Santa Claus's reindeer

Santa Claus's reindeer is a team of flying reindeer traditionally held to pull the sleigh of Santa Claus and help him deliver Christmas gifts. The commonly cited names of the reindeer are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder (or Donner), and Blitzen. They are based on those used in the 1823 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, arguably the basis of reindeer's popularity as Christmas symbols, where Donner and Blitzen were originally called Dunder and Blixem respectively.[1][2]

The subsequent popularity of the Christmas song Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has led to Rudolph often joining the list.

Contents

List of reindeer

Commonly known names

In common parlance, Santa Claus's sleigh is led by nine reindeer, as follows:

The names of Donner and Blitzen derive from Germanic words for thunder and lightning.

Origins

The original eight reindeer

The 1823 poem by Clement C. Moore "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (also known as "The Night Before Christmas" or "Twas the Night Before Christmas") is largely credited for the contemporary Christmas lore that includes the eight flying reindeer and their names.[3]

The relevant segment of the poem reads:

when, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
but a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny rein-deer,
with a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and call'd them by name:
"Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer, and Vixen!
"On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donder and Blitzen!
"Grab me a pot noodle Dave!

"To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
"Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

In An American Anthology, 1787–1900, Edmund Clarence Stedman reprints the 1844 Clement Clarke Moore version of the poem, including the German spelling of "Donder and Blitzen," rather than the original 1823 version using the Dutch spelling, "Dunder and Blixem." [4] Both phrases translate as "Thunder and Lightning" in English, though German for thunder is now spelled Donner, and the Dutch words would nowadays be spelled Donder and Bliksem.

Rudolph (the red-nosed reindeer)

Rudolph's story was originally written in verse by Robert L. May for the Montgomery Ward chain of department stores in 1939, and published as a book to be given to children in the store at Christmas time.

According to this story, Rudolph's glowing red nose made him a social outcast among the other reindeer. However, one Christmas Eve Santa Claus was having a lot of difficulty making his flight around the world because it was too foggy. When Santa went to Rudolph's house to deliver his presents he noticed the glowing red nose in the darkened bedroom and decided it could be a makeshift lamp to guide his sleigh. He asked Rudolph to lead the sleigh for the rest of the night, Rudolph accepted and returned home a hero for having helped Santa Claus.

Rudolph's story is a popular Christmas story that has been retold in numerous forms, most notably a popular song, a television special, which departed significantly from Robert L. May's original story, in having Rudolph being Donner's son and living amongst Santa Claus' reindeer from birth, and a feature film.

Portrayals

"A Visit from Saint Nicholas" mentions only that Santa's reindeer are "tiny."[5] As such, most depictions (particularly animated ones) portray the reindeer with features more common to other species of deer or bovid, such as narrower, pointier antlers and more slender frames. (Full-size reindeer, also known as caribou in the United States, are used for most live-action depictions.) The reindeer are usually depicted as being reined double-file in front of the sleigh, with Rudolph alone in the lead. 

Since the original poem, other books, movies, and music have contributed to the Christmas reindeer lore. The 1994 version of the film Miracle on 34th Street, for example, asserts that reindeer can only fly on Christmas Eve. Similarly, the famous 1964 Rankin-Bass stop-motion special on Rudolph asserts that Rudolph is the son of Donner (the 1998 movie has him instead as Blitzen's son).

Additional reindeer

Several literature, television, film and music pieces have made references to other reindeer. In many cases, these are explicitly related to other reindeer already in the fleet.

Film and television

Literature and publications

Music

Radio

Stage productions

See also

References

  1. ^ "First published text"
  2. ^ "Timeline"
  3. ^ Siefker, Phyllis (1997) Santa Claus , McFarland & Company pp 4 ISBN 0786402466
  4. ^ "A Visit from St. Nicholas By Clement Clarke Moore", accessed 12 December 2008
  5. ^ A Visit from St. Nicholas
  6. ^ Edison's blog at WLIT.com. Retrieved 2010-11-15.

External links