
Everyone knows that Santa Claus flies all over the world in his sleigh pulled by reindeer, delivering gifts to good little girls and boys. Right? Well, maybe, but reindeer werenโt always the jolly gift-giver’s animal of choice. Before the reindeer, there were other more common animals associated with Christmas, Santa, and gift-giving.
Goats
In Sweden, as well as other Scandinavian countries, there is a Christmas goat. Heโs called the Julbock, or the Yule goat, and has a long history. Traditions vary slightly, but it seems that originally the Yule Goat had a connection to the grain harvest. By the 17th century, the grain-harvest goat had become a scary figure that roamed around on Christmas night, knocking on doors and demanding food.

But by the 19th century, the Yule Goat had been reformed and even began delivering Christmas gifts. Often one of the men of the family would dress as a goat and distribute presents. As time went on, the role of gift giving passed from the goat to little goat-riding elves who left their gifts while children slept. In some areas, children would leave barley in a shoe for the Yule Goat.

In time Santa Claus or Father Christmas took over from the elves, but sometimes he still took the Yule Goat along with him.


Today the Yule Goat is represented mostly in straw Christmas decorations which harken back to his grain harvest connections. In cities and town squares much larger straw Yule Goats are made (and often go up in flames). The most famous one is traditionally placed in Gรคvle, Sweden.

Donkeys
In France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland, St. Nicholas comes bearing gifts with a donkey. Although St. Nicholas and Santa Claus aren’t technically the same, St. Nick was the inspiration for Santa Claus.


Sometimes Santa walks alongside the donkey who carries the gifts.
In the early history of Santa Claus (or Pรจre Noรซl) in France, old Saint Nick would descend from the sky riding his flying donkey called Gui. They would land on the rooftops, then slide down the chimneys to leave gifts. Children would line up their shoes by the fireplace and fill them with carrots or apples for Gui. The donkey would have his snack, then Santa would refill the shoes with small gifts and sweets. In some parts of northern France this is still the custom on the Festival of Saint Nicholas on the 6 December.


Sometimes the little donkey has to carry Santa and the gifts.
Horses
In the Netherlands, Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) traditionally rides on a white horse. He rides around the countryside visiting schools and homes.



Reindeer
Today, in many countries, Santa Clause rides through the skies on Christmas eve delivering gifts from a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer. But as weโve seen, the reindeer are a relatively new and curious mode of transportation. The earlier animals were all familiar ones that might be found on any farm.

The first mention of Santa’s sleigh being pulled by these exotic horned beasts from the North appears in 1821 in a childrenโs poem called “Old Santeclaus with Much Delight.” The poemโs illustration shows a sleigh being pulled by a single reindeer.

Then, in 1823, Clement C. Moore wrote his famous poem, โTwas the Night Before Christmas.” He tells us that Santaโs sleigh is pulled by โeight tiny reindeerโ and he even gives us their names: “Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donner and Blitzen!โ

Then, of course, there is โthe most famous reindeer of all.โ Rudolph came along in 1939, more than 100 years after the original eight. He was created by Robert May, an employee of the Montgomery Ward department store. They wanted a little Christmas booklet to hand out to children in the store, and May was in charge of writing it. The result was the story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Then in 1949 the song based on Mayโs story was recorded by Gene Autry. And, as they say, the rest is history. Today, Rudolph is generally considered the ninth reindeer pulling Santaโs sleigh.

Other Modes of Transportation
But, if some vintage Christmas cards are to be believed, Santa at times uses more modern or unconventional modes of transportation.




I hope all of you are enjoying the holiday season in whatever form it comes.
You Might Also Like:
- St Nicholasโฆ Santa Clausโฆ Father Christmas
- Father Whipper: St Nickโs Evil Helper
- History of the Christmas Tree: From UK to Germany and Back

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Well done, ho, ho, ho! Happy Holidays, Margo! ๐
Thank you, Bill. Happy Holidays to you and your family too. ๐
I and my little granddaughter (2 and a half)! loved reading this post especially about the other animals that pulled Santa’s sleigh! We have been learning all about the Nordic traditions from Jacquie lawson’s online advent calendar, if you are not familiar with this site I think you might really like it! https://bit.ly/3a4BxW6
Happy Christmas and here’s to a much happier and healthier new year take care!!
Hi Caroline. I’m glad you and your granddaughter enjoyed reading about some of Santa’s animal helpers. I had a look at the advent calendar and it does look very nice. Thank you for the recommendation.
Wishing you and your family very Happy Holidays.
Best, -Margo
I had and no idea that Santa Claus had so many different ways of bringing Christmas gifts! So interesting, Margo.
I hope you enjoy your Christmas Season in all that is going on and Best Wishes for a Healthy and Happy New Year. Paula
Hi Paula, I think the little donkey is my favourite of his companions. ๐
We’ll be having a very quiet Christmas this year (like many other people). But that’s okay.
I hope you will be able to enjoy a happy and safe holiday season and an even better new year. -Margo
This was very enlightening Margo and a joy to read. Santa keeps updating his modes of transportation. I just got your children’s book in the mail, ‘Animal Tales’. I ordered 2 copies so I can read one to my grandchildren and keep the other one new. I love the dedication in the beginning, to Lily. Have a wonderful and joyous ๐ Christmas
Thank you Fredilu. Hope your grandkids enjoy some of the stories. It was lovely to see you when we were in America. Have a lovely holiday season. xx
Thank you. I’ll be sharing this with my boys. Valuable education.
Thanks, Sam. The video you posted on Facebook was very funny. That’s the first time I’ve seen Santa in a wheelbarrow being ‘pulled’ by very curious goats who are more interested in what’s going on by the roadside than getting the jolly fellow to his destination. ๐