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Mistletoe and Its Lore
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12130 |
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Section : |
NATURAL SCIENCE
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| Issue
Date : |
12 / 1987 |
1,029 Words |
| Author
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Frank Hawksworth
Frank Hawksworth is a research plant pathologist with the U.S.
Forest Service in Fort Collins, Colorado. He has studied
mistletoe for nearly 40 years and is considered a world expert
on the topic. He has created a database of mistletoe
literature from around the world, which contains more than
12.000 entries. |
Mistletoe is unique in that its folklore and mythology date back to antiquity in many parts of the world. Its reputation as a medicinal and mystic plant has been known for at least 5,000 years. The origins of the plant's lore are obscure; even the derivation of its name appears uncertain. One of the earliest written references to mistletoe appears in one of Aesop's tales from the sixth century B.C. The Greek philosopher Theophrastus described mistletoe's biology, host trees, and dispersal by birds in the fourth century B.C.
Three of the best-known mistletoe legends concern the reverence shown for the plant by the ancient Druids of Gaul; its association in Virgil's Aeneid with the golden bough that helped Aeneas in his descent into the underworld; and the northern European tale of how mistletoe was used to kill the sun-god Balder.
Pliny the Elder, a Roman living in the first century A.D., gave us our first glimpse of the ancient Druids' high regard for mistletoe. The oak itself was esteemed as a sacred plant. When the rare mistletoe was discovered on an oak tree, it was regarded as proof that God himself had selected that tree for his special favor. Such a discovery was cause for special celebrations, in which the white-robed Druid priests climbed the tree and severed the mistletoe with a golden sickle. The falling plant was caught in a white cloth by other priests below, who believed that the sacred plant must not touch the ground or its mystical powers would be lost. The mistletoe was then used as the centerpiece for a religious ceremony that is said to have included human sacrifices.
Virgil describes Aeneas' search for the golden bough that would aid his escape to the underworld following the destruction of Troy by the Greeks: "Within the dusky tree lurks the old bough with golden leaves and limber twigs of gold." Mistletoe is specifically mentioned only once in the epic; it is compared to, but not actually identified as, the golden bough. The identity of the golden bough has sparked a continuing debate among scholars. The most noted proponent of the mistletoe theory is Sir James Frazer, author of a massive 12-volume compendium on magic and religion, The Golden Bough.
Many versions of the Balder saga occur in tenth to twelfth-century Scandinavian, Icelandic, and Germanic mythology. The gist of the story is that Frigga, Balder's mother and queen of the mortals, sought oaths from all the pants that they would not harm her son. However, she did not seek such a vow from the mistletoe, which was presumed to be too
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