The Towering Myth of Trees
Consider these myths the next time you and your kids take a wander through the forest
By Melissa Carter
From Grimm’s Fairy Tales to the Magic Tree House series, trees often represent a protagonist’s fear or a place of rebirth and regeneration. Forests figure prominently in older works, in part due to Germanic tribes’ belief that trees served as dwelling places for gods.- Celtic tribes were of similar thought; in fact, from Egypt to China, most systems of myth embrace the tree as a unifying, fertility symbol.
- Our favourite forest flick, the masterpiece Princess Mononoke (Miramax), merges nature, myth and history. Set in long-ago Japan, it tells of young Ashitaka and his quest to resolve the struggle between the magic forest guardians and resource-hungry humans.
