YUKARI MATSUMOTO

Fragments of Druidic mythology: "In years long gone, too many for the almanac to tell of, or for clocks and watches to measure, millions of good fairies came down from the sun and went into the earth. There, they changed themselves into roots and leaves, and became trees. There were many kinds of these, as they covered the earth, but the pine and birch, ash and oak, were the chief ones that made Holland. The fairies that lived in the trees bore the name of Moss Maidens, or Tree "Trintjes," which is the Dutch pet name for Kate, or Katharine." # --------------------------------------------- In the Dutch folk tale the tree fairies breathe a carpenter to make wooden shoe and piling wood into the ground as upside down for making the ground stable. The carpenter's name is "Eyck", a Dutch name which origin Germanic surname "Eiche" meaning "Oak". Oak trees are sacred trees in Germanic mythology. The story tells the agricultural development and the ancient landscape of The Netherlands / Holland as well as the influence of druidic mythology. The etymology of the Holland is "Holt - Land" meaning "wooded land". so one day it was covered with many trees. --------------------------------------------- Majority of Japanese family names derive from toponyms, and many of them relate to nature elements and landscape. For example, my name "Matsumoto" meaning in Chinese letters is "Pine Root" or "Pine Book", and it is an old city name in the middle of Japan as well. It is a quite common name, and it spread all over the land. The Pine tree is one of the oldest species of trees in Japan, therefore it is multipurpose uses: as structural material for buildings, as food (pine nut), as symbol for rituals. In rituals it is a symbol of perpetual youth and longevity because it is an evergreen plant, like the Christmas tree in western society. --------------------------------------------- # 'Dutch Fairy Tales for Young Folks' 1918, William Elliot Griffis --