In traditional festive legend and popular culture, Santa Claus's reindeer are said to pull a sleigh through the night sky to help Santa Claus deliver gifts to children on Christmas Eve.
Other reindeer have been introduced in popular culture over time, but generally, no more than 10 reindeer at a time have been used to pull Santa's sleigh around the sky on Christmas Eve.
Before we get into naming all of them, let's get one thing straight—Santa has a total of nine reindeer pulling his sleigh. The legendary names are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and (drum roll) Rudolph.
In Arctic regions and places with snow on the ground for long periods of time, reindeer are used to pull sleighs. They are strong enough to pulls sleighs with loads of 140 kilograms over frozen ground or snow for nine or ten miles an hour for several hours. Castrated reindeer are used as draft animals.
In English-speaking cultures, a Christmas elf is a diminutive elf that lives with Santa Claus at the North Pole and acts as his helper. Christmas elves are usually depicted as green- or red-clad, with large, pointy ears and wearing pointy hats.
The song, popular with school-aged kids, explains that Santa's reindeer get a rest while six white boomers (boomer is Aussie slang for a male kangaroo) lead Santa's sleigh through Australia! After all the toys are delivered, they even help a little joey (a baby kangaroo) find his mommy.
Traditionally, Krampus is a demon sidekick of Santa Claus.
In traditional festive legend and popular culture, Santa Claus's reindeer are said to pull a sleigh through the night sky to help Santa Claus deliver gifts to children on Christmas Eve.
The Tasks of Santa's Helper
A Christmas elf's tasks include making toys as Christmas gifts, taking care of the reindeer, baking cookies, making candy, preparing Santa's sleigh, and assisting Santa with other tasks. One of the primary tasks of Christmas elves is to make toys all year long.
Surprise! Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and yes, even Rudolph, are ladies. The original eight — first introduced in the 1823 poem "A Visit from St.
Comet. Comet is the strongest of all the reindeer and is known for being a stubborn but loyal member of the team. He was named after an enormous comet which flew through the skies at the same moment he was born, which would foretell Comet's future as a famous flying reindeer.
Santa Claus—otherwise known as Saint Nicholas or Kris Kringle—has a long history steeped in Christmas traditions.
Exactly how old is Santa? According to the blog Email Santa, Santa Claus is 1,751 years old as of 2022. In fact, the origins of Santa Claus can be traced all the way back to a monk named Saint Nicholas, who was born between 260 and 280 A.D. in a village called Patara, which is part of modern-day Turkey.
Science explains why Santa chose Rudolph to guide the sleigh of Reindeer around the globe on Christmas Eve. While Rudolph was picked on for his bright red nose, Santa saw it as a gift and chose him to lead his sleigh of reindeer to get gifts to all of the good boys and girls...and all in just one night.
What route does Santa travel? Santa usually starts at the International Date Line in the Pacific Ocean and travels west. So, historically, Santa visits the South Pacific first, then New Zealand and Australia.
Rudolph is usually depicted as the ninth and youngest of Santa Claus's reindeer, using his luminous red nose to lead the reindeer team and guide Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve.
Santa's most favorite is cookies, but he'll eat just about anything that you like and that you leave for him on Christmas Eve.
But if you read The Night Before Christmas, the 1822 poem that established Santa's modern form, you'll see that he's not a big guy at all. He's an elf. He's not even a little bit big. And this is not even alluded to; it's stated very clearly.
Santa is real in the sense that he was an actual person. Otherwise known as Saint Nicholas, his story goes all the way back to the 3rd century. He was a monk who was born in 280 A.D. in modern-day Turkey. As an only child, he was given great affection by his parents.
4. Sweden Goat it Going On. Sweden celebrates Christmas with a giant (3.6 tons), straw, yule goat. In Norse mythology, the two goats pulled Thor's flying chariot, think reindeer to Santa's sleigh.
What was Santa's super-sled engine called? And the answer is: The Kringle 3000. Thanks for playing! Kringle 3000 500 reindeer powered jet turbo engine.
Some Irish families leave a pint of Guinness for Santa on the eve of Christmas. Children usually place the cold beer near the tree to offer Old Saint Nick a quick pick-me-up for the long night ahead.
The common Christmas expression is thought to be derived from a Western European folklore known as Krampus. The mythological figure — who is half goat, half demon — is the evil twin of Saint Nicholas and was supposedly invented in the middle ages to discipline kids according to National Geographic.
So after much discussion with himself, Mrs. Claus and the Elves, Santa decided that it was about time he told the world all about his sister Sandy. In SANDY CLAUS: THE UNTOLD STORY OF SANTA CLAUS' SISTER we learn that one of Christmas' most treasured and precious holiday favorites was created by Santa's sister Sandy.
Krampus isn't exactly the stuff of dreams: Bearing horns, dark hair, fangs, and a long tongue, the anti-St. Nicholas comes with a chain and bells that he lashes about, along with a bundle of birch sticks meant to swat naughty children. He then hauls the bad kids down to the underworld.