The symbolism of the Wren

Wrens belong to the family Troglodytidae. They exist all over the world, however, the symbolism differs between cultures. So this video looks at the Eurasian wren found in Europe, Asia, and north Africa. In European folklore, the wren has always been considered the king of the birds, and classified as a "trickster", but a Bugs Bunny sort of trickster - a character who succeeds by his wits rather than by brawn. The wren was also the bird favoured by the Druids. Oracles were drawn from its behaviour and its song was used in divination. The Druids divided their Year into 13 lunar months and every lunar month had a symbol. The period June 10 - July 7 was the wren -the time of the Summer solstice. Symbolically the Sun was the "king" and thus the wren, the bird of the Summer Solstice was the "little king". But a festival arose in the Middle ages called the capturing or hunting of the Wren. It arose at a time when Christianity was being introduced to the pagan tribes. Druids and wrens had to go. The wren had to "die". Groups of men and boys, called "wren boys" went out "hunting the wren". But was this apparently brutal destruction of a former sacred bird all it seems? The answer as we shall see in the video is no.
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CREDITS

LINKS
The Picts
https://allaboutheaven.org/sources/picts/151/main

PHOTO CREDITS [where known]
Fairy wren male – Andrew Katsis
Eurasian wren [juvenile] – Julie Atkins
Eurasian wren – Marlie Splatvoet
Wren-bird-guide-–-Albert-E-James-and-Sons
Eurasian wren - Tony Esposito
Eurasian wren – Rosie Simpson
Eurasian wren - Chris Atkinson
Eurasian wren – John Atkins
Eurasian wren – Chris Robinson
Eurasian wren – Barry MacKichan
Eurasian wren – Ray Watson
Eurasian wren – Roger Wilmshurst
Eurasian wren - Shirley Wheatley

PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS
Plutarch - Nuremberg chronicles f 111r 3
Carolynn Coulson - lino cut
Br'er Rabbit and the Tar-Baby, drawing by E. W. Kemble from "The Tar-Baby", by Joel Chandler Harris, 1904
Imaginative illustration of 'An Arch Druid in His Judicial Habit', from The Costume of the Original Inhabitants of the British Islands by S.R. Meyrick and C.H. Smith (1815), the gold gorget collar copying Irish Bronze Age examples
The oak and mistletoe ritual depicted by Henri-Paul Motte (1900)
Wren in hollybush by a cottage – Carl Donner

WEBSITE
Butser Iron Age Farm
https://www.butserancientfarm.co.uk/
Butser Ancient Farm is an open-air archaeology museum and research centre, their buildings include a Roman villa, Celtic village, Stone Age farm, and Saxon halls — all reconstructed

VIDEOS
Jenny Wren – Paul McCartney
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=wubCa3JZdEk
The West Clare Wrenboys
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=4WvhPtiarW4
Wren Boys, Carrigaline, Ireland
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=9hb_kfB7j4A
Wren singing
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=zP7TepK7eAs
wren day in ireland
https://www.facebook.com/folklore.ie/videos/532414861051859

VIDEO EFFECTS AND FOOTAGE

Eurasian Wren, Bird, Nature, Tree Branch Stock Video Footage Artgrid io 1
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=tZcJdBXwko8

Wren Singing - Tiny Bird with a Giant Voice
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=UfWac4yxshA

Eurasian Wren Singing
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=KKZZ7Nsoa_g

Bird sounds – Eurasian wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=J3ZmiVG1dqU

House Wren singing
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=yfJyGLCHyyc

Eurasian Wren feeding
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=cK4iifvtc_c

Eagle Soaring High in Clouds Background Motion Video Loops HD
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=YquZM6tWfJ4

Hunt the Wren: The Manx Folk Dance Society, Tynwald Day 2021
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=YXoplBXuyd4

Orkney, Scotland: Prehistoric Sites
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=izDRg1-WnKE

MUSIC

00:00 Birdseye Blues - Chris Haugen
02:28 Fresh Fallen Snow - Chris Haugen
06:17 The Woods - Silent Partner
08:08 Val Holla - Geographer

10:57 Angevin - Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1200110
Artist: http://incompetech.com/

14:21 Fiddles McGinty by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1400051
Artist: http://incompetech.com/

14:43 Pippin the Hunchback by Kevin MacLeod
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKgw2pTaAmY
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0
Music provided by FreeMusic109 https://youtube.com/FreeMusic109​

17:51 Birdseye Blues - Chris Haugen