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. The names of the author and the illustrator are not known. 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''. 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. 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 "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.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 atAppearances in popular culture
* '' Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947) features Santa Claus's eight reindeer from Clement Clarke Moore's 1823 Christmas-themed poem '' A Visit from St. Nicholas'' * " Run Rudolph Run" (1958) is a Chuck Berry song about Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer * '' Prancer'' (1989) tells the story of a young girl who finds an injured reindeer * Dasher and Dancer appear in the Walt Disney Animation Studios Christmas-themed television special '' Prep & Landing'' (2009) * "Let's Go Dancing With Santa" (2015) is a KC & The Sunshine Band song about Santa Claus and his eight reindeer * '' That Christmas'' (2024) features Dasher (voiced by Guz Khan) as Santa Claus's one and only grumpy reindeer sidekickSee also
* Christmas Mountains * " Dominick the Donkey" * "Gouger, Tusker, Rooter, and Snouter", the flying hogs who pull the sled of Terry Pratchett's Hogfather * " Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr", the flying goats that pull Thor's chariot * " Sleipnir", Odin's eight-legged horseNotes
References
Further reading
*External links
* {{Authority control Christmas characters Fictional deer and moose Literary characters introduced in 1823 Reindeer Fictional nonets Fictional octets Literary characters introduced in 1902