Santa Claus's reindeer
In traditional festive legend and popular culture, Santa Claus's reindeer are said to pull a sleigh through the night sky to help Santa Claus deliver gifts to children on Christmas Eve.
The number of reindeer characters, and the names given to them (if any) vary in different versions, but those frequently cited in the United States and Canada are the eight listed in Clement Clarke Moore's 1823 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas, the work that is largely responsible for the reindeer becoming popularly known.[1] In the original poem, the names of the reindeer are given as Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder and Blixem.[note 1][3][4]
The popularity of
Many other variations in reindeer names and number have appeared in fiction, music, film and TV.
Origins and history
Single reindeer
The first reference to Santa's sleigh being pulled by a reindeer appears in "Old Santeclaus with Much Delight", an 1821 illustrated children's poem published in New York.[5][6] The names of the author and the illustrator are not known.[6] The poem, with eight colored lithographic illustrations, was published by William B. Gilley as a small paperback book entitled The Children's Friend: A New-Year's Present, to the Little Ones from Five to Twelve.[7] The illustration to the first verse features a sleigh with a sign saying "REWARDS" being pulled by an unnamed single reindeer.
Eight reindeer
The 1823 poem by Clement C. Moore, A Visit from St. Nicholas (also known as 'Twas the Night Before Christmas), is largely credited for the modern Christmas lore that includes eight named reindeer.[8]
The poem was first published in the Sentinel of Troy, New York, on 23 December 1823. All eight reindeer were named, the first six being Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet and Cupid, and the final two "Dunder" and "Blixem" (meaning "thunder" and "lightning")[9] The relevant part of the poem reads:
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! Dunder and Blixem;
"To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
"Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
Moore altered the names of the last two reindeer several times;
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
When Edmund Clarence Stedman collected the poem in his An American Anthology, 1787–1900, he also used "Donder" and "Blitzen", italicising the names.[11]
The modern German spelling of "Donner" came into use only in the early 20th century, well after Moore's death.[9]
L. Frank Baum's ten reindeer
L. Frank Baum's story The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1902) includes a list of ten reindeer, none of which match those in A Visit from St. Nicholas. Santa's principal reindeer are Flossie and Glossie, and he gathers others named Racer and Pacer, Reckless and Speckless, Fearless and Peerless, and Ready and Steady.[12]
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Rudolph's story was originally written in verse by
Appearances in popular media
- Miracle on 34th Street (1947) features the eight reindeer from A Visit from St. Nicholas.
- "Christmas-rock song about Rudolph.[14]
- Prancer, a 1989 film which tells of a young girl who finds an injured reindeer.
- Dasher and Dancer appear in Prep & Landing, a 2009 Christmas special by Walt Disney Animation Studios.
- Let's Go Dancing With Santa is a song by KC & The Sunshine Band featuring Santa and his reindeer.[15]
See also
- Christmas Mountains
- "Dominick the Donkey"
- "Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr" the flying goats that pull Thor's chariot
- "Sleipnir" Odin's eight-legged horse
Notes
- ^ The names Dunder and Blixem derive from Dutch words for thunder and lightning, respectively. The German spellings "Donner" and "Blitzen" are now used.[2]
References
- ^ Moore, Clement C. (2 December 1823). "An Account of A Visit from St. Nicholas". Troy Sentinel. p. 2. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
- ^ Emery, David. "Donner, Donder, or Dunder?". ThoughtCo. Archived from the original on 14 October 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
- ISBN 9780822549833.
- ISBN 9781884956713.
- ISBN 0-7710-1531-3.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7710-1668-4.
- ^ "A New-Year's present, to the little ones from five to twelve". The Children's Friend. III. Broadway, New York: Gilley, William B. 1821.
- ISBN 0-7864-0246-6.
- ^ OCLC 1120057499.
- ^ "Donner or Donder". 23 December 2014.
- ^ Stedman, Edmund Clarence (ed.). An American anthology, 1787-1900 (6th ed.). Boston, Houghton, Mifflin and company. p. 15.
- ^ Baum, L. Frank (1902). The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. Indianapolis: The Bowen-Merrill company. p. 160.
- ^ Wook Kim (17 December 2012). "Yule Laugh, Yule Cry: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Beloved Holiday Songs (With holiday cheer in the air, TIME takes a closer look at some of the weird stories behind our favorite seasonal tunes)". Time. – "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (p. 3)
- ISBN 0-89820-161-6.
- ^ "Let's Go Dancing with Santa". YouTube. 15 October 2015. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
Further reading
- Puckett, Catherine; Landis, Ben (15 December 2014). "The Other 364 Days of the Year: The Real Lives of Wild Reindeer Categories: Biology and Ecosystems". U.S. Geological Survey. Archived from the originalon 26 November 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
External links
- Media related to Santa Claus' reindeer at Wikimedia Commons