【Huoyan Wenshi】 is the official contracted author of today's headlines, studying in the UK, focusing on Western literature and historical research, like friends welcome to click [Follow] to subscribe to the latest content.
Deer have always occupied a very important position in Western culture.
A large part of this is due to the fact that deer were one of the important food sources for early humans.
In fact, since the Paleolithic Age, the Ancestors of Europe, the Krumanu, have been eating reindeer.
Because of its rich nutrition and delicious texture, the Sami people of Scandinavia, the indigenous people of the Kola Peninsula (Russia) and several nomadic peoples in North Asia are very fond of it, making venison soon become a traditional "hard dish" on the ancient table.
At the same time, other "objects" on deer are also quite valuable - deerskin was an important trade and clothing material in ancient times, and antlers can be used as exquisite ornaments or weapons.
In the Inuit, for example, the traditional Ulu women's knife was made of antlers and ivory handles. Ulu is almost an all-round knife, Inuit women will not only use it for self-defense, but also use it to skin animals, trim children's hair and clear snow, which can be described as "up to the hall, down to the kitchen",
The picture shows a Ulu-style female knife
In addition, in etymology, the initial meaning of "deer" is also very broad, and it has only become more specific over time.
For example, the archetypes of the English deer "deer", the Old English word for "dēor" and the Middle English "der" could originally be used to refer to any species of wild animal.
Other Germanic languages of the same origin as Old English also reflected this in the early days. For example, the "tior" in Old High German, the "djur" in Old Norse, the "DIUS" in Gothic, and the "dier" in Old Saxon, all generally expand the concept of deer to the entire category of wild animals, which is enough to see the importance that the Western ancients attached to "deer".
It was not until 1500 AD, when Middle English gave way to modern English, that the use of "deer" was definitively fixed, referring specifically to the animal deer.
What's even more interesting is that "deer" not only represents all wild animals for a long time, it even influences the names of Western males.
For example, the most common male name is "oscar", which comes from Irish. Among them, the prefix "os" stands for "deer", and the "car" behind it is an abbreviation of "cara", meaning "friend".
So the "oscar" Oscar, the full translation should be "deer friend". This claim is first derived from Irish mythology, and Oscar was a heroic figure in the ancient poem "Fenian Cycle" "Fenian Cycle".
The picture shows the illustration of "The Legend of Fenia"
His sacrifice is described in detail in the story Cath Gabhra (The Battle of Gabla), which revolves around the war between the increasingly corrupt Fenian clique (an Irish hunter force) and the Irish king Cairbre Lifechair.
Our protagonist, Oscar, is a fighter in the Fenia Group who has long been friends with animals. Later, he was seriously injured in a head-to-head with King Cairbre and died soon after. Oscar's grandfather, the Irish mythical hunter leader "Fionn mac Cumhaill", took revenge on the king, but was eventually outnumbered and the army was destroyed.
Later, in the 18th century, James Macpherson, the creator of the "Ossian" poetry, pioneered the use of "oscar" as a personal name to refer to those heroic sacrifices.
Since then, the Oscars have become popular all over the world, and have even been used as the name of the highest award in the film and television industry - the Academy Awards.
The picture shows the "Oscar Little Golden Man""
However, the symbolism of the deer in Western culture is far from over – in ancient civilizations such as Egypt, Celts, Greece, Sumeria, etc., we can clearly see the deer.
For example, the ship of the Sumerian god Enki (also known as the god of the earth) was called the "Azbu Stag". In Aesop's Fables, chapters such as "Pool Antlers", "One-Eyed Doe" and "Antlers and Lions" also perfectly integrate deer elements into mythological stories, while giving deer a positive image of morality and goodness.
In particular, in the section "Sick Buck", the deer is transformed into an object of betrayal by many animals, thus satirizing the little people who have fallen into the well.
In the Spanish-speaking region, a deer-like dance was also invented, called "pascola dance". This dance is performed at major religious events (Lent and Easter) or at social events in order to bring good times to the coming year.
Pictured here is "pascola dance"
In addition, in the political satire of the writer Rudolf Erich Raspe in 1785, the protagonist Baron Munchausen also encountered a stag during his marvelous trip to Russia.
According to the description, the Baron encountered the stag while eating cherries, but by this time he had no ammunition in his hand. So the baron shot the cherry seed in his mouth as a bullet at the deer. The latter fled in a hurry in the confusion.
By the following year, the Baron miraculously encountered the stag again, only to find that a cherry tree had grown over its head.
The writer Raspas successfully used this absurd little story to attack the political phenomenon of the Russo-Turkish-Austrian War, which is extremely ironic of "unintentionally planting willows and willows".
Then, in 1832 AD, the world's most widely circulated deer legend" "The Visit of St. Nicholas" came out. At first glance, the title of the book may be confusing, but when it comes to the four words "Santa Claus", I believe most people will suddenly understand.
Yes, it is the narrative poem "The Visit of St. Nicholas" that connects 8 reindeer and Santa Claus, thus creating the historical origin of "no gifts for Christmas holidays, only flower socks for gifts".
Subsequently, the imagery of deer in literature became more and more numerous, and became richer and more three-dimensional.
For example, in the 1938 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Yearling, author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings tells the story of a boy, Jody, who ventures with Flag the deer and grows up.
The plot of the novel revolves around Jody's struggle with his family, the suffering of hunger, the death of a loved one, and the capriciousness of nature reflected in the Flood.
In the second half of the plot, the boy is forced to choose between his family and the fawn because of food problems, which is full of tragedy. The whole novel profoundly explores the contradiction between human beings and nature, as well as the truth and meanness of human nature, and gives the image of the deer a glorious nature, which is quite profound.
Coincidentally, in the 1950 fantasy novel Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (The Legend of Narnia), one of the adult protagonists, Pevensies, runs to hunt a white deer. Because the antlers are said to fulfill one of her wishes, it is also her only chance to return to her hometown in England.
Since then, the white deer has been mythologized as an animal god with extraordinary magic, who not only guards the forest, but is also the leader of almost all animals.
For example, in the children's book Animals of the Far Forest, published in 1979, the great white deer is the head of the forest, in charge of the entire life of the animals. Like the Japanese animated film "Princess Mononoke", the white deer symbolizes the change of seasons, life and death, and is also the most important patron saint of the forest.
However, the deer as a supreme power is not the first time the writer mentions it in the novel. In fact, in European heraldry, the deer element has always been representative of certain top powers.
In the United Kingdom, "stag" usually refers to red bulls with antlers, while "buck" symbolizes a deer with antlers native to Europe.
Both species of deer are common in the family coat of arms of Europe. Moreover, in order to reflect the difference in heraldry, Europeans also deliberately fixed the different movements of deer in the heraldic pattern, and each action was also marked with special terms.
For example, when describing a deer lying on the ground, people use the word "lodged"; when one of its legs is raised, they use the word "trippant"; when the deer is running, they use the word "courant"...
According to statistics, there are about 10 professional words for the description of deer posture alone, which shows the importance and love of Europeans for deer.
Pictured is the coat of arms of the Raon-aux-Bois region of France
In practice, Earl Bathurst of Sussex, England, was a "lost deer". His family's coat of arms is a combination of two delicate stags.
Pictured is the coat of arms of the Earl of Bathurst
In the heraldry of other families, deer elements including deer heads, antlers, deer front legs and winged "winged deer" are also widely used.
For example, in the coat of arms of Baron Carteret in Bedfordshire, the "winged deer" becomes the protagonist.
The picture shows baron Carteret's coat of arms
Sea deer, which have the upper body of a deer and a mermaid tail, are often featured in German coats of arms.
The picture shows the coat of arms printed with the "sea deer"
It can be seen that the deer, as a symbol of top power, has a considerable cultural connotation from the "hard goods" of the initial table to the gods in the story.
The positive impact of deer is also far-reaching. On the one hand, it is a positive image that guides people to goodness and beauty; on the other hand, it represents the forces of nature, forming a long-term and continuous deterrent and belief in human society, so that people remember this strong symbiotic relationship.
However, the cultural footprints of deer are still not stopped and buried, and after the wind and sand are gone, how many secrets can be discovered by humans? Let's wait and see.