Santa Claus's reindeer

It describes Santa's sleigh being pulled by a team of eight reindeer, best known as Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen.

The first reference to Santa's sleigh being pulled by a reindeer appears in "Old Santeclaus with Much Delight", an 1821 illustrated children's poem published in New York.

[4] The poem, with eight colored lithographic illustrations, was published by William B. Gilley as a small paperback book entitled The Children's Friend: A New-Year's Present, to the Little Ones from Five to Twelve.

The 1823 poem usually attributed to Clement C. Moore, A Visit from St. Nicholas, is largely credited for the modern Christmas lore that includes eight named reindeer.

All eight reindeer were named, the first six being Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet and Cupid; the final two, "Dunder" and "Blixem", are from a Dutch oath meaning "thunder" and "lightning".

[9][8] L. Frank Baum's story The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1902) includes a list of ten reindeer, none of which match those in A Visit from St. Nicholas.

Santa's principal reindeer are Flossie and Glossie, and he gathers others named Racer and Pacer, Reckless and Speckless, Fearless and Peerless, and Ready and Steady.

A parade float with a model of Santa's reindeer and sleigh in the Toronto Santa Claus Parade , 2009
Illustration to the first verse of " Old Santeclaus with Much Delight ", 1821
The eight reindeer, as they appeared in the first publication of Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas in 1823
The eight reindeer, as they appeared in a handwritten manuscript of A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement C. Moore from the 1860s