Santa Claus's reindeer form an imaginary 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, Donner, and Blitzen. They are based on those used in the 1823 poem
"A Visit from St. Nicholas", which is arguably the basis of reindeer's
popularity. The enduring popularity of the Christmas
song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" has led to Rudolph often joining the
list. List of reindeer
In traditional lore, Santa Claus's sleigh is led by eight reindeer: Dasher,
Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder, and Blixem, with Rudolph being a
20th-century inclusion. The names of Donder and Blitzen derive
from Germanic words for thunder and lightning, respectively.
Origins = Eight reindeer =
The 1823 poem by Clement C. Moore "A Visit from St. Nicholas" is largely
credited for the contemporary Christmas lore that includes the eight flying
reindeer and their names. 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, Dunder and
Blixem! "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." 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 =
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, Santa Claus' worldwide flight one year was imperiled by severe fog,
but upon going to Rudolph's house to deliver his presents, Santa observed his
glowing red nose in the darkened bedroom and decided to use Rudolph as a
makeshift lamp to guide his sleigh. Rudolph accepted Santa's request to lead
the sleigh for the rest of the night, and he 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. In 1998, another film
called Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie was released with Rudolph's
father as Blitzen. Portrayals
Although little information regarding the reindeer is disclosed in The Night
Before Christmas, this has only allowed others to contribute to the backgrounds
and folklore regarding them in other works. There is very little continuity
between the various authors of reindeer-related works, resulting in
widely varying depictions from author to author; this is further compounded by
copyright, which makes crossovers between different authors' works more
difficult. Some have even created extra reindeer, but the only case so far in
which another's addition to the traditional group achieved general
acceptance in common parlance was in the case of Robert L. May's creation of
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". 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.
In Prancer, a 1989 family film starring Sam Elliott, Cloris Leachman and Rebecca
Harrell, directed by John D. Hancock, an apparently wild reindeer is hurt in a
traffic accident, and nursed by a young girl who believes him to be Prancer. The
end of the film suggests that the reindeer may be the Prancer.
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; however, these
portrayals are usually never deemed as official and are constantly being
rewritten and altered. The only case in which an addition to the team devised by
another was in the case of the famous "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" by
Robert L. May, gaining an iconic and traditional status.
= In comics = The comic strip Over the Hedge, added a
character named Ralph, the Infrared Nosed Reindeer, who is Rudolph's brother
and has a nose that emits infrared heat. = In film =
The feature film, Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, features an
antagonist reindeer named Scratcher. The feature film, Rudolph the Red-Nosed
Reindeer: The Movie, introduces Mitzi as Rudolph's mother and Blitzen's wife. It
also features two other reindeer Rudolph's love interest Zoey and his
cousin and rival Arrow. Chet is a young reindeer in training who
is introduced in the 2002 feature film, The Santa Clause 2.
In the film Blizzard, the title character is Blitzen's daughter. The
film also includes Delphi, Blitzen's mate and Blizzard's mother.
In the 2011 film Arthur Christmas, Arthur along with his grandfather
Grandsanta use a team of reindeer who are the great-great-grandchildren of the
original eight, to pull Grandsanta's old sleigh. Grandsanta is also shown to own
a nameless elderly reindeer but it is never said if he is one of the original
reindeer or not. = In literature =
L. Frank Baum's story The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus includes a
list of ten reindeer, none of which match the names of the versions found in
"A Visit from St. Nicholas". Flossie and Glossie are Santa's principal reindeer
in Baum's story. Claus gathers eight more reindeer, named in rhyming pairs:
Racer and Pacer, Fearless and Peerless, Ready and Steady, Feckless and
Speckless. = In music =
In the song "¿Dónde Está Santa Claus?", recorded by Augie Rios, two other
reindeer are named in the verse that goes: "I hope he won't forget to crack
his castanet, and to his reindeer say: On Pancho, on Vixen, on Pedro, on
Blitzen, Ole, Ole, Ole!" Joe Diffie's album Mr. Christmas
features the song "Leroy the Redneck Reindeer".
Bob Dylan's 2009 version of "Must Be Santa" has a line at the end of the song
which replaces the reindeer with former Presidents of the United States:
"Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon... Carter, Reagan, Bush and Clinton".
= In television = The Rudolph special features Fireball as
one of several reindeer trying out for the sleigh team. Fireball is the son of
Blitzen; another reindeer is said to be the son of Dasher and struggles at
flying, along with two other reindeer fawns of the same age. A young fawn
named Clarice is also featured and eventually becomes Rudolph's love
interest. Donner is portrayed as Rudolph's father.
In the animated television special Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!,
the Grinch disguises his dog Max as a reindeer.
"Lightning", from the Sesame Street Christmas special, "Elmo Saves
Christmas" 1996), is a reindeer-in-training.
In the TV special Robbie the Reindeer, the eponymous Robbie is obstensibly
assumed to be the son of Rudolph. His special feature is his nose, which has
supernatural powers that allow him to jump and fly farther and faster than
most reindeer. The South Park Christmas special "Red
Sleigh Down", Santa's sleigh is shot down over Iraq, killing the eight famous
reindeer. The protagonists go to rescue him with Santa's backup team: Steven,
Fluffy, Horace, Chantel, Skippy, Rainbow, Patches and Montel.
In the TV special Holidaze: The Christmas That Almost Didn't Happen,
Rusty is said to be Rudolph's brother. Unlike the other reindeer, Rusty is
flightless, so instead assists Santa and the other reindeer from air traffic
control. The TV series, My Friends Tigger & Pooh,
introduced a special Super Sleuth Christmas Movie that included Vixen's
daughter Holly. The television special, The Flight
Before Christmas, features Niko, a wild reindeer whose mother claims he was
fathered by one of Santa's team. After a falling out with his herd, he runs away
to try to meet his father, learning to fly in the process. His father turns out
to be Prancer. Thrasher is a top-secret, over-sized
reindeer introduced in the Disney TV special Prep & Landing. He leads the
titular "prep and landing" team of elves in a sleigh ahead of Santa Claus' main
sled and is Dasher's second cousin. See also
Folklore Christmas Mountains
References Further reading
Puckett, Catherine & Landis, Ben. "The Other 364 Days of the Year: The Real
Lives of Wild Reindeer Categories: Biology and Ecosystems". U.S. Geological
Survey.