As you might imagine, a question I am often asked is about a very well-known group of reindeer — my sleigh team that helps Santa deliver presents all around the world. How are these nine reindeer able to fly? I like to describe their flying as more of an ability to run on the wind. But, I’ll explain more about their special ability to fly in just a bit. First, I think it will be helpful for you to know a few basic things about the reindeer that live at the North Pole.

In some places, reindeer are called caribou. Reindeer and caribou are the same animal and are a member of the deer family. In the northern countries, reindeer are abundant. Many people call them caribou if they are wild and reindeer if they are domesticated. There are 3,493 reindeer that live at the North Pole year-round. These reindeer help in many ways around Santa’s Village — transporting Elves between buildings and homes, moving toys from manufacturing buildings to storage, delivering groceries to homes, delivering mail, and so on. Anywhere we go in Santa’s Village, reindeer pulling a sleigh is a common sight as the reindeer move Elves, toys, and goods around the Village.

There is a special area called Reindeer Village where many barns and training facilities are located. The reindeer eat (magical reindeer lichen, oats, and apples are some of their favorites), sleep, play, and train at this Village. There are 48 Elves who are in charge of Reindeer Village and help to maintain all the facilities and ensure that the reindeer are well cared for.

Although all of the reindeer have natural abilities that can contribute to flying, only our very special 9-member team actually fly. These reindeer train throughout the year so that they will be ready for the strenuous job of flying all over the world on Christmas Eve.

Long ago, the Elves noticed the natural abilities of reindeer and began planning how these talents could be used in the delivery of presents. The Elves began studying the reindeer very closely noting that they are exceptionally fast and have very strong muscles which enable them to leap to great heights with ease. Reindeer antlers are shaped in such a way that they are extremely aerodynamic and enable a “lift” on winds that allow them to almost float when leaping through the air. The smaller bodies of reindeer also help them to easily leap to extraordinary heights and enable them to stay in the air for an extended time.

Although these natural abilities are impressive, the Elves knew that being able to leap and float short distances, by itself, would not accomplish the task of delivering presents all over the world. They knew that only Christmas magic would transform the natural abilities of the reindeer into true flight. The source of magic is the Christmas Globe that sits in the center of Santa’s Village. It is a massive orb that pulses with every giggle from a child, every act of kindness, joy, and laughter, and every whispered wish on Christmas Eve. The Globe amplifies these feelings and turns them into raw Christmas magic. The Elves began adding this magic to the oats of the original eight reindeer every morning. It was noticed that the reindeer were able to float over a much longer distance with the addition of the magic. The Elves continued working on this mix of oats and Christmas magic for many years until the reindeer actually began to lift off the ground and run along with the winds high above Santa’s Village.

A very wise Elf also took note of an additional fact. As the Elves went about their work they often sang. When the Elves were singing, the reindeer always flew a greater distance. This wise Elf concluded that the Christmas Spirit of the Elves increased when they sang and this happiness lifted the reindeer even higher into the air.  So, the answer to the question of how the reindeer fly is really a combination of the natural abilities of reindeer, magic, and Christmas Spirit. All three ingredients contribute to the reindeer being able to take flight.

As flying requires a tremendous amount of Christmas magic be fed to the reindeer all year long, it was decided that the nine very famous reindeer that you know so well would become our flying team.