“In the Forest, Deep and Dark….”

It’s increasingly rare to find a forest that hasn’t been shaped by human use. Ohikulkija/CC BY-SA 3.0

When I was small, there was a tremendous forest across the field from my great-grandmother’s house on San Juan Island. I called it the Black Forest, after the famous fairy-tale forest in Germany. It was everything I ever imagined a fairy tale forest would be and never went more than a few feet into the trees. I was terrified of becoming lost and wandering in the woods. I was certain that either Baba Yaga or the gingerbread-house witch would find us if we ever wandered too far under the great trees.

Forests are big, dark, and mysterious. They appear in many–if not most–fairy tales. Forests hide Big Bad Wolves. Witches hide their gingerbread houses in forests. Castles that belong to mysterious strangers are surrounded by forests. Sometimes the forest is itself enchanted. Forests are always dangerous and places of adventure that mark the edges of this world and the worlds of spirit and imagination.

Facts, folklore, superstitions, myths, and anecdotes about trees and forests have always fascinated us. A wonderful book came out recently, Forests in Folklore and Mythology, that makes these tales available all in one place and examines the threads or traits they have in common. Customs, temples and sacred groves; mythical forest creatures such as witches, fairies, demons, wood spirits, and wood nymphs are all in its pages.

Certain kinds of trees are associated with wisdom, life, or death. Celtic mythology tells us that birch trees are important in both the winter and summer to purify the world. Birches were celebrated during the festival of Samhain (what is now Hallowe’en)–bundles of birch twigs were used to drive out the spirits of the old year. Later this would evolve into the ‘beating the bounds’ ceremonies in local parishes, a festival in the springtime. Gardeners still use the birch brooms to ‘purify’ their gardens.

According to Atlas Obscura, the last of the great fairy tale forests can be found in Finland, or on the Carpathian or Balkan mountain ranges that slice across Romania and Bulgaria.

Werewolves, Weasels, Ravens—O, My!

Tomatoes were an important ingredient in some potions that would turn someone into a werewolf.

Everyone knows about the connections between werewolf bites, wolfbane, silver bullets, and the full moon. “Thank you, Hollywood!” But the real connections between werewolves, tomatoes, and other legends is actually more interesting although less well known.

The most famous werewolf story in Norse mythology–but almost unknown anywhere else–is the story of father and son, Sigmund and Sinfjotli. Wandering in the woods, Norse heroes Sigmund and Sinfjotli come upon a hut where they find two spellbound wolf pelts. Sigmund and Sinfjotli put on the pelts and then discovered that the pelts could only be removed every 10th day and therefore wander in forest as wolves.

Sinfjotli & Sigmund agree to fight together if attacked by more than 7 men but Sinfjotli the son kills 11 men at one time. Sigmund fatally injures his son. But a raven, the messenger of Odin, brings a healing leaf to place on Sinfjotli’s wound. (Some versions of the story say that a pair of weasels bring the healing leaf.)

Sinfjotli is healed, he and his father take off the wolf pelts as the 10th day comes and burn the pelts to free themselves.

It is not a surprise to meet a raven, associated with Odin and death, around werewolves. Weasels, generally thought sneaks and thieves, are also considered extremely talented physicians in traditional tales. Using a magic wolf pelt to become a werewolf is also common in folklore. But the stipulation that the pelt can only be removed 10 days after it is put on is unusual. Perhaps the ten days, which is approximately 1/3 of a lunar month, is a Norse version of the connection between werewolves and the moon.

St. George and the Werewolves

Icon of St. George killing the dragon from the late 1400s.

St. George is probably best known for killing the dragon. But there are many other legends and customs associated with the celebration of St. George’s Day on April 23 or the night before (St. George’s Eve). One of the most mysterious is that of the Master of the Wolves. On St. George’s Eve a man is wandering in the forest, becomes tired, and climbs into a tree to rest. He falls asleep. When he awakes, he sees the Master of the Wolves below him, who is giving out food to the wolves or werewolves, sometimes sending them in all directions to search for food. The last in line is the Lame Wolf. Since there is no more food, the Master of the Wolves says he can eat the man watching from the tree.

Among part of the southern Slavs (Serbs, Macedonians, Bulgarians) the legends and beliefs about the Master of the Wolves are also connected with numerous commandments, prohibitions and customs associated into the so-called “wolf holidays”. Legends about some type of Master of the Wolves can also be found in written form among the majority of southern and eastern Slavs, partially also among the Poles, and among the Estonians, the Gagauz in Moldavia, in Latvia, Romania and in an incomplete form even in France. His function, as can be established from the legends and beliefs, is to lead the wolves and determine what they may and may not eat. In some versions of the legend, the Master of Wolves is St. George himself! (For more about the Master of Wolves, read here.)

In the book Dracula, by Bram Stoker, evil things are said to occur on St George’s Day, beginning at midnight. The date of St George’s Day presented in the book, 5 May (on the Western, Gregorian calendar), is St George’s Day as observed by the Eastern Orthodox churches of that era:

“Do you know what day it is?” I answered that it was the fourth of May. She shook her head as she said again: “Oh, yes! I know that, I know that! but do you know what day it is?” On my saying that I did not understand, she went on: “It is the eve of St. George’s Day. Do you not know that tonight, when the clock strikes midnight, all the evil things in the world will have full sway?”(Excerpt from Dracula, 1897)