In traditional festive legend, 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 commonly cited names of the eight fictional reindeer are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen, although Donner is sometimes called Donder. They are based on those used in the 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (commonly called “The Night Before Christmas”) by Clement Clarke Moore, arguably the basis of the reindeers’ popularity.
In traditional lore, Santa Claus’s sleigh is led by eight reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder (variously spelled Dunder and Donner) 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.
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