Tree spirit
In many cultures, tree spirits are called natural spirits whose existence is associated with individual trees . The motif of the tree spirit has also entered many folk tales and topos in literature.
General
The traits attributed to tree spirits vary from culture to culture. In many cases, however, there is the idea that trees and plants are animated by the tree spirits and thus come closer to the gods and people.
Tree spirits are described as sedentary beings. Their existence is related to the tree or forest they host. There are hardly any references to the resettlement of tree spirits in the literature.
Tree spirits in individual cultures
In Greek mythology , the dryads or hamadryads are described as tree spirits and belong to the nymphs there . However, these phenomena are not only recognized in this culture. The endorsers of life associated with individual goddesses are also known in Egyptian mythology under the name Hathors Sykomore.
Tree spirits in Norse mythology
Especially in Norse mythology, belief in natural spirits such as the tree spirit cannot be separated from belief in the soul. The soul dwells in all things. In the wind and the clouds, in the rustling of the leaves of the trees, in the waves of the wheat fields, people could see the soul. The tree spirit takes on different forms.
The tree spirit as guardian and house spirit
In the Nordic faith, the tree spirit lived under the Bosträd (tree of the dwelling), the Vårdträd (protective tree on which the happiness of the family depends) and the Tunträd (farm tree). There were sacred trees that were planted near the courtyard and under which prayers were said or offerings in the form of milk or beer were offered. They were also called tomteträd (house spirit trees). The tomtegubbe (the old man from the farmstead, plural "Tomtegubbar") lived in them, sometimes also under them. The tomtegubbe was considered the nisse of the farm, the most loyal and most important guardian of the farmer.
The tree spirit in the woods
The tree spirits of the forests are closely related to the forest spirits in Norse mythology. In Sweden the spirits living in the tree were called elves. Their appearance is varied, you can see them as owls or as little critters who dance like dolls on the branches of the trees. They brought ulcers and disease. But the souls of the deceased also passed into the tree. Under the bark was the flesh and if the ax cut a trunk it would bleed. The folk etymology turned the elf woman into an Eller woman who lives in the Eller tree. The leaf woman lives in Sweden. But not all tree spirits are considered female beings. The forest man who lives in the tree is called Skouman, Skougman, Skogman or Hulte. The forest woman, however, is called Skogsfru, Skogsnufa (the one snorting in the forest? Seeking loneliness?), Skogsrå (in the forest, Waltende).
Ban on tree worship after Christianization
Already in the time of Charlemagne it was forbidden to offer votive offerings on trees, as well as to organize cultic meals in connection with the worship of trees or the worship of demons who live in trees and springs. This is already recorded in the Capitulatio de partibus Saxione . But also in Trier in 1227 the provincial synod reprimanded that trees and springs should not be worshiped.
Tree spirits in fables and literature
A well-known example are the tree spirits Ents in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings .
Individual evidence
- ↑ RGG4- Religion in Past and Present, 1998. LIV, 969 pages, lexicon format 19 × 26.5 cm. ISBN 978-3-16-146901-5 Entry: Trees / Plants
- ^ Paul Herrmann: Nordische Mythologie - S. 85f / ISBN 3-7466-8000-X
- ^ Paul Herrmann: Nordische Mythologie - S. 92ff / ISBN 3-7466-8000-X
- ↑ Leander Petzoldt : Small Lexicon of Demons and Elementals , 3rd edition Munich 2003; Page 31-32; Lemma "tree spirit"