Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Legends -- Preface to the Original Edition -- Preface to the English Edition -- 1. The St.Nicholas Celebrations and their Origin -- A Vital Piece of Folklore -- The 'Mythological' Concept and the Fertility Motif -- Short History of the Church Cult -- Legends and Patronates -- The Development of Customs According to Meisen -- Criticism and Evaluation -- 2. Psychoanalytic Interpretation -- The Psychoanalytic Approach -- Eros and Psyche -- Images and Symbolism in Unconscious Expression: 1. Freud -- Images and Symbolism in Unconscious Expression: 2. Jung -- Multiple Meaning and Its Problems -- Differentiation and Ambiguity -- Biopsychological Prototypes -- 3. Aspects of the Nicolaus Figure -- Nicolaus and the Family -- The Symbolism of Conception and Birth in the Legends -- The Evil Will and the Good Creation -- Byzantine Backgrounds -- The Story of the Three Generals (Praxis de Stratelatis) -- Nikolaos and Artemis -- St. Nicholas and the Sailors -- The Medieval Patron -- Enduring Aspects of the Nicolaus Figure -- Appendix -- Notes -- Bibliography -- List of Illustrations