Animals in Art & Literature

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NancyM
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Animals in Art & Literature

Post by NancyM »

EAGLES and RAVENS together

I think it is so interesting that the eagle and the raven are seen so often sitting together on the perch tree near the winter feeding grounds. They would be good together as the stars of a story! I already found a story online (thanks to Google)

The Book of Nature Myths (written in 1904)
http://www.sacred-texts.com/etc/bnm/index.htm


HOW THE RAVEN HELPED MEN

http://www.sacred-texts.com/etc/bnm/bnm46.htm

"The raven and the eagle were cousins, and they were almost always friendly, but whenever they talked together about men, they quarreled.

"Men are lazy," declared the eagle. "There is no use in trying to help them. The more one does for them, the less they do for themselves."

"You fly so high," said the raven, "that you cannot see how hard men work. I think that we birds, who know so much more than they, ought to help them." ...
(click the link to see what happened http://www.sacred-texts.com/etc/bnm/bnm46.htm)
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Olga
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Post by Olga »

Thank you, bociany. I have thought to propose that it could be here a topic for 'animals' (eagles, storks, ravens, boars and Black Storks especially.. ) in Arts and History, - literature, folklore, legends, mythes,... How people have valuated animals, mammals or birds, all this tells us of the the values of humans, of what has been always important to maintain life in general, the survival. Have we forgotten something..? .. 'If eagles are on the verge of extinction so are humans too, life in its entirety...( i cannot formulate my thoughs very well,..)

Why were for example eagles hated for so long time so badly that they were near to disappear from Northern Countries and Europe in the years 1960-1970..?.. Why were they appreciated, if not adored, too, at same time, for long time before those dangerous years (years of DDT.. etc) ... It is still a sacred bird in many legends and stories and in live life symbols, - like so many others, Black Storks, Ravens..and Boars too ..pigs as a way (Christmas meal in Finland, at least, - 'pork roast'?.. :shock: ..or 'Christmas ham'(?).. sorry my poor English!..).

There are thousands of stories, from Ancient Times, from The Aesop Fables, Socrates and Aristotle, to the times of virtual animated Comics & humor of modern times, and live streem webcams, songs, poems...).. hm.. too huge theme.. :blush: But for some stories.. not all, they are too many. But people have always loved animals, - animals were the Wise in principle.. and when they seemed or were pictured to be as if 'stupid', then they were used to reveal the 'comic silly' in humans. Take Ravens, good example (Zarathustranian or Mithranian mysteries where Raven was the main Messenger.. oh, :faint: the Stories from those times and before .. the pre-historic times.. I just thought aloud..

I apologize my bad language mistakes
Where could we put and save stories and links for stories in relation to the main issue of LKF.. :puzzled: Laveda translated some Russian legends of Black Storks in HH.. Time will show if that kind of topic is needed, I guess..

http://aesopfables.com/

or this, on Raven : http://symbolic-meanings.com/2008/03/18 ... ven-calls/

interesting, but (OMG..too much for me, i have only one life...)
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NancyM
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Post by NancyM »

There is much interesting mythology centered on the Raven. The native peoples of the Pacific Northwest have many stories and images of the raven (the Trickster), and even the raven together with eagles.

a little hard to read, but there is a lot on this very interesting web page (scroll down and down ...):
http://web.telia.com/~u85903393/corvus_english.html
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Post by NancyM »

A couple of years ago, I wrote an article about the White Stork in Mythology. There are more "live" links if you go to that article.
http://www.polishsite.us/culture-and-tr ... ature.html

Storks in Mythology and Literature

Tuesday, 31 January 2006

An old Polish folktale tells us that frogs, lizards, snakes, and other similar animals became so numerous and caused so many problems that God put them all in a sack to get rid of them. He gave the sack to a a human, with instructions to empty the sack into the sea. Curiosity overcame the weak human, who opened the sack to see what was inside. All of the animals escaped and hid, so God changed the man into a stork to hunt them and clean up the mess (Knab, 1996)

Another tale describes how the stork got her colors of black and white, and why she travels from Poland to Africa each year. You can read this tale at Poppyfield Press, where you will also see beautiful notecards with the image shown here.

Storks make the Best Parents

The best known modern image of the stork is as the bringer of babies: we have all seen the image of a flying stork carrying a little "bundle of joy" to new parents. In ancient Greek mythology, the stork was actually a symbol of stealing a baby and carrying it away. Gerana, a beautiful Queen of the Pygmies, was changed into a stork by Hera, one of the goddesses whom she had made angry. As a stork, Gerana tried to abduct her own child, Mopsus, whom she loved, but was constantly chased away by her former kin.

In Norse mythology and other folklore, the stork represents a life-long commitment to family values, since it is considered to be monogamous, although this is not actually true. For Early Christians, the stork became an emblem of a chaste marriage, and this symbolism endured to the 17th century, as in Henry Peacham's Emblem Book, Minerva Britanna.

The legend that the stork brings babies probably originated in northern Europe, perhaps because storks arrive on their breeding grounds in Poland and Germany nine months after midsummer. Storks were encouraged to nest on people's homes and properties in the hope that they would bring fertility and prosperity. The Hebrew word for stork was equivalent to "kind mother," and the care of storks for their young, in their highly visible nests, made the stork a widespread symbol of parental care.

Storks, the Soul, & the Afterlife
In Egyptian mythology, the stork was often associated with the ba or personality, the unique individual character of each human being. The ba or soul was represented by a bird, usually a stork, with a human head. The Egyptians linked the migratory behavior of the stork to the soul's departure from and return to a sleeping human; they also thought that the ba could return to the body of a deceased person, because that was its rightful home.

Stories about Storks
Aesop, the 6th century BC Greek fabulist, wrote tales about the stork, including one in which the the stork and fox dine together, and another in which the stork gets caught up with bad company. Other tales may be about a crane or a stork, such as this one about a wolf. The fable about the frogs who desired a king is one of the stories that tells us about the food that storks eat.

The two books pictured below are charming stories about storks in Poland. The one on the left by Susan Throckmorton is very colorful, since it is decorated with the author's own paper cutout art (wycinanki), and is written in both Polish and English. The story of Bocheck in Poland won first prize in a national contest sponsored by the American Council of Polish Cultural Clubs in the early 1980s.


Mythology Sources and Links:
http://f01.middlebury.edu/FS010A/STUDENTS/n111.htm
http://www.egyptologyonline.com/
Polish Customs, Traditions, & Folklore by Sophie Hodorowicz Knab

Literature Sources and Links:
http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Aesop/Aesops_Fables
http://www.pacificnet.net/~johnr/aesop/aesop4.html
http://www.fairytalescollection.com/Aesop_Fables
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Post by Liis »

Hello, Bociany -
this would have been something for you! Announcement in today's Looduskalender, sorry, not quite translated yet.
"Mall Hiiemäe, expert on Estonian folklore, traditions and beliefs will appear at Lahemaa Nature Centre on Thursday, January 15th, beginning at 6 p.m. The theme of the evening is “Animals in folklore“ .
Mall Hiiemäe will discuss the role of animals in Estonian folklore in her lecture, including animal species in nature and in our beliefs, legends, tales, proverbs, spell-chants, dream interpretations, folk medicine, and weather forecasting. The transition of extraordinary real-life events into hunters’ tales will also be examined."
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Post by NancyM »

Liis ~ thank you ~ I wish I could be there! (and that I would understand the lecture :blush: ). Maybe someone will attend and report on it for us.
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Post by Liis »

Jo wrote:
"Buzzard snatches and kills rare bird:"
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/e ... 525947.ece (other link, same story)
The bird was a phalarope. Can someone, please, tell what the phalarope does in Alan Paton's Too late the phalarope?
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Post by Liis »

That mysterious Too late the phalarope: this is the nearest yet, except for reading the book http://forum.quoteland.com/1/OpenTopic? ... =716198306 It still doesn’t explain, but at least others wonder too.
Always liked the title, never wanted to read the book. Never knew phalarope was a bird either :blush: :blush: ...
The things you learn in Looduskalender …
But phalarope and buzzard - it has happened before. In UK. In front of birdwatchers. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-60944332.html
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Post by Liis »

About the phalarope in Too late the phalarope, then ...
Some more Googling may have solved the question of what it does in the book:
Main character, Pieter, gives his father a book on birds, where father immediately finds that the description of phalarope is wrong, and takes Pieter on a birdwatching expedition to prove it. They see a phalarope, both are happy, but can't any longer share the happiness with each other. So, too late for communication, even about phalaropes.
Phalaropes have quite beautiful names in Estonian - veetallaja, roughly water treader - and rather unimaginative in Swedish (simsnäppa). Which makes the swedish title of the book, Järnhård är lagen (Iron hard the law) an understandable modification; something like 'Late sandpiper' would not exactly be a blockbuster.
Off-topic, but a little about birds, and there were even buzzards to start with
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Post by yarko »

Liis said: Phalaropes have quite beautiful names in Estonian - veetallaja, roughly water treader
That name - (veetallaja) - puzzled me; i Googled and found this:
When feeding, a phalarope will often swim in a small, rapid circle, forming a small whirlpool. This behavior is thought to aid feeding by raising food from the bottom of shallow water. The bird will reach into the center of the vortex with its bill, plucking small insects or crustaceans caught up therein.
Fascinating!
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Post by Liis »

And our recent member, Mr. Loodusemees, has written about the veetallaja / phalarope (regret, Estonian only) here:
"Veetallaja – erand kõikide reeglite seas"
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Post by NancyM »

Liis wrote:And our recent member, Mr. Loodusemees, has written about the veetallaja / phalarope (regret, Estonian only)
:book: I really have to learn some Estonian!
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Post by Liis »

Has anyone found any report of Mall Hiiemäe's (edit. :blush: )talk about animals & birds in folklore http://www.looduskalender.ee/en/node/2445 or even been there to listen?
If so, tell us about it! Particularly the part about real-life happenings becoming hunters' tales ...
Kas keegi käis Mall Hiiemäe loengul? Jutustage meile ka ! :book:
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Post by Liis »

Liis wrote:... tell us about it! Particularly the part about real-life happenings becoming hunters' tales ...
Kas keegi käis Mall Hiiemäe (edit :blush: ) loengul? Jutustage meile ka ! :book:
Can't be possible that absolutely no-one was there, or knows a friend of a friend of a ... who was. :puzzled:
Come on, tell us!
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Post by Kuremari »

Liis wrote: Can't be possible that absolutely no-one was there, or knows a friend of a friend of a ... who was. :puzzled:
Come on, tell us!
it is sad, seems that no one from the forum was there :puzzled:
but maybe Mr.Looduskalender knows somebody, who knows somebody who knows Mall Hiieväina?!
and maybe they can arrange an interview with her?
perhaps she can tell some tales about Black Storks also, that would be something!!
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Post by yarko »

i can contact with Mall Hiieväin' an ask for an interwiew.
BTW next interwiew will be with Mait (pig-cam), then with men from Kotkaklubi (eagle-cam)
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Post by Kuremari »

yarko wrote:i can contact with Mall Hiieväin' an ask for an interwiew.
BTW next interwiew will be with Mait (pig-cam), then with men from Kotkaklubi (eagle-cam)
wonderful,
we have a lot to wait for... :headroll:
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Post by NancyM »

yarko wrote:i can contact with Mall Hiieväin' an ask for an interwiew.
that would be wonderful! She must have many interesting tales to tell!
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Post by Liis »

bociany wrote: that would be wonderful! She must have many interesting tales to tell!
Agree! While we wait there is
40 birds in Estonian folklore by Mall Hiiemäe (edit. :blush: )on Internet. Estonian only, but a short English summary at the end of 1st part, pictures of most included birds,sounds for some & scientific names for all.
4 parts, go to next instalment by clicking "Läheb edasi ...", the next-to-last line at end ("Tagasi algusesse", last = back to start). And if anyone is specially interested in a particular bird, tell us, there will surely be somebody to translate.
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