Santa Claus's reindeer
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Santa Claus's reindeer are a team of flying reindeer traditionally held to pull sleigh of Santa Claus and help him deliver Christmas gifts. The commonly cited names of the reindeer 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 they are called Dasher and Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid, and Dunder and Blixem.[1] Dunder was later changed to Donder and — in other works — Donner, and Blixem was later changed to Blitzen. The subsequent popularity of the Christmas song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" has led to another reindeer name joining the popular roll-call.
Origins
The original eight reindeer
The anonymously-published poem 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, including the eight flying reindeer and their names.
In the poem, Santa's transport is a "miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer" and the reindeer are "more rapid than eagles." The poem does not describe them, nor their positions in the sleigh-team, but does say they fly.[2]
The relevant segment of the poem reads:
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a minature 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!"
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." [3] 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.
The Christmas Mountains of New Brunswick, Canada are named after the original eight reindeer.
Since this poem, other books, movies, and music have contributed to the Christmas reindeer lore. The 1994 remake of the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street, for example, asserts that reindeer can only fly on Christmas Eve.
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 was the son of Donder, and was born with a glowing red nose, which made him a social outcast among the other reindeer. However, one Christmas eve it was too foggy for Santa Claus to make his flight around the world. About to cancel, Santa suddenly noticed Rudolph's nose, and decided it could be a makeshift lamp to guide his sleigh. Since then, Rudolph is said to be a permanent member of Santa's team, who leads them on their journey.
Rudolph's story is a popular Christmas story that has been retold in numerous forms, most notably a popular song, a television special, and a feature film.
Additional reindeer
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Several television, film and music pieces have made references to other reindeer or other animals who substitute for reindeer.
In the song "¿Dónde Está Santa Claus?" recorded by Augie Rios in 1958, 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!"
Santa needs the help of Dominick, the Italian Christmas Donkey to cross the hills of Italy according to the 1960 song by Lou Monte.
The 1964 Rudolph special features Fireball as one of several reindeer trying out for the sleigh team. With fire-red hair, Fireball is the son of Blitzen and his mind is often preoccupied with does; another reindeer is said to be the son of Dasher and struggles at flying, along with two other reindeer fawns of the same age. Comet's daughter, a young fawn named Clarice, also is featured, although she does not try out for the team.
The Ray Stevens song "Santa Claus is Watching You", features Clyde (who's actually a camel borrowed from Stevens's previous song "Ahab the Arab"), and replaces Rudolph for the year. According to the original 1965 version of the song, Rudolph "dislocated his hip in a Twist contest", so Clyde is his replacement. In a later version of the song, in which the singer is talking to his lover, Rudolph is "on a stakeout" at the lover's house (making sure the lover remains true to the singer). The song also lists, in a rambling style typical of Stevens's early songs, the original fleet of reindeer plus two undescribed other reindeer named Bruce and Marvin. Later editions of the songs add a longer more rambling list: Leon, Cletus, George, Bill, Slick, Do-Right, Ace, Blackie, Queenie, Prince, Spot, and Rover.
In Cheech & Chong's 1971 record "Santa Claus And His Old Lady", Cheech's character mentions reindeer named Donner, Blitzen, Chuy, Tavo, and Beto. The last three are typical Mexican nicknames; for Jesus, Gustavo/Octavio, and Roberto/Alberto.
Loretta Lynn's 1974 single "Shadrack, the Black Reindeer" introduced the speedy Shadrack. In the song, Rudolph has gotten older and slower. An already late Santa threatens to leave him behind, but the other reindeer suggest that they will complete their rounds on time if Shadrack and Rudolph lead the team side by side, and they succeed in doing so.
Joe Diffie's 1995 single "Leroy the Redneck Reindeer" features Leroy, who is Rudolph's cousin. Leroy, as stated in the title, is a redneck who wears a John Deere tractor hat and has a knack for dancing the two-step. Leroy replaces his ill cousin Rudolph as the leader of the sleigh team for the year.
The 1995 direct-to-video special The Flight Before Christmas features Nico. Nico was Prancer's love child from a one-night stand with a regular reindeer, and the young Nico went to the North Pole to seek his father (who he believed, but was not sure, was one of Santa's reindeer, and he didn't know which one). Through Nico's courage, he is able to learn to fly, proving his ancestry in the process, and saves the reindeer from a pack of ravenous wolves. (Rudolph is absent from the sleigh team in this special, presumably for copyright purposes.)
"Lightning", from a 1996 Sesame Street Christmas special Elmo Saves Christmas. He's a reindeer-in-training. Lightning helped Santa by taking Elmo, who wished for Christmas 24/7, to the future to see what Sesame Street would look like with Christmas everyday.
Olive, from a 1997 children's book and 1999 television special entitled Olive, the Other Reindeer, is not a reindeer but a dog. She mistook a news report regarding the plight of one of Santa's reindeer as a "help wanted" ad and heads to the North Pole, where she fills in for the ill reindeer for the year. The title of the story references a mondegreen derived from misinterpreting the words "all of the other reindeer" in the Rudolph story and song.
Annabelle, from the 1997 direct-to-video special Annabelle's Wish, is a young cow who was born on Christmas Eve and thus possesses "the magic of Christmas." She eventually becomes a reindeer herself and pulls Santa's sleigh, which has been Annabelle's lifelong goal.
In the 1999 movie Blizzard, other reindeer are shown to live at the North Pole: Blizzard, who has the ability to become invisible and to see the whereabouts of people, DJ, Blizzard's best friend, and Aphrodite, a female reindeer who reports to an elder called Archimedes.
In the 1999 TV special Robbie the Reindeer, the eponymous Robbie is ostensibly 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; in addition, this leads to Robbie literally having a "nose" for geography, as it can lead Robbie to just about any location in the world.
Chet is a young reindeer in training who was introduced in the 2002 feature film The Santa Clause 2. Because of his age, he has a tendency to be clumsy and awkward; however, he is able to help Santa save Christmas.
The 2002 South Park Christmas Special "Red Sleigh Down" introduces an entirely new fleet of reindeer, after the traditional reindeer are killed when the sleigh is shot down as Santa tries to bring Christmas to Iraq. The main characters rescue him by using the alternative reindeer named: Steven, Fluffy, Horace, Chantel, Skippy, Rainbow, Patches and Montel. Their names are sung in a similar fashion in order to make them fly. Their future fate beyond this one incident is unknown; either the replacements took over permanently or, more likely, the original were resurrected without explanation (see Kenny's deaths for an explanation of this phenomenon in the South Park universe).
In the 2006 TV special Holidaze: The Christmas That Almost Didn't Happen, Rusty is said to be Rudolph's brother. Unlike the other reindeer, Rusty is powerless, flightless, and is in fact notably clumsy. Unfit for pulling Santa's sleigh, he instead assists Santa and the other reindeer from air traffic control.
See also
References
- ^ "The Legendary Role of Reindeer in Christmas, Jeff Westover, My Merry Christmas, accessed 27 December 2007
- ^ "A Visit from St. Nicholas By Clement Clarke Moore", Bartleby.com, accessed 27 December 2007
- ^ "A Visit from St. Nicholas By Clement Clarke Moore", accessed 12 December 2008
