The Knights are led by a man who is approximately 12 feet tall with disproportionately short arms and reindeer antlers inserted into his helmet ( played by Michael Palin standing on a ladder ; the original screenplay suggested that he be played by " Mike standing on John's shoulders ").

Their best-known means of livelihood is semi-nomadic reindeer herding, with which about 10 % of the Sami are connected and 2, 800 actively involved on a full-time basis.

For traditional, environmental, cultural and political reasons, reindeer herding is legally reserved only for Sami people in certain regions of the Nordic countries.

In addition to humans, four primarily terrestrial mammalian species inhabit the archipelago: the Arctic Fox, the Svalbard reindeer, polar bears and accidentally introduced Southern Vole — which is only found in Grumant.

The Svalbard reindeer ( R. tarandus platyrhynchus ) is a distinct sub-species, and while previously almost extinct, hunting is permitted for both it and the Arctic Fox.

The taiga is home to a number of large herbivorous mammals, such as moose and reindeer / caribou.

The last two paragraphs of Church's editorial are read by actor Sam Elliot in the 1989 film Prancer, about Jessica Riggs, a little girl who believes the wounded reindeer she is nursing back to health belongs to Santa.

The caribou in North America is not domesticated or herded as is the case of reindeer ( the same species ), reindeer are often found in colder regions in Europe, but is important as a quarry animal to the Inuit.

The Russian name " Chukchi " is derived from the Chukchi word Chauchu (" rich in reindeer "), which was used by the ' Reindeer Chukchi ' to distinguish themselves from the ' Maritime Chukchi ,' called Anqallyt (" the sea people ").

The Evenks use a saddle unique to their culture which is placed on the shoulders of the reindeer which lessens the strain on the animal.

Additional to the summer season, the park is also open during November and December, albeit with fewer rides operating, hosting a Christmas market with traditional Swedish cuisine such as mulled wine and specialties such as döner kebab made from reindeer meat.

He doesn't live on the North Pole, but perhaps in a forest nearby, or in Denmark he lives on Greenland, and in Finland he lives in Lapland ; he doesn ’ t come down the chimney at night, but through the front door, delivering the presents directly to the children, just like the Yule Goat did ; he is not overweight ; and even if he nowadays sometimes rides in a sleigh drawn by reindeer, instead of just walking around with his sack, his reindeer don ’ t fly-and in Sweden, Denmark and Norway some still put out a bowl of porridge for him on Christmas Eve.

There is also makkara and meetvursti with game, like deer, moose or reindeer meat.

A doe bearing antlers was unknown in Greece, but the story of the hind is suggestive of reindeer, which, unlike other deer, can be harnessed and whose females bear antlers.

The Svalbard reindeer ( R. tarandus platyrhynchus ) is a distinct sub-species, and while previously almost extinct, hunting is permitted for both it and the Arctic Fox.

There is also a reindeer herd on the island from a previous commercial venture.

The local Clarkton public school was founded in 1871, and the school mascot is the reindeer.

In 1892-93 a full size near replica of the Gokstad ship, the viking, built by the Norwegian Magnus Andersen in Bergen. It was used to sail the Atlantic. It had a deeper keel with 1. 5m draught to stiffen the hull and a range of non authentic triangular sails to help performance and big fenders on each gunwhale filled with reindeer hair to give extra bouyancy in case of swamping.

It has been suggested that in North America and Eurasia Caribou and wild reindeer " may well be the species of single greatest importance in the entire anthropological literature on hunting " ( see also Reindeer Age ), although the varying importance of different species would depend on the geographic location.

A short video on the use of Amanita muscaria mushrooms by the Sami people and their reindeer produced by the BBC.

Cro-Magnons relied heavily on reindeer for food, skins, tools and weapons ; with dropping temperatures and increased reindeer numbers at the end of the Pleistocene, they became the prey of choice.

A short video on the use of Amanita muscaria mushrooms by the Sami people and their reindeer produced by the BBC.

In areas of Central and Northern Norway, the Sami subsisted on the nomadic herding of reindeer.

The Koryaks used reindeer to get around but also fitted sleds on a team of reindeer when moving camp.

The Chukchi are traditionally divided into the Maritime Chukchi, who had settled homes on the coast and lived primarily from sea mammal hunting, and the Reindeer Chukchi, who nomadised in the inland tundra region with their herds of reindeer.

All of these were based on reindeer herding, with the addition of sea mammal hunting and walrus ivory carving in the coastal areas.

Traditionally they were a mixture of pastoralists and hunter-gatherers — they relied on their domesticated reindeer for milk and transport and hunted other large game for meat ( Vasilevich, 620-1 ).

They instead used their reindeer as pack animals and often traversed great distances on foot, using snowshoes or skis ( Vasilevich, 627 ).

The main wildlife consists of belugas, walrus, reindeer, Common Eiders and snowy owls all which can be seen on the island year round.

In one study of reindeer, animals at 70 degrees North showed circadian rhythms in the autumn, winter, and spring, but not in the summer.

In one case, the entire body of a reindeer was found in the stomach of a Greenland shark, a species found in the far northern Atlantic, although this was quite possibly a case of scavenging considering the dissimilarity of habitats between the ungulate and the large, slow-moving fish.

The Christmas variant ( sometimes called " reindeer corn ") typically has a red end and a green center ; the Valentine's Day variant ( sometimes called " cupid corn ") typically has a red end and a pink center ; the Easter variant ( sometimes called " bunny corn ") is typically only a two-color candy, and comes with a variety of pastel bases ( pink, green, yellow, and purple ) with white tips all in one package.

" stone boat "), while sleigh typically refers to a moderate-to large-sized, usually open-topped vehicle equipped with one or more passenger seats, essentially a cold-season alternative to a carriage or wagon, typically drawn by horses or ( at least in the Santa Claus legend or in reference to Scandinavia ) by reindeer.

Christmas morning 1923, the Brownlee boys awoke to find footprints of coal dust leading from the fireplace to the stairs and a handwritten note from Santa Claus apologizing from the mess and explaining that he had been searching for one of his reindeer.

Lartet discovered the partial skeletons of four prehistoric adults and one infant along with perforated shells used as ornaments, an object made from ivory, and worked reindeer antler.

( A coincidence has been observed between the aircraft names, the fictional Reindeer and the real-life Comet, " Comet " being in poetry the name of one of Santa Claus's reindeer, but the Comet was named for the prewar de Havilland DH. 88 racing aircraft.

Rondane is one of the few places in Scandinavia and Europe where wild reindeer ( as opposed to the domestic breed ) are found.

A band of Koryaks additionally absconded with Atlasov ’ s itinerant reindeer herd, but were chased down by the Russians and killed to one man.

* Comet, one of Santa Claus's reindeer

Reindeer husbandry was previously practiced in a limited way, for instance one tamed a few reindeer to divert the wild reindeer towards a cliff, hunting ditches etc.

* Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, one of Santa Claus's reindeer

Olive eventually finds out that this is because Blitzen, one of Santa's reindeer, is injured and can not fly.

* Vixen, one of Santa Claus's reindeer, as named in " The Night Before Christmas "

Several new members of Santa Claus's herd of reindeer include Fireball, a young buck with a distinctive shock of blond hair who befriends shy Rudolph at the " Reindeer Games ", supervised and coached by one of Santa's eight reindeer, Comet.

* Donner the Reindeer, alternative name for Donder, one of Santa Claus's reindeer

* The reindeer model used for Rudolph in this special was significantly different from the one used in the original special, most notably in that it had a wider, rounder mouth and a more blunt face as opposed to the elongated model used in the original.

* Cupid, one of Santa Claus's reindeer

On one of them a reindeer horn was represented, on the other one a dancing little girl who got nicknamed " The Venus of Mierlo ".

Taking the backup sled and new reindeer ( named Steven, Fluffy, Horace, Chantel, Skippy, Rainbow, Patches and Montel ) from the stable, they seek out the one person who can help: Jesus, who is currently officiating midnight mass in his own name.

Mammals that one can catch sight of are reindeer, moose, red fox, ermine and rabbit.