Christmas has its own legends and fables, and this seems the right time of year to have a look at a few of them...
KEY POINTS:
* Santa's reindeer are all female.
Male reindeer in Scandinavia lose their antlers in December, yet the reindeer depicted hauling the jolly St Nicholas around in an airborne sleigh have large antlers. Females lose their antlers when they give birth early in the year.
Santa's beloved Rudolph did not join the sleigh team until Santa recognised the traffic benefits of his luminescent nose.
The first reindeer were named in the 1823 poem A Visit from St Nicholas - Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder and Blixem. Dunder is also referred to Donder and Donner, and Blixem has been changed to Blitzen.
Rudolph came to life in 1939 when bosses of the Montgomery Ward department store chain in the United States asked one of its writers to come up with a Christmas story they could give away as a promotional gimmick. The story is loosely based on the Ugly Duckling tale.
* Life isn't all harps and heavenly choirs for God's angels.
In Christmas tree decorations, angels are usually portrayed as wimpy blondes in girl's blouses and sandals. In the Bible however, angels are muscular bullies who frequently get into fist-fights with humans.
There's also a strict career structure. The only angels mentioned by name in the Bible are archangels, the eighth-ranking order of angels.
* Dear old benevolent sleigh-riding Father Christmas was once a drunken loud-mouth.
The Santa Claus character was first recorded in the 15th century, but was associated with holiday merrymaking and drunkenness. In Victorian Britain, his image was remade to match that of Santa.
* Silent Night was written in 1818 by an Austrian priest on Christmas Eve.
This was because the church's organ was broken and would not be prepared in time for Christmas. Father Josef Mohr wrote the carol which he designed to be sung by choir to guitar.
* It has been said that the tradition of wearing colorful paper hats at Christmas parties started with people trying to warn off bad spirits.
As evil could only be fought with evil, donning the appearance of the devil was thought to drive away the devil. Masks and hats were an essential part of devil disguises.
* The reason for Santa using the chimney to deliver presents dates back to prehistoric times, when people lived underground.
The smokehole, which has since been replaced by the chimney, doubled as the entry and exit.
* It is said that Christmas stockings originated years ago when St Nicholas became concerned about three poor sisters living on the outskirts of the city and wanted to save them from a life of prostitution.
It is told that one night he dropped three pieces of gold down through the sisters' chimney but instead of falling into the smoke-hole, the coins fell into the girls' stockings, which had been hanging near the fire to dry.
People have hung up Christmas stockings ever since, hoping to receive a similar surprise.
* Famous people born on Christmas Day include:
Singer Dido, singer Alice Cooper, Princess Alexandra, model Helena Christensen, singer Annie Lennox, actress Sissy Spacek, actor Humphrey Bogart, hotelier Conrad Hilton, and astronomer Isaac Newton.
* Deaths on Christmas Day include:
Singer James Brown, actor Dean Martin, Romanian dictator Nicolea Ceausescu, actor Charlie Chaplin, singer Johnny Ace - he shot himself while drunk and playing Russian roulette - and composer Hans Huber.
* The biggest-selling Christmas single is:
Bing Crosby's recording of songwriter Irving Berlin's White Christmas.
* The first Christmas tree brought into Windsor castle was bought by Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, in 1834.
