Santa and Goblins ?!?

Discovered a nifty little book called Kringle by Tony Abbot. . 

This book has EVERYTHING, elves, goblins, monks, viking/pirates, runes, flying reindeer, even a bit of history. It is an epic fantasy set back around 500 A.D. right as the Romans were leaving the British Isles.  A young orphan boy is being raised by a kind old woman in the middle of the foreset.  He is called Kringle after the sound of a bell being rung by the wing of a sparrow, that his mother heard as he was being born.  The story tells of the boy searching for his guardian after she is kidnapped by goblins, who love the darkness and are working towards engulfing the world in permenent night. 
As he travels he is befriended by elves who spend nights sneaking in and out of human settlements replacing worn out shoes :-)  One night when he is helping them the villiage they are at is attacked by goblins and viking pirates simutaniously (that is a really hard word to spell)  In the wake of helping save the sun of the viking pirate leader, Kringle is taken by them.  Eventually Kringle continues on his quest to rescue Merwen his guardian.  He follows the goblins into there lair where he discovers the priest Alban who shows him where all the children taken by goblins are kept.  They learn that the fear of the children is going to be used to raise a demon of darkness on Long Night, when the goblins are the most powerful.  Alban and Kringle sneak out of the lair and escape by finding the prow of a viking pirate ship that Kringle turns into a sled.  Kringle takes the injured Alban to his mountain top home, where he teaches Kringle about the Holy Child that was born on Long Night to bring peace and hope to all who knew him. 
While spying on the goblins Kringle is rescued from a nasty fall by a majestic magical reindeer who is one of twevle who embody good spirits who have passed on.  Through the reindeer Kringle gets to finally speak with his parents who died the day of his birth.  The reindeer, priest, elves, viking pirates, and villiagers all band together to deafeat the goblins with the help of a time stopping rune that Kringle inherited from the elven elder.  After the goblins have been defeated, Kringle decides that in honor of the Holy Child he will turn Long Night from a time of fear to a time of joy by bringing special toys made by the elves to all the children of the world.  Merwan eventually finds Kringles villiage in the far north and helps him in his endevors which continue until this day.
I love how this book takes the traditional story Santa Claus, the Christmas story of the birth of Jesus, and a really epic fantasy adventure and combines them into something so cohesive and wonderful.  I highly recommened this book to any one who love Christmas, or a good fantasy, or both.

What do you think of this new Santa origin story?  What is your favorite Chirstmas legend