Reindeer

The Reindeer are the animals that pull the White Witch's sledge, serving as a symbol of her frozen reign and its eventual collapse. They appear in two distinct forms: the Witch's own white reindeer, which draw her through the eternal winter, and the brown reindeer of Father Christmas, whose arrival signals the breaking of her power. Their presence marks the transition from the Witch's cold tyranny to the spring of Aslan's return.

The White Witch's Reindeer

The White Witch's sledge is drawn by two reindeer, described as being about the size of Shetland ponies, with hair so white that even the snow hardly looks white compared to them. Their branching horns are gilded and shine like something on fire when the sunrise catches them, and their harness is of scarlet leather covered with bells. When Edmund first encounters the Witch, the sledge sweeps into sight with the sound of bells, the Dwarf cracking his whip, and snow flying up on each side. The reindeer are driven by the Witch's Dwarf, who whips them cruelly, and they champ their bits and blow, their breath looking like smoke in the frosty air. As the thaw begins, the sledge becomes useless, and the Witch orders the Dwarf to cut the harness of the reindeer, telling them they will find their own way home.

Father Christmas's Reindeer

When the children and Beavers emerge from their hiding cave, they see a different sledge, drawn by reindeer far bigger than the Witch's, and not white but brown. These reindeer have bells on their harness, and on the sledge sits Father Christmas, a huge man in a bright red robe with a hood and a great white beard. The sight of this sledge and its reindeer marks the first crack in the Witch's power, as Father Christmas declares, "She has kept me out for a long time, but I have got in at last. Aslan is on the move. The Witch's magic is weakening." The brown reindeer, unlike the Witch's, are not driven with cruelty but with a crack of the whip that sends them and the sledge out of sight in an instant.

Narrative Significance

The contrast between the two sets of reindeer embodies the central conflict of the story. The Witch's white reindeer, with their gilded horns and scarlet harness, are instruments of a beautiful but cruel regime, driven through a landscape of perpetual winter. Father Christmas's brown reindeer, larger and more vigorous, herald the arrival of spring and the defeat of the Witch. The reindeer thus serve as a visual and thematic marker of the shift from the White Witch's reign of "always winter and never Christmas" to the hope and renewal brought by Aslan. Their presence in both the Witch's and Father Christmas's processions underscores the battle between two kinds of power: one that enslaves and one that liberates.