FRAXINUS EXCELSIOR
12-06-2004, 02:10 AM
The Ash Tree In Indo-European Culture (http://www.musaios.com/ash.htm):ABSTRACT:
Many species of Fraxinus, the ash tree, exude a sugary substance which the ancient Greeks called méli, i.e. honey. This substance was harvested commercially until the early part of this century, and is found on Fraxinus excelsior in northern Europe and Fraxinus ornus in the mountains of Greece.
This fact sheds light on certain themes in classical literature - the idea of a golden age when men ate acorns and honey that dripped from trees, the idea that bees collect honey from the leaves and branches of trees, and that ash tree nymphs were nurses of the infant Zeus in the Cretan cave of Dicte. (They fed him honey). Also, a new etymology of the Greek word for ash tree is proposed in light of these connections.
In Norse mythology certain details of the description of Yggdrasil, the world ash, also can be explained by the sugary property of ash trees. It is felt to rain honey on the world, and mead is said to flow in its branches.
Again in Sanskrit literature certain beliefs are found which parallel the Greek and Norse ideas, for instance that honey rains down upon the world from the skies. Certain things that are said about the divine intoxicant soma seem to indicate a connection to ash trees, or rather a confused memory of ash trees, since they do not grow in India except in the Himalayas.
In light of these parallels in the Indo-European literatures, it seems very probable that sugar from ash trees played an important role in Indo-European mythology and ritual. A surviving Finno-Ugrian ritual, observed in 1911, connects honey, tree resins, and tree worship in a way which must be similar to ancient Indo-European ritual.
Many species of Fraxinus, the ash tree, exude a sugary substance which the ancient Greeks called méli, i.e. honey. This substance was harvested commercially until the early part of this century, and is found on Fraxinus excelsior in northern Europe and Fraxinus ornus in the mountains of Greece.
This fact sheds light on certain themes in classical literature - the idea of a golden age when men ate acorns and honey that dripped from trees, the idea that bees collect honey from the leaves and branches of trees, and that ash tree nymphs were nurses of the infant Zeus in the Cretan cave of Dicte. (They fed him honey). Also, a new etymology of the Greek word for ash tree is proposed in light of these connections.
In Norse mythology certain details of the description of Yggdrasil, the world ash, also can be explained by the sugary property of ash trees. It is felt to rain honey on the world, and mead is said to flow in its branches.
Again in Sanskrit literature certain beliefs are found which parallel the Greek and Norse ideas, for instance that honey rains down upon the world from the skies. Certain things that are said about the divine intoxicant soma seem to indicate a connection to ash trees, or rather a confused memory of ash trees, since they do not grow in India except in the Himalayas.
In light of these parallels in the Indo-European literatures, it seems very probable that sugar from ash trees played an important role in Indo-European mythology and ritual. A surviving Finno-Ugrian ritual, observed in 1911, connects honey, tree resins, and tree worship in a way which must be similar to ancient Indo-European ritual.