by Sherri A. Stanczak

Created on: December 02, 2009

What About the Reindeer?

There are about 3 million wild reindeer around today and 2 million that are domesticated. They are mainly found north in Russia, but they are also found in Greenland, Iceland and on some islands in Svalbard. They are known for their tolerance of extreme heat and cold. They can be in temperatures as low as -94F and +104F (-70C and +40C).

How did we get the idea in our heads that reindeer fly? This story has been around for thousands of years now. There are drawings in caves found in Spain and France from the end of the Pleistocene of flying reindeer. In the North, there is actually a period of time called the Age of the Reindeer, thousands of years ago.

Reindeer Associated With Christmas

In the poem written by Clement C. Moore, in 1823, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, he wrote about the flying reindeer. In fact, in the original poem, he mentions eight reindeer. Their names are listed as Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen. The name Dasher means to be quick or a name of speed. Dancer and Prancer describe names that are graceful or elegant. Vixen is a female fox, which also symbolizes speed or swiftness.

Comet is a large ball of fire that travels through space at a very high speed. Cupid also has to do with flying since he has wings. The last two reindeer names are Donner and Blitzen. Throughout the years, the names have been changed and no one seems to know why or exactly when. Dunder and Blixem were the original names, which mean Thunder and Lightning in Dutch. Of course, thunder and lightning means power and force. Dunder was later changed to Donner and Blixem was changed to Blitzen.

Then There Was Rudolph

Rudolph came along later than the other eight reindeer. Robert L. May created Rudolph in 1939. He did this as part of his job with Montgomery Ward. The Rudolph Co., L.P. owns the original story about Rudolph who was Santa's ninth reindeer. He was a misfit and not accepted by all the other reindeer. It wasn't until one night that Santa used Rudolph as the leader of the reindeer team since he had the glowing red nose to guide them through the snowstorm.

In 1944, Max Fleischer and Jam Handy created a short cartoon about Rudolph. Johnny Marks decided to make Rudolph into a song. In 1948, on New York radio, Harry Brannon was the first person to sing this song. This was the year before Gene Autry recorded it in 1949. In the song, the phrase All of the other reindeer has been misinterpreted as Olive the other reindeer. Olive is another fictional character that was created afterward.

Golden Books published a storybook about Rudolph in 1958. It was adapted by Barbara Shook Hazen and illustrated by Richard Scarry. Rudolph made its television debut in 1964. Ranken/Bass produced this animated television show. It airs several times throughout the Christmas holidays, it is on video and DVD and it also has a few sequels to the original TV show: Rudolph's Shiny New Year in 1976, Rudolph's and Frosty's Christmas in July in 1979 and Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys in 2001.

In 1998 there was an animated feature film made of Rudolph. This popular reindeer was even in several old comic books. Within the past several years, Rudolph was given some relatives. Rudolph has a son named Robbie in Robbie the Reindeer. Rudolph has a brother, Rusty in The Christmas that almost didn't Happen. Rudolph was given another brother in Over the Hedge comic strips named Ralph. Rudolph even has a cousin Leroy in the 1995 song Leroy the Redneck Reindeer written by Joe Diffie.

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