name. And forever more, the yeti shares its nickname with a winter holiday icon.

And now, some snowlems...


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One more thing!

Superman has always had a rivalry with yeti. But did you know that Superman had numerous quarrels with snowlems as well? It's inevitable, I know. The guy just never could maintain good relationships.

In 1948, two years before the original "Frosty the Snowman" song, Superman battled a gentlemanly snowlem:



And apparently, last year, in the DC Universe Holiday Special 09, "Dupes" battles a an actual "Snow Golem" with the emet on his forehead and everything.

Superman, stop it!

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** (Like snowmen? For an equivalent of this blog, a sort of "I Love the Snowman", check out History of the Snowman.)