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A parade float with a model of Santa’s reindeer and sleigh in the Toronto Santa Claus Parade, 2009

In traditional Western 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 during the night between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

While various legends offer differing details, the 1823 poem A Visit from St. Nicholas (usually attributed to the American writer Clement Clarke Moore) has proved the most enduring. It describes Santa’s sleigh being pulled by a team of eight reindeer, best known as Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen.[2]

The popularity of the 1939 story “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer“, and the 1949 Christmas song of the same name, has resulted in Rudolph often being included among the team.

Origins and history

Single reindeer

Illustration to the first verse of “Old Santeclaus with Much Delight“, 1821

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.[3][4] The names of the author and the illustrator are not known.[4] 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.[5] 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 usually attributed to Clement C. Moore, A Visit from St. Nicholas, is largely credited for the modern Christmas lore that includes eight named reindeer.[6]

The eight reindeer, as they appeared in the first publication of Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas in 1823

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; the final two, “Dunder” and “Blixem”, are from a Dutch oath meaning “thunder” and “lightning“.[7][8][9] The relevant part of the poem reads:

The eight reindeer, as they appeared in a handwritten manuscript of A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement C. Moore from the 1860s

Moore altered the names of the last two reindeer several times;[9] first to “Donder” and “Blitzen” (to match German Blitzen),[8] as appears in his 1844 version of the poem. The relevant part reads:[10]

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!”

The modern German spelling of “Donner” started to become the standard spelling from the early 20th century, long after Moore’s death,[9][8] though a few examples from the 19th century are known.

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.[37]

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 it was published as a book to be given to children in the store at Christmas time.[38] The 1949 Christmas song “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” by Gene Autry further popularized the character.

The existence of Rudolph has inspired a number of less-enduring relatives, mostly in comedy settings, including an implied son named Robbie and a redneck cousin named Leroy, among others. Due to copyright and trademark complications, most unofficial productions that indirectly refer to Rudolph do so using euphemisms.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The original poem names two reindeer “Dunder” and “Blixem”: Dunder and Blixem derive from Dutch words for thunder and lightning, respectively.[1]
  2. ↑ Uses of “Donner and Blitzen” are known from 1843,[11] 1845,[12] 1866,[13] 1883,[14] 1884,[15] 1891,[16][17][18] 1892,[19] 1893,[20] 1894,[21] 1895,[22] 1897,[23][24] 1898,[25] 1899,[26] and 1900;[27][28][29] and “Donner and Blixen” from 1850,[30] 1857,[31] 1881,[32] 1884,[33] 1895,[34] and 1899.[35][36]

References

  1. ↑ Emery, David. “Donner, Donder, or Dunder?”. ThoughtCo. Archived from the original on 14 October 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  2. ↑ Triefeldt, Laurie (2008). People & Places: A Special Collection. Sanger, CA: Quill Driver Books. p. 77. ISBN 9781884956713.
  3. ↑ “},”publisher”:{“wt”:”McClelland & Stewart Ltd”},”year”:{“wt”:”2005″},”isbn”:{“wt”:”978-0-7710-1668-4″},”page”:{“wt”:”[https://archive.org/details/santaclausbiogra0000bowl/page/37 37]”},”url”:{“wt”:”https://archive.org/details/santaclausbiogra0000bowl/page/37″}},”i”:0}}]}’/>Bowler, Gerry (2005). Santa Claus: a biography. McClelland & Stewart Ltd. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-7710-1668-4.
  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.
  5. ↑ Siefker, Phyllis (1997). Santa Claus, Last of the Wild Men: The Origins and Evolution of Saint Nicholas, Spanning 50,000 Years. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 4. ISBN 0-7864-0246-6.
  6. ↑ Bowler (2005), p. 42.
  7. 1 2 3 “Donner or Donder”. 23 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2014.[better source needed]
  8. 1 2 3 Goodwin, George (2019). Christmas traditions : a celebration of Christmas lore. London: British Library. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-7123-5294-9. OCLC 1120057499.
  9. ↑ Moore, Clement Clarke (1844). “A Visit from St. Nicholas”. Poems. New York: Bartlett & Welford. p. 125.
  10. ↑ “The Visit of St. Nicholas”. Republican Banner. 22 December 1843. p. 2.
  11. ↑ “The Visit of St. Nicholas”. Clarksville Jeffersonian. 20 December 1845. p. 1.
  12. ↑ “A Visit from St. Nicholas”. The Journal of Education for Upper Canada. 19 (12): 187. December 1866.
  13. ↑ Raymond, R. W. (19 December 1883). “How Katy Opened the Door”. Edwardsville Intelligencer. p. 9.
  14. ↑ “St. Nicholas’s Day”. The Indianapolis Journal. 24 December 1884. p. 7.
  15. ↑ “Coming In: Presents for the Poor Tots Arrive in a Generous Stream”. Oakland Tribune. 28 November 1891. p. 1.
  16. ↑ “Christmas: Peace on Earth and Good Will to Men”. Milwaukee Daily News. 24 December 1891. p. 1.
  17. ↑ “Santa Claus’ Visit”. Huntsville Gazette. Vol. 13, no. 4. Huntsville Gazette Company. 26 December 1891.
  18. ↑ Harrower, T. (1892). “The Night Before Christmas”. Studies in Elocution (Enlarged ed.). Thomas Nelson and Sons. p. 115.
  19. ↑ Gassaway, Frank (25 December 1893). “Santa Claus Up to Date”. Santa Cruz Surf. p. 1.
  20. ↑ “Christmas at Washington”. Waukesha Freeman. 4 January 1894. p. 1.
  21. ↑ Ankeny, Martha V. (22 December 1895). “A Visit to St. Nicholas: A Christmas Story”. The Sunday Times; Minneapolis. p. 19.
  22. ↑ “Lesson XXXV: A Visit from St. Nicholas”. Johnson’s Third Reader. Richmond, VA: B. F. Johnson Publishing Co. 1897. p. 128.
  23. 1 2 Fleming, John C. (19 December 1897). “A Costly Christmas”. The Sunday Inter Ocean. p. 35.
  24. ↑ “A Visit from St Nicholas”. Clinch Valley News. 23 December 1898. p. 1.
  25. ↑ Wilcox, Jessie (24 December 1899). “A Snapshot by Santa Claus”. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. p. 20.
  26. ↑ “Up-To-Date Santa Claus”. The Jersey City News. 10 December 1900. p. 3.
  27. ↑ “New York Town Talk”. The Pittsburg Post. 14 December 1900. p. 4.
  28. ↑ “Night Before Christmas”. The Brooklyn Daily Times. 22 December 1900. p. 13.
  29. ↑ Cooper, Susan Fenimore (1850). “Winter”. Rural Hours. New York: George P. Putnam. p. 436.
  30. ↑ “A Visit from Nicholas”. Milwaukee Daily Sentinel. 25 December 1857. p. 3.
  31. ↑ “St. Nicholas’ Night”. Poetic Reader For the Use of Schools: Part 1. London: Marshall Japp & Company. 1881. p. 183.
  32. ↑ “A Visit from Santa Claus”. School Recitation Book: Book IV. Blackwoods’ Educational Series. London & Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons. 1884. p. 32.
  33. ↑ “Christmas Festival”. The Sunday Times: Minneapolis. 29 December 1895. p. 6.
  34. ↑ “Set’s Christmas Stocking”. The Morning Post. 17 December 1899. p. 23.
  35. ↑ “A Visit from St. Nicholas”. Clinch Valley News. 22 December 1899. p. 1.
  36. ↑ Baum, L. Frank (1902). The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. Indianapolis: The Bowen-Merrill company. p. 160.
  37. ↑ 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)
  38. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Christmas in the Charts (1920–2004). Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-161-6.
  39. ↑ Beck, Jerry. “DVD Review: Robbie The Reindeer and Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer”. AWN. Animation World Network. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  40. ↑ “Let’s Go Dancing with Santa”. YouTube. 15 October 2015. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2019.

Further reading