The Origin of Reindeer

By: Javin Martinez

Have you ever wondered what the origin of reindeer was? Well look no further as we have the answer to that question.
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The origin of reindeer dates back to 1823 in upstate New York, a poem called “A Visit for Saint Nicholas” first introduced reindeer as Santa’s way of transportation around the world. Eventually, every child in America would imagine Santa as a Saint who delivers presents using magical reindeer who carry him from place to place. Of course, some of these reindeer have an origin of their own, so we’ll be telling such in order to set the mood for Christmas.

First off is well known, Rudolph. (According to Syracuse.com) Rudolph was first introduced to children and adults alike in a children's book that was made in 1939 by Robert L. May. But Rudolph hadn't been canonized until 1949 when a song artist called Gene Autry promoted it. Rudolph was once again featured in a stop motion film that was and still is very popular today, the film itself was made in 1964.
And that’s how Rudolph became one of the most well known and popular reindeers.

Next up is Dunder and Blixem, or better known as Donner and Blitzen. These two reindeer have had some controversy about them over who first created them. Two authors have laid claim to creating Donder and Blitzen, one of those authors is Clement C. Moore, he was the first to lay claim to Donder and Blitzen. Although some people have traced the origin of Donner and Blixen to a Dutch New Yorker named Henry Livingston, apparently Henry wrote about our two reindeer in a poem of his own creation. Originally, he named them Dunder and Blixen which translates to thunder and lightning in Dutch. According to Liveabout.com, Dunder and Blixen names were changed to better rhyme with Vixen and the rest of the reindeer. In sum the controversy over these two reindeer is sure to be here for a long time.

As we mentioned earlier only some of the reindeer have their own origin story, and when we say some we mean Rudolph, Blitzen and Donner. The poem we mentioned earlier is what created Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet and Cupid. To conclude we hope you enjoyed reading the origin story of the reindeer we all know and love today. Happy Holidays!