Now that wakes me! I begin to probe the story with inquisitive antenna. Why are ostrich feathers, not peacock, eagle or robin, on the heads of the horses? Why a gold ball and not one of silver or with green and blue stripes? Why does the princess seem like a child on the first day of the story and on the second is ready for marriage? And what about those bands around Faithful Henry’s heart? I tell you, once I begin listening to this story with my “third ear”, an endless array of exhilarating paths show up to carry me ever more deeply into amazement.
The most astonishing revelation is this. The pivotal event of the princesses’ ball rolling into the deep dark waters of a well takes place under an “old linden tree.” Why not an oak, or a fig, or a maple, or even a sweet pine? But the story specifies a linden. Being a researcher at heart and a “bookaholic”in my core, I turn to my own library and find: The Meaning of Trees by Fred Hageneder. Happily, linden is listed in the index. I just about levitate with excitement. Not only are these trees a nectar source for bees and thus often nicknamed the “bee tree,” ( Isn’t that propitious given the plight of bees on our planet?), they’re also known as the “soothing tree” whose tea is good for the heart, calms children, eases diarrhea, high blood pressure, sinus conditions and skin problems.
But here’s the really fascinating bit with respect to the Frog Prince story: the linden was the traditional hub of village life and the gathering place for both feasts and courts of law. Considered a sacred tree, it is “revealing that the ancients gathered, discussed and judged underneath the ‘female’ linden which represents mercy, rather than the ‘male’ oak tree” associated with the god Thor.
Copyright Deborah Jane Milton. All Rights Reserved