Sleipnir and Eight Tiny Reindeer

Every Christmas, people come out of the woodwork to claim that Santa Claus is the Christian incarnation of Odin. They point to similarities and coincidences to support their case: Odin has a beard; so does Santa. Odin delivers gifts; so does Santa. Odin’s steed, Sleipnir, has eight legs; Santa has eight reindeer. Therefore, Odin must be Santa… or Santa must be Odin. Either way, they are the same person. (Some sites do offer more nuanced arguments, but where’s the fun in that?)

Sleipnir and Eight Tiny Reindeer

When Odin isn’t wandering the world in disguise or, in later folklore, leading the Wild Hunt across the winter sky, he rides Sleipnir, the gray, eight-legged horse Snorri calls the best of all horses, swift enough to carry him between worlds. Odin rides on Sleipnir’s back, not in a chariot or sleigh.

By contrast, our modern conception of Santa Claus shows him driving a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer. Those who argue that Santa derives from Odin would be better served by pointing to older traditions in which Santa rode, or was pulled by, a white horse. Instead, most arguments focus almost entirely on the shared number eight, treating it as a meaningful coincidence rather than a superficial one.

Eight Legs = Eight Reindeer?

Vikings hunted wild reindeer (the same species Alaskans call caribou) and traded their antlers. Thor‘s chariot was pulled by goats and Freyja‘s by cats. But nothing suggests the Norse harnessed reindeer to sleighs. Their Sámi neighbors to the north kept some tame reindeer as decoys and pack animals; around 890, a Norwegian named Ohthere told King Alfred he owned six hundred of them. Large-scale herding came later, around the 1500s.

Reindeer first pulled Santa’s sleigh in ‘Old Santeclaus with Much Delight’ (1821), where there’s just one. ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’ (‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’), published in 1823 and usually credited to Clement C. Moore, was the first to give eight reindeer and their names. Did Sleipnir’s eight legs inspire the number? There’s no evidence of it. Eight fits the meter better.

Christianity’s Penchant for Co-opting Paganism

Christianity has a long history of adapting and reinterpreting pagan traditions, holidays, and symbols. However, using Sleipnir’s eight legs as proof that Odin became Santa Claus stretches the argument well past the available evidence. While this coincidence does not entirely rule out cultural influence, it significantly weakens the claim for those who argue the connection too enthusiastically.

For a deeper exploration of Odin and Santa Claus, see our article “Odin to Santa Claus: What’s the Connection?“