By the Gods!

Owls

Many regional mythologies and folktales deal with owls, perhaps the best-known being Athena’s. Strictly speaking, the owl is not her pet, nor does it have a name (in ancient texts, anyway). The owl is more of an incarnation of Athena herself, and is thought to be representative of her wisdom; this facet of the owl’s depiction seems to have translated to more modern depictions of owls. In many childrens’ stories the owl is depicted as a learned loremaster or teacher. Remember those Tootsie-Pop commercials, or New Zoo Review?

In Welsh mythology a woman named Blodeuwedd (Bluh- Die-Weth) “flower face” was turned into an owl by her husband’s uncle, Gwydion. Gwydion made Blodeuwedd for his nephew, Lleu out of flowers from broom, meadowsweet and oak, but Blodeuwedd fell in love with another man, Gronw Pebr, and the couple plotted to kill Lleu. When Lleu is killed, Gwydion curses Blodeuwedd and turns her into an owl, saying “you are never to show your face in the light of day, other birds will be hostile to you and molest you, and you will lose your name but always be called Blodeuwedd.” And there you have it: the Welsh aetiological explanation for why owls hate daytime. I buy it.

Lilith, a demon of Judaeo-Christian myth, had the owl as her spirit animal. In Sumerian tradition she was the goddess of death and attended by owls. In Russia, hunters carry owl claws in case they die, so that their souls can climb their way to heaven.

Globally, owls seem to be associated strongly with death, the devil and witches, and in many cultures eating owl parts was thought to be a cure for many mysterious ailments. The idea of intelligence and wisdom in owls is more European, but it’s clear that there’s something about these birds that the whole world thought was fantastical.