“The trees may be telling us stories of their own”
Trees are full of tales and myth. Their names hold clues to what they meant to our ancestors.
A POEM
ASH BY JUDY HINDLEY:
THE LUCKY TREE
curving twiglets
tipped with soot
bundles of keys
lucky leaves
limbs that fork
like a catapult
Wishing trees-
across different cultures there are traditions of tying ribbons and fabric onto trees to make wishes or prayers
Ash leaves that have even numbers of leaflets are meant to be very lucky things to find!
INTO THE WOODS
by Joseph Coelho, from The Girl who became a Tree book
Trees
taller than the library,
taller than the Clock Tower in town,
taller than the Cathedral!
Taller than her eyes could take in.
Taller than her father.
So tall their tops grazed heaven.
Wider than the hug of her entire class,
so thick that roads could be cut through them.
A forest of past memories
lies in wait for all of us.
A place where earth and dried seeds,
dead wood, teeth and fur conspire
to get us all lost.
TREES - inspiration & ideas for writing
Trees have inspired so many writers and stories.
Spend time with a tree and listen to its stories.
Imagine what it has seen.
Let it transport you to a place in history.
“Many of those trees were my friends, creatures I had known from nut and acorn; many had voices of their own that are lost forever now”
Oak: The Magic Tree,
a poem by Judy Hindley
pigs live on it
deer live under it
druids sang to it
ships sailed in it
birds nested in it
Robin hid it it
“What will the oak tree say? ”
OAK - Druids thought of the Oak as the Tree of Life and worshipped it. Romans and Greeks swore oaths under this tree. Many imagined the face of the Green Man and Mother Nature in the old oak tree’s bark. There are lots of English folk stories and legends about mighty oak trees.
What do you see in the patterns of bark in a tree? What can you imagine in the holes and whorls and roots and branches of an old tree?
THIS LIBRARY IS A FOREST
by Joseph Coelho, from The Girl who became a Tree book
It’s waiting in the tables
wrestled from split ash trunks.
It’s starting from the chairs
carved from sanded beech branches.
It’s listening in the pages
teased from pulped birch bark.
It’s sobbing in the pencil ends
wept from rubber tree latex.
It’s whispering from the ink
bled from tumorous oak galls.
This library is a forest.
Rung in stories.
ASH - The ash tree is often linked to ideas of protection and healing in different beliefs.
Vikings were called ‘Men of Ash’ also known as ‘Aescling’. Norse mythology places alot of importance on the ash tree, with it being called the “World Tree” in Norse mythology. Odin and Thor, Norse gods, had magical spears made of ash.
In British folktales, if a child passed through an ash tree it could help heal them of disease or illness it was believed by some people.
How can trees help with our health and wellbeing in more modern times? What beliefs are there today about trees helping humans and the environment we live in be better?
ASH FACT: The time that the ash has leaves is thought to predict rain: “Oak before ash, only a splash; Ash before oak, soak, soak, soak.”
SYCAMORE
The Helicopter Tree, by Judy Hindley
each seed
has a case
each case
has a wing
has a twin
watch them spin
spin
“A tree is never just a tree. It is a community. “
Who and what lives in and near trees?
BEECH - Many words for “book” come from the name of the beech tree. Thin tablets of beech were used to write on.
It is a kingly tree. Strong and calm. It makes a cave of green in the summer. Listen to the sound the wind makes in its leaves. Each kind of tree has its own sound- whether whispering or rustling, moaning or roading. Some people know trees by their sounds. Listen carefully…(words by Judy Hindley)
Beech poem:
big as a castle
cool as a cave
calm as a church
green as a wave
BIRCH: “The Paper Bark Tree”, a poem by Judy Hindley
who was there
when mammoth roamed?
who was there
when the woods were free?
who stands brave
in a waste of cold?
slender, dancing
paper-bark tree
The ancient birch tree has bark that peels away like a curl of silver paper. Bark of the birch tree family was used by Stone Age people to make fishing-floats, homes and canoes. It is a strong tree that can survive many weathers.