folk story

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Wren Hunting

August 14, 2009 in Wren by wendren | 2 comments

The last of the Wren folk stories is both sweet and sour, nice and not-so-nice. It’s the story of Wren Hunting.

One the Isle of Man a story is told of a fairy-girl or mermaid who lured youths into the sea. One of them threw a spear at her and to avoid it she turned herself into a wren and flew away. This short story has led to a tradition and a belief.

Sweet Dreams print by Hadley Hutton

The tradition of Wren Hunting came about because on New Years day it was said that the mermaid who turned into a wren in order to escape, had to turn back into her own shape as a fairy-girl/mermaid. This made her vulnerable and at the mercy of her hunters who tried to kill her. The ‘hunt’ stems from the idea that hunting and killing a god or king (which the Wren has taken form of) is a variant of the belief that in the killing of the old king, his powers are passed on to his successor. This tradition used to be on New Years day but now takes place on St.Stephens Day on December 26.

The Wren-hunting story is the root of the belief that a wren’s feather is a lucky charm for sailors. It is said to prevent sailors from drowning as the mermaid had taken the form of a wren in order to escape death.

References: Drui-en (geocities), Winter wren (wiki).

‘a little bird told me….’

July 17, 2009 in Wren by wendren | 1 comment

The other day I wrote about the ‘Wren, The King of animals’ folk story but here is another one filled with symbolism and traditions….

The Druid and the wren have always been closely related. In Ireland the wren was called a Drui-en, or Druid bird; in Welsh the word Dryw signifies both a druid and a wren.

The Druid’s house is often referred to as the wren’s nest – a place of comfort and safety for another important symbol in druidry is the egg. The Druid’s Egg articulates the idea that in order to grow and change there is required periods of incubation – withdrawing from the world to allow the opportunity to reform in the womb of time. The wren’s nest was said to be protected by lightning. Whoever tried to steal wren’s eggs or baby wrens would find their house struck by lightning and their hands would shrivel up.

There is a tradition that like most old rituals has a slightly mean and not-so-nice angle, of wren hunting. The Wren Day (one of Ireland’s public holidays) is also called St. Stephens Day and is celebrated on the 26th of December. It started when apprentice Druids would go out by themselves into the countryside in search of hidden wisdom. It is quite difficult to actually see a wren and if he found one he would take that as a sign that he would be blessed with inner knowledge in the coming year because it is said that a wren symbolizes wisdom (see story). Finding a creature small and elusive to the point of invisibility was a metaphor for finding the elusive divinity within all life.

This is where some say that the saying ‘a little bird once told me…‘ come from. Isn’t that delightful!

References: Drui-en (geocities), Winter wren (wiki).