Monday, April 27, 2015

The Case Against Flying Reindeer

April 27

This business of flying reindeer may be a complete accident of poor poetic interpretation. In the famous Clement Moore/Livingston poem, the reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh are ground-bound but only because they are moving so quickly "As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly." It is only "when they meet with an obstacle" (i.e., the house), that they become airborne, blown up to the rooftop by the wind rush created by their speed.

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