Where Do They Come From?:

• Believe it or not, the origins of Santa's reindeer and Christmas stockings are directly tied!
  
• Many parallels have been drawn between Santa Claus and Odin, chief god in Norse mythology.  Odin was a major god amongst Germanic people prior to their Christianization.
• On the native Germanic holiday of Yule, Odin was said to lead a great hunting party in the sky.  Odin had an eight-legged horse named Sleipnir that could leap great distances.  Some believe this is where the idea of Santa's reindeer was seeded.
• Children would place their boots filled with carrots, straw, or sugar, by the chimney for Sleipner to eat.  In return, Odin would reward those children by replacing Sleipnir's food with candy and/or gifts.  This practice was still continued in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands after they adopted Christianity.  It became associated with Saint Nicholas as a result of the process of Christianization, and can still be seen in the modern practice of hanging stockings on the chimney at some homes.

A Visit From St. Nicholas:

• The said order of Santa's reindeer in the popular poem is: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen.
• Until this poem, the myth of Santa's reindeer was vague at best.  They never really had names before, or a set number.
  
• The legendary poem, "A Visit From St. Nicholas", is also known as, "The Night Before Christmas" and "Twas the Night Before Christmas".
• The poem was anonymously published in 1823, but credit was later given to Clement C. Moore.
• There is controversy as to whether Clement C. Moore really authored, "A Visit From St. Nicholas", or if it was, indeed, authored by Henry Livingston, Jr.
• The now-legendary poem, "A Visit From St. Nicholas" first appeared in the Sentinel newspaper of Troy, New York on December 23, 1823. It was published anonymously many times, but credit has since been given to Clement Clarke Moore.  It is because of this poem that the popular legend of Santa's flying reindeer has become such a staple of Christmas storytelling.
  
• Due to a misreading of the original poem, it was widely believed that Santa's reindeer fly.  In the context of which the words "fly" and "flew" were used, it was meant to say that the reindeer just ran really fast.
• The names of Donner and Blitzen have an interesting history.  In the original poem of 1823, the names of these reindeer were the Dutch words Dunder and Blixem, meaning "thunder" and "lightning". In the book, "An American Anthology, 1787-1899" (1900), editor Edmund Clarence Stedman changed these names to the German spellings of Donder and Blitzen.  Somewhere over the years, Donder became Donner.  In some sources, the spelling of Bliksem has been found, but Blitzen is the most popular version.
  
• Cupid is also the name of the Roman god of love.  The myth of Cupid has since changed to the small, winged child that symbolizes Valentine's Day.  In both cases, Cupid shoots "love arrows".
  
• Prancer received his very own live-action movie, "Prancer" in 1989.  He was given a 2001 sequel called, "Prancer Returns".

Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer:

• Robert L. May, as part of his employment with the Montgomery Ward store chain, created the "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" story in 1939.
• Like the much earlier "A Visit From St. Nicholas" (1823), "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" has become very important to the story of Santa's reindeer.
• Since the story of Rudolph has come out, many people think the poem of "A Visit From St. Nicholas" is misleading.  "What about Rudolph?" or "Santa has NINE reindeer!" are some of the responses children have uttered through the years.
  
• Cowboy star Gene Autry was the first to record the popular song in 1949.
• Gene Autry almost refused to record "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" because he thought it was too commercial.  Fortunately, he changed his mind and it has since become the standard recording of the song.
• A wonderful, theatrically-released cartoon short of "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" came out in 1948.
• The cartoon that REALLY established Rudolph as a fixture of Christmas is the 1964 TV special, "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer".  This is the story of Rudolph that EVERYONE knows.  Love it or hate it, it successfully worked its way into Christmas lore and has been celebrated every year since its debut.