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When I was young, it was almost cruel to see the presents laid out under the tree on Christmas morning knowing there were cows to milk first.
It’s a great trick, delivering gifts to all the boys and girls around the world, but you would think that a man as industrious as Santa could have also taken care of the morning milking. I was jealous of the reindeer farmers on the North Pole who only had to feed and water 12 deer after a fat guy was done with them.
They didn’t have to go out into the cold to milk while the gifts waited in the house.
Years later, as an adult, I lived in Iceland. Like every other foreigner, I stopped the car to take endless long-distance pictures the first time I saw the reindeer grazing in the fields. It turns out, they were imported in the late 18th century and placed on three different parts of the island.
In the late 1930s, Icelanders believed that the reindeer were entirely gone from the island
How does one react to seeing a near-mythical animal from the stories of their childhood?
I got a reindeer burger at the petrol station.
In the late 1930s, Icelanders believed that the reindeer were entirely gone from the island, but after organising a search they found about 100 animals still remaining in the east of the country. Without intervention, the population rebounded to a size of approximately 6,000-7,000 today.
Every year, part of the herd is culled through the use of hunting permits (even though being used to gawkers makes them easy prey).
Since Iceland is located close to the Arctic Circle, it can be assumed that the deer on the island were those who didn’t make the cut for Santa’s sled. Hence, it doesn’t feel like ruining Christmas by throwing them on the grill.
Located so close to the North Pole and being in the reindeer game, I wonder if Icelanders get their Christmas gifts delivered first. Is that why they are so happy?
Being a small, well-educated population, Iceland often ranks first in various “per capita” categories. Historically, this has included practicing gender equality, being the happiest people on earth, and drinking the most Coca Cola. Located so close to the North Pole and being in the reindeer game, I wonder if Icelanders get their Christmas gifts delivered first. Is that why they are so happy?
Farm kids have the extra element of the maturing process of having to go out and do chores before they can open presents. It’s part of the initiation for the life ahead. By now, I had thought that, as an adult, I saw the whole Christmas experience with clear eyes, having lost any sort of innocence. That was, until recently, when I discovered that a reindeer is the same thing as a caribou.
Caribou, however, were just above us in Canada. Nothing majestic ever comes from Canada
Maybe Europeans knew this already. Maybe, unless you live in the Nordic countries, each term is equally exotic. However, growing up in the US, reindeer were majestic creatures featured in children stories and Christmas movies, and for all we knew might not have existed in real life. Caribou, however, were just above us in Canada. Nothing majestic ever comes from Canada. I wonder now, where was my science teacher on this? Are elves just seasonally unemployed construction workers or something?
They say you should never meet your heroes. Maybe that applies to animals in children’s holiday stories. Either way, I’m not ready to run across the Easter Bunny yet.
Ryan Dennis is the author of The Beasts They Turned Away, a novel set on an Irish dairy farm.
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