A sampling of the mystique that goes with these incredible trees…
The Weeping Willows.
Stories from the San / Bushmen people.
http://www.gateway-africa.com/stories/Weeping_Willows_San.html
Our Weeping Willow
When Grandpa planted a willow tree, its roots grew from one generation to the next.
http://country-magazine.com/short-stories/country-life-stories/our-weeping-willow/#ixzz3r9Cnc2dC
The Spirit In The Weeping Willow Tree
http://www.yourghoststories.com/real-ghost-story.php?story=20388
The Myth of the Weeping Willow
http://www.gardenguides.com/128457-myth-weeping-willow.html
THE LEGEND OF THE WEEPING WILLOW TREE
http://poetrybyginny.com/LEGENDWEEPINGWILLOW.htm
Legend of the Weeping Willow
http://www.ehow.com/about_6512388_legend-weeping-willow.html
And of course Wiki has more on them at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willow
5 Responses to “Weeping Willow Wednesday”
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It's enough to bring tears!!
LOL–needed a hanky alert?
Cross posted to Care2 at:
http://www.care2.com/news/member/663679641/3932775
While it didn't make it into the movie, in the book The Fellowship of the Ring, Merry and Pippin sit down and lean against a willow tree, and it pulls Pippin in completely and Merry from the hips up, before Tom Bombadil comes by singing. Frodo and Sam stop him and ask for help.
"What?" shouted Tom Bombadil, leaping up in the air. "Old Man Willow? Naught worse than that, eh? That can soon be mended. I know th tune for him… if he don't behave himself, I'll sing his roots off. I'll sing a wind up and blow leaf and branch away. Old Man Willow!"
Setting down his lilies carefully on the grass, he ran tot he tree. There he saw Merry's feet still sticking out – the reat had already been drawn further inside…. (B)reaking off a hanging branch (Tom) smote the side of the willow with it. "You let them out again, Old Man Willow? … What be you a-thinking of? You should not be waking! Eat earth! Dig deep! Drink water! Goto sleep! Bombadil is talking!"
So — maybe that's how the spirits get into the tree.
Also, anyone who knits or crochets may want to have a look at Willow Yarns.
https://www.willowyarns.com/category/yarn.do
What a lovely surprise, Judi. The weeping willow is one of my favorite trees and there are plenty of those beautiful giants about in the waterlogged country where I live. They need a lot of space and water, so they're usually planted next to a ditch, canal, riverbed or pond where they can grow to full glory without having to look after them.
Although our little country has quite a few weeping willows, willows of the usual variety but most of all pollard‐willows, I'm not aware of any folklore or stories about them. Thank you for this enjoyable assortment of weeping-willow stories, Judi.