The Dickinson press., 1888-09-22
LEGENDS OF TREES.
WHAT is SAID OF THEM IN MYTHo-
LOGICAL STORY.


The IRE" q. l.ii..--Thr Nor>. N,,:M Tree.
T!:r ;':iu,ot,> soma Tree In,.in Legends.
:! ta->ira; 'i'i!c Groves nf the Gods.
H:ui.;>.
'Tiir tr", figures in Ncr.ii.st cosliu-oMi,.S.
In tn" Garden nf EDEN stood the tree of life
Whose i:iIi: would haNr bestowed peri ";;!.i!
Youth npo.. the frs, pair. and near i! was lh'
tree ui l.!,'w l,.,.t' fatal Ia tlcIi and To l;
destiny OF man. ,!"c riding To- u I!rdi;nvnl
l." ,.i,!, the i"Gncr Wa, traus;'laiitcl ,o
.Ah.;,Aan> garden. Il thousand years after
the fail ." l,,i.!> and angel "ailic down 10
tell him that upon i. III" !."'!"cl:i.'r w"ml'i 'a
sacrificed ai,rr having descended from Il.
y Scotch tr;l,iirinn >!.;ms 1" til" auip,v tire.
the honor II l'"iit.: l'!r trc" %. knowledge
IL Morse c">,','g"ny. the t.c, plays Il s'.il
more important part. 1t is here the wur: i
tree -. y.,,r;,>il-wl!o>c i"lia:,,. is the clouds.
t!.r ~ial> lis trii; a!nl the So, lis bed At il,
foot bubbles Tn" fountain ID. liir. ;nd from
its branches fire was h.uugli; 1" l.ia;l Under
ii sit the three N"rm.> WHO weave tnr events
o: ,uns lif". ltsroot> extend into the highest
heaven and into the deepest he'll. This tree
WAS an ;lsh and another legend says Odin
created Adam from the a>!, and Eve from
the elm.
Like this is the famous soma tree, wllic!,
stands on an island in the middle of Il lake,
guarded 10y fish. From it is ,listiile, ,e
soma or anita, the drink of immortality.
Near it stands another tree, called the invio-
late, hearing the seeds of all plants and
flowers In its branches nrc lcrchrd the
eagles, When ene rises IL thousand branches
break off, scattering I he seed over the earth.
Like the Morse world tree, the intelligent
oak Of Doduna had its roots in deepest hell.
and Il fountain at its foot gave forth the
oracular sayings of Jupiter This evergreen
oak spoke lis thoughts, even when cut down.
f"r"f it WAS the intelligent PROV of the Argos
ma,ls
The ''trce of life" was not merely figure
of speech in ancient belief Many Greek and
Persian families claimed descent from Tree.
Ca'lmS >piang from Il tree, the .lchaneni'!;r
clamcd similar descent, and even Mars.
;''rnlding TO one legend, was the offspring of
Il tree. Piny says there stood before ,lr
t"mpic of Quirinus, at Rome, two myrtle
tirrs-one the patrician, the other the
rrhan-;,nd that. as these orders of society
grew or diminished in Importance, its tree
'pur>hc,i or linc'l
Among savage tribes the tree is often !.
cod. The Ojibways thought certain trees
We're ,leitcS, and made offerings to them.
The Darotalls worShiped many trees rSlcc-
allv medicine wood. Carolina Indians VEN
Grated the coupon, ur wild fig trce the Maya;
recognized IL divinity in trees: the Tr;amcc,
w"r>l,ilcd them, and Darwin saw u trii..
which vrnrrlte,l Il tree. the home of i, ,IciiY
called Walechu. They poured li,atinns
through IL hole bored in it, and around il
We're the bones of horses that had been S;!rri-
'esl. Indian tribes generally w"rsllils.l
trees and some thought that they spr,n:
from them. Daricn tribes descended irom,
frees. and some of the .\zlcrs claimed then
origin from two trees in wop'ir,l gorge.
rs the tree was the origin of llfr il w-
ais" Thought the home of souls after life w;i;
ended. Empedoclcs says souls of the higli,>;
virtue passed into trees. The old cl;lssi'':!
tall. of Philemon and BauciS assigned them II
iinnl home i'll trees as u reward for charity
shown To Xeus. Another tradition says the
lH.nitent Mvrrlla became g; tree. and the
drops whicl, fall from the bark (myrrD are
her tears. Dante travclscl IL lrnllrss w,yul.
i'll TIL" bark of every tree of which WAS Inn
I,ri~unrG IL suicide, and lie spoke tn !ic;r"
'lelin Nignc. Tho Greek Drvals wcre i;,i,l
1" have their abodcs in trees Oibwa% liz
'liins thought trees possessed souls, and
never cut them, some fearing to pain lilHm.
In many places in Germany trees are tIl"u,!,t
i" he the first al,odcs of infants.
The tree OF knowledge also occurs in ,ai,'.-
lar lore. In north Germany, when the :l.:-
ter dies, some one must so into the gaG,lrn
and stand under Il tree and say: 'Mas:rr is
dead for, if the tree is not informed there
will be another death. An Ojibway tall
represents Il tree as whispering Il talr of low"
to Il certain maiden who tcdcatu, herself ,u
ii, dies, and is often seen wandering in i i.c
forest. According 10 Il Maori myth, l.,;,.,u
and earth were once joined in an embrace. d,
close that their children had 10 place t.
dwell. But Tancnaiutu father of tire, .
pE he'd them lsln,ler with his branches
These ideas concerning the divinity of trees
led to their worship in primitive times.
In the deepest groves abide the yo.;s
Primitive nations inhabited the forest, and
the tree was their first shelter. The ccntrr
of the early Greek as we'll Us of the Tci,innic
dwelling was Il tree, around which spread
the house. Groves We're the first tcli y,>.
and he Gothic church is hut Il grove turned
into stone. In old German dialects lrn;nIe
and grove are the same word. Tree wul',i:,
w,:.' The foundation of Gcr.n;inc and Celtic
religion. Down to the Introduction OF Chris
tianity in the north, the ,lictics were wul'-
SHIPPED in sacred groves, am! ON TIE l,ougis
of the trees hung the heads u. sacrificed AMI
mails AS late rs the eleventh century trees
We're worsliipcl in many places, 'iiGt
DiuidS. as is we'll known. Wulshpcd and
sacrificed i'll groves. and The oak y.; IL sacred
tree To them. T. j. l;as,nlt ia Giui,r- Drllln-
crat.