Over 2000 years ago, a boy was born out of his mothers’ blood and the white winter snow that sat beneath a juniper tree. The power of the tree, bodily humors, emotions and/or desires brought the boy into the human world. This formula brings forth the birth and rebirth of the boy two times in the Grimm version of the tale “The Juniper Tree,” first, at the desire and blood of his mother; and secondly, at the desire and weeping of his step- sister, Marlene.
The setting of this tale is at the apogee of Biblical occurrences and the themes present throughout it; such as immaculate conception, and rebirth, suggest to me that although there are times when the boy possesses human qualities, that he is never fully human but is in fact superior to humankind and a god-like figure with zoomorphic qualities that permit him to continue living and exact moral justice on others regardless of whether or not he exists in the human world.
We see the boy; or in this particular instance, the bird, execute his superiority to humankind every time he sings his song. His ability to enchant anyone from goldsmiths, to shoemakers, to mill-stone workers, to even his own family conveys his greatness over mere mortals just as his immaculate conception did, and just as his rebirth at the end of the story does as well.
Though we have witnessed transformations in other stories that we have read, they have not been in the style of complete birth, complete death, complete re-birth in a new form, and transformation to the original form as this tale is. Generally, transformations follow in a sequential and progressive order and are maintained within the same body until the very end when say for example an aesthetically displeasing character is rewarded with handsome features as the case with “Hans My Hedgehog.”
Wow, this was really interesting! I hadn't thought about it like that before, but I do agree. It is very interesting that so many parallels do exist between the Juniper Tree and the Bible. There are some important differences, the most important being how he came about. The mother's desire and drops of blood do not parallel the unsuspecting virgin Mary that was given a son, but is an interesting thought.
ReplyDeleteI also feel that this blog makes it easy to compare the Boy in Bird form to the Holy Spirit in Christianity. According to the Bible , first Jesus came in human form, then arose from the dead (like the boy in the story before he took Bird form to "exact moral justice"), and it is written that he will come again in body.
For the one who did the wicked things (the stepmother), the bird brought judgment against, but the others he blessed (with gifts). I don't know that I can elaborate on too many more examples, but I feel this was a worthy comparison to make.