Santa's sleigh

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Santa's sleigh, Santa Claus on a reindeer sleigh pulled by flying reindeer and help him deliver presents to children. (Modern folklore)

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ASK A PHYSICIST: HOW DOES SANTA'S SLEIGH FLY?

The Evolution of Santa's Sleigh

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The Science Behind Santa’s Sleigh

The history behind Santa’s sleigh

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Santa Claus's reindeer Wikipedia - you'll want to read this.

In traditional lore, Santa Claus's sleigh is led by eight reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner (variously spelled Dunder and Donder) and Blitzen (variously spelled Blixen and Blixem). The enduring popularity of the 1949 Christmas song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" has led to Rudolph often joining the list, bringing the number of Santa Claus's reindeer up to nine.

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. 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 a single reindeer.

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Eight reindeer

"A Visit From St. Nicholas", handwritten manuscript by Clement C. Moore
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 contemporary Christmas lore that includes eight named reindeer.

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 C. 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 now be spelled Donder and Bliksem.

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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 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.

By the time The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus was adapted into a television special in 1985, the producers had replaced Baum's ten reindeer with eight unnamed reindeer to make the special compatible with Moore's poem.

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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's glowing red nose made him a social outcast among the other reindeer. Santa Claus's worldwide flight one year was imperiled by severe fog. Visiting Rudolph's house to deliver his presents, Santa observed Rudolph's glowing red nose in the darkened bedroom and decided to use him 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. Since the mid-20th century, popular culture has generally recognized Rudolph as Santa's ninth reindeer.