Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a song almost as likely to be heard as I’m dreaming of a White Christmas. Like all songs it has a little story and some trivia associated with it. Here is the modern story, and we’ll try and pull in some ancient stuff at the end to connect Rudolph with the far past.

Rudolph was not one of the reindeer mentioned in Clement Moore’s poem. All the other eight had names, and some people I know can name them all, and do. But Rudolph is the afterthought. Note that it's a guy reindeer name. That will cause interest later.

Just about everywhere now Santa’s clothes are red with white fur trimmings. And how come he uses reindeer, an animal probably not familiar to the original American and British artists who drew him, and why is he supposed to live in snowy lands to the north, for most children?

Well, strangely enough there is a genuine religious connection with all of the above, a connection which is more than 4000 years old.

Let’s review what is known about a myth associated with Christmas that many people believed in, and were encouraged in that belief, until they grew up somewhat; I refer to Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle and others.

To review a moment: keep in mind that it was not until the Fourth Century AD that the birthday of Jesus was proclaimed to be December 25th, just like most of the other and much older sacrificed gods in the Mediterranean area whose stories were very much the same.

Christmas has been in our eyes and ears and pocket books since the day after Thanksgiving. So I thought to go into the labyrinth of the invention of Christmas and many of its current ramifications in the next few postings. It is a fascinating example of how a story continually told over many years becomes its own evidence. This is Part 1.