Rudolphus! 🔔 Tori Longdon sings Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer in 9th-Century plainsong, with neumes (early musical notation) on screen. While the first Christmas carols were in Latin, the character of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer first appeared in a 1939 booklet written by Robert L. May and published by the department store Montgomery Ward. The song appeared ten years later - written by songwriter Johnny Marks, its recording by Gene Autry hit No. 1 on the U.S. charts the week of Christmas 19