Myths of Forests

I love forests. Used to want to lose myself in them when I was a child and we would go on picnics.(My mother is still angry to this day about those little forays.) Forests are mysterious with their trees and wildlife. There is something new behind every tree. When the wind blows through them, the trees seem to speak in a secret language.

Forests appear in many works of fiction. Fantasy writers give them a magical element with strange denizens, mirroring ancient myths. Robert Holdstock gave them even more mystery with his Mythago Wood books. These books prompted me to read a book on the mythology of forests and write this entry.

The Lore of Forests by Alexander Porteous is an older book from 1928. The author talks about the myths of forests, trees and mythical forest dwellers. I found the book interesting for the stories, but lacking in analysis or in depth interpretation. I prefer a little more explanation for myself. Still, the book did inspire me.

Mythical denizens were explored in one chapter. I enjoyed the further stories of the Wild Hunt. Learning differences between dryads and hamadryads was helpful. There was a lot of belief that forests were filled with demons and other spirits.

Individual stories about trees fascinated me. One was about the Dragon’s Blood tree. It was purported to be a huge tree in the Canary Islands that had fruit with the image of dragon inside when you cut it open. The tree bleeds a red sap at a certain time of year that was supposed to be a
strong drink. Another interesting tree was one that lives on a barren plain. It is so poisonous that nothing can live near it. There is a flower called Hata. It is big and white, growing on some tree in some forest somewhere in the world for a moon. Someone who finds this flower will get all his desires, overcome his enemies and get a longer life.