Easter Bunny

The Easter Bunny (also called the Easter Rabbit or Easter Hare) is a folkloric figure and symbol of Easter, depicted as a rabbit—sometimes dressed with clothes—bringing Easter eggs. Originating among German Lutherans, the "Easter Hare" originally played the role of a judge, evaluating whether children were good or disobedient in behavior at the start of the season of Eastertide, similar to the "naughty or nice" list made by Santa Claus. As part of the legend, the creature carries colored eggs in its basket, as well as candy, and sometimes toys, to the homes of children. As such, the Easter Bunny again shows similarities to Santa (or the Christkind) and Christmas by bringing gifts to children on the night before a holiday. The custom was first mentioned in Georg Franck von Franckenau's De ovis paschalibus ("About Easter Eggs") in 1682, referring to a German tradition of an Easter Hare bringing eggs for the children.Winick, Stephen. "On the Bunny Trail: In Search of the Easter Bunny," LOC Blogs, Mar. 22, 2016. Retrieved Mar. 24, 2024.
==Symbols==
===Rabbits and hares===
The hare was a popular motif in medieval church art. In ancient times, it was widely believed (as by Pliny, Plutarch, Philostratus, and Aelian) that the hare was a hermaphrodite. The idea that a hare could reproduce without loss of virginity led to an association with the Virgin Mary, with hares sometimes occurring in illuminated manuscripts and Northern European paintings of the Virgin and Christ Child. It may also have been associated with the Holy Trinity, as in the three hares motif.
===Eggs===
Scholars often posit that eggs have been used as fertility symbols since antiquity.Winick, Stephen (March 2016). "On the Bunny Trail: In Search of the Easter Bunny". Folklife Today. Eggs became a symbol in Christianity associated with rebirth as early as the 1st century AD via the iconography of the phoenix egg and they became associated with Easter specifically in medieval Europe when eating them was prohibited during the fast of Lent. A common practice in England at that time was for children to go door-to-door begging for eggs on the Saturday before Lent began. People handed out eggs as special treats for children prior to their fast.
As a special dish, eggs would probably have been decorated as part of the Easter celebrations. Later, German Protestants retained the custom of eating colored eggs for Easter, though they did not continue the tradition of fasting.Shrove Tuesday Pancakes! by Bridget Haggerty – Irish Culture & Customs, World Cultures European, paragraph 5 line 2 refers to the Catholic custom of abstaining from eggs during Lent. Accessed 3/1/08 Eggs boiled with some flowers change their color, bringing the spring into the homes, and some over time added the custom of decorating the eggs. Many Christians of the Eastern Orthodox Church to this day typically dye their Easter eggs red,How To Dye Red Eggs with Onion Skins for Greek Easter by Nancy Gaifyllia from Your Guide to Greek Food on About.Com Accessed April 9, 2008 the color of blood, in recognition of the blood of the sacrificed Christ (and, of the renewal of life in springtime). Some also use the color green, in honor of the new foliage emerging after the long-dead time of winter. The Ukrainian art of decorating eggs, known as pysanky, dates to ancient, pre-Christian times. Similar variants of this form of artwork are seen among other eastern and central European cultures.
The idea of an egg-giving hare went to the U.S. in the 18th century. Protestant German immigrants in the Pennsylvania Dutch area told their children about the Osterhase (sometimes spelled Oschter Haws). Hase means "hare", not rabbit, and in Northwest European folklore the "Easter Bunny" indeed is a hare. According to the legend, only good children received gifts of colored eggs in the nests that they made in their caps and bonnets before Easter.Easter Symbols from Lutheran Hour Ministries. Accessed 2/28/08
== Gallery ==
File:Paderborner Dom Dreihasenfenster.jpg| ('Window of Three Hares') in Paderborn Cathedral in Paderborn, Germany
File:Easter Bunnies (5625568820).jpg|Easter bunnies and Easter eggs as Easter biscuits
File:Candy eggs in an Easter basket.JPG|Marshmallow bunnies and candy eggs in an Easter basket
File:Easterbunny 1.jpg|A real live bunny with decorated Easter eggs
File:Die Kunst der Confiserie von Grund auf lernen .jpg|Chocolate Easter bunnies
File:Moules à chocolat-Musée du pain d'épices (2).jpg|Chocolate Easter Bunny molds from Alsace Musée du pain d'épices 
==Alleged association with Ēostre==
In a publication from 1874 German philologist Adolf Holtzmann stated "The Easter Hare is unintelligible to me, but probably the hare was the sacred animal of Ostara". The connection between Easter and that goddess had been made by Jacob Grimm in his 1835 Deutsche Mythologie. This proposed association was repeated by other authors including Charles Isaac Elton and Charles J. Billson.Charles J Billson (1892). Folk-Lore vol. 3 issue 4 In 1961 Christina Hole wrote, "The hare was the sacred beast of Eastre (or Ēostre), a Saxon goddess of Spring and of the dawn."Christina Hole (1961). Easter and its Customs The belief that Ēostre had a hare companion who became the Easter Bunny was popularized when it was presented as fact in the BBC documentary Shadow of the Hare (1993).
The Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore however states "nowadays, many writers claim that hares were sacred to the Anglo-Saxon goddess Ēostre, but there is no shred of evidence for this; Bede, the only writer to mention Ēostre, does not link her with any animal".
A legend often encountered in contemporary times is that Eostre freed a frozen bird from a tree branch by turning it into a hare. It still continued to lay eggs but, having no use for them anymore and in gratitude to the goddess, gave them away.Breathnach, Sarah Ben (1990). Mrs. Sharp's Traditions. 2002. Cricket. (magazine) This has no basis in any authentic, pre-Christian folklore, myth or religion and only appears to date from 1883, first published by K. A. Oberle in a book in German and later quoted by H. Krebs in a notes section in the journal Folk-Lore, also in 1883. His quote is as follows:
==See also==
* Domestic and pet rabbits
* Easter Bilby
* Mad as a March hare
* Rabbits and hares in art
==References==
==External links==
* Charles J. Billson. "The Easter Hare". Folk-Lore. Vol. 3, No. 4 (December 1892).
* (Easter Fox) (in German)
* Bott, Adrian (2011) The modern myth of the Easter bunny, The Guardian, Sat 23 Apr 2011
* Oberle K. A. (1883). Überreste germanischen Heidentums im Christentum: Oder, die Wochentage, Monate und christlichen Feste. p. 104.
 
Category:1682 introductions
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Category:Christian folklore
Category:Easter traditions
Category:German folklore
Category:Easter traditions in Germany
Category:Holiday characters
Category:Fictional rabbits and hares
Category:Fictional characters introduced in the 1680s