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Text Cut: Individual Responses Quote:
Originally Posted by NifflerFan  Emmeline frowned when the headmistress got to the questions part of her talking. She didn't know very much about Norse mythology, and honestly, she hadn't been reading the Ancient Runes textbook lately. But she thought she remembered something she'd read in one of her textbooks AGES ago about some trees, so she raised her hand and answered tentatively: "Yew trees are linked with runes, magic, and death.." Which was really sad and kind of scary, but it was all she could think of right now. She wasn't entirely sure she was right about that, either, but she could've sworn it was in either their Runes or Divination textbooks... She remembered 'cause she'd thought it was creepy when she read about it in whichever book it was earlier in the term. What was that frown for, Miss Sparkes? As she gave everyone time to think over her questions and pluck some prior knowledge from their brains, the woman was looking around, waiting for someone's voice to pipe up, and she did see the look on the girl's face. Her smile was still present. It was okay for a first year to not know much about Norse mythology. There were other parts of her questions that she was welcome to answer.
And she definitely did just that. The headmistress nodded her head at Emmeline's response. "They most certainly are, Miss Sparkes. Yew has an important place in Norse mythology and an general runology. Runic talismans and wands are typically made out of yew."
Then, as an afterthought, she added, "There is a rune that literally translates to 'yew.'" Perhaps that was what she remembered reading? Of course, the headmistress knew which rune that was, though she was going to let one of the others make that fact be known.
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Originally Posted by Lady of Light Planting trees.. how interesting. Etta stared down at the random seed ( pine ) she'd picked earlier which was now sitting comfortably on the palm of her hand before her attention drifted towards the Headmistress once again. Norse mythology.. she tried to not look blank. She practically knew nothing about it. She knew she needed to devote more time to study Ancient Runes though, if she wanted to do well in OWLs. She started to think carefully, trying to come up something. Anything.
"The World Tree is very significant in Norse mythology, right? I'm not aware of the details but it's supposed to act as a link between the sky and the earth.." Etta frowned, not sure whether she'd given the right answer but at least, she'd given it a try. The girl quietly listened to the others give answers as she waited for class to move on. The next to speak up was Prefect Kramer. The moment her voice was heard, Regina turned her body so that she was facing the Hufflepuff. "Ahh, yes, the World Tree," she repeated, encouraging her to go on. Though ... she only could add that it linked the sky and the earth? The headmistress blinked, thinking that someone needed to spend extra time with their Ancient Runes textbook if they wanted a passing OWL score.
"To put it simply, the tree certainly is indeed a link. Though it does so much more. The branches of the tree extend far into the heavens, connecting to other world." As for how many worlds there were, that would be something the prefect would need to discover ... or wait for one of her peers to say how many worlds made up Norse cosmology.
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Originally Posted by SilverTiger She’d looked back over as the headmistress had announced they were mixing Runes with other subjects again. It wasn’t really a mystery what the subject was, not when they all had seeds, but she definitely remembered the tree lesson, and her idea that someone would be replacing the ones they’d cut down. She just hadn’t thought it would be her, but then also, it made her wonder if she’d see the unicorns again. If they were planting their trees where they’d cut the other ones down, maybe.
Her hand had shot up as soon as Etta had given her answer, too. “Yggdrasil!” That was the name of the World Tree she’d mentioned, and it reminded her of her squirrel constellation from Astronomy. “And there’s something called warden trees too, that people give offerings to for luck.” Suddenly the name of the World Tree was exclaimed, which caused the woman to sharply turn her head. Matching the voice with the squirrel owner, all Regina could do was nod at the piggybacking that had been done. "Correct you are, Miss Dalgaard-Volkova. Yggdrasil is the name of the World Tree."
Oh, she had more to say? Excellent!
"And you are spot on about people giving offerings to the warden trees. This is a practice that used to be quite common in Germany and Scandinavia, for it was believed that these very old trees -- often a linden, ash, or elm -- would defend them from bad luck. The respect for these trees was great, so great that breaking a twig or a leaf from it was considered a serious offense."
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Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie "Bowtruckles live in trees-s-s. Their HOME TREE," he offered as an answer. For, you know, every day daily life stuff. "Like Wiggentree! And wand trees-s-s...and we cut tho-s-se down to make wands-s...aaaaand S-SOMETIMES-S runes-s are carved into wands-s!" OH QUESTION. KINDA. "What...happens-s-s when you carve runes-s-s for stuff like we did with becoming winged horse whis-sperers with WAND woods? Like...are they BETTER?" He glanced down at his pendent and...what wood had this been again? Had they been told? If they had did he remember? "AND AND AAAAAAAAND! Which wood would be BES-ST for a creature whis-sper pendent carving runic thingy?"
You know...just asking for a friend. Ahem.
And because the Hufflepuff couldn't help himself....
".....and none of thes-s-se s-s-seeds are....flesh eaters, are they?" The first set of words that came out of Derfael's mouth did not surprise the headmistress one bit. Had the creature-obsessed boy not mentioned an animal of some sort, she would have been worried. Though there was no need for her to worry.
"Right you are, Mister Ashburry-Hawthorne. The Wiggentree is one tree that serve as homes for bowtruckles. Fiercely protective of their home trees, aren't they? Trees are also home to a number of animals as well, magical and non-magical," she responded, glad that they were taking this moment to connect their lesson with yet another subject area, even if briefly. "And we certainly do indeed get our wands from trees and sometimes carve runes onto them to make them stronger."
And spewing out of his mouth now where all of the questions about woods and which would be best to use. Merlin. They could spend AGES on this topic.
"Like carving a rune on a pendant, carving runes on a wand would invoke the energies of the rune that is on it. With that runic energy being paired with a spell, it tends to lead toward stronger and more successful magic depending on the rune and purpose," Regina answered, trying to keep her response short and sweet. They only had so much time and a lesson to continue with, and wand woods and runes was such a heavy topic. "In regards to pendants, using yew is always a popular choice. English oak, however, has been notated by wandmakers to have an affinity with the magic of the natural world. Plus oak wood is associated with Ehwaz, as well as a few other runes."
A laugh then almost, almost, escaped her mouth.
"No flesh-eaters today, Mr. Ashburry-Hawthorne."
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Originally Posted by Kayla Taaffe Vivienne went up to the front and grabbed a seed from the box. She only grabbed one. She didn't want to be greedy.
Today she was going to mesh Ancient Runes and Herbology.
Bind runes were an interesting topic to Vivienne. She was going to be planting trees for god's sake! The ground had thawed completely after the devastating winter. But that was the past. Her eyes then fell on the quiet little Ravenclaw. The woman paused for a moment to see if there was something she wanted to say, but all that Regina could observe was that she was writing quite a bit down. She made a mental note to check in and see what Vivienne wrote later. She had other voices to attend to.
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Originally Posted by Steelsheen Runes and trees....there was a connection between them for sure, its just the question of Tenacius trying to remembering what they were, as most were told to him via trivia and idle chatter of camping "Professor, I was told that Runes have a corresponding tree type, and that Rune craftsmen makes special rune sets and staves where they match the rune to its representative wood type." "That is very true, Mister Salander," the woman agreed, nodding her head as she faced him. She then continued, speaking to the Gryffindor as well as the rest of the class, "Each rune corresponds to at least one tree type, and you can make rune sets and staves out of different woods to really enhance runic energies. For example, birch is a wood commonly used for healing purposes. Because of that, runologists often pair that wood with Berkana (which literally translates to 'birch')."
The more you know. Of course, there were many other wood purposes that could be combined with runes as well. The options really were limitless.
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Originally Posted by ChanceCoeur "Ive heard of Yggdrasil." Noelle said tagging on to what Stasya was saying. "My grandmother was big into mythology. She said that tree was a magical tree that...." What was it??? The stories were told when she was so young, she was having a hard time remembering. "Something about connecting the worlds. There were a handful of them.. I want to say like... 8 or 9?" Noelle said. Of course... these were just childhood stories.... right? Turning to Noelle next, the class discussion swung right on back to Yggdrasil, that giant mythical tree, and how it connected worlds. Regina knew that someone was bound to add exactly how many worlds made up Norse cosmology ... though the words that came out of the Gryffindor prefects mouth ... formed a question?
She wasn't even going to think about asking what she received on her Ancient Runes OWL. Nope.
"Nine worlds, Miss Summers," the headmistress gently corrected. "Asgard, home of the gods; Álfheimr, home of the Ljósálfar; Niðavellir, home of the Dwarves; Midgard, known to us humans as Earth; Jötunheimr, home of the giants; Vanaheimr, home of the Vanir; Niflheim, the world of ice and snow; Muspelheim, the world of fire and lava; and Helheimr, the home of the dishonorable dead."
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Originally Posted by RandomRaven The lesson had started and the Headmistress did want them to take one seed. "I'll take one, Derf."She said when the Hufflepuff boy offered. And back to Hawthorne's words... So they did really going to plant trees today, but obviously not just planting the trees since this was an Ancient Runes class, not Herbology. "I guess we're going to plant trees that usually is being used to make Gandr." The Gryffindor spoke up as she raised her hands, because that's the first thing pop on her brain since it did related to this lesson. "And... I have read about some trees is associated with Norse God or something." Ava Burton was the next to speak up. Seeing her hand, the headmistress looked the girl square in the eye. With a nod of her head, the girl was allowed to speak.
"Yes, Miss Burton, trees are used to make gandrs," she agreed, before continuing. "For those of you who are newer to Ancient Runes, gandrs are runic wands or staffs that are used to move runic energies from one place to another. Typically all twenty-four runes are painted or carved onto them, though there are instances in which a runic formula is used."
But that was enough on that. They would be using gandrs soon, along with getting more in depth the with healing runes. Consider yourselves teased, ladies and gentlemen.
Something new was then brought to the discussion. "Very good point. Yes, there are trees that are associated with some of the Norse gods. For instance, yew is often connected with Odin; birch to Thor; oak, Freya; and so on."
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Originally Posted by Kimothy Oh, and the lesson started. Vivian offered one last smile to Cornelius before diverting her attention to the Headmistress. It excited her a little because it involved planting... and plants... and Herbology. She loved that subject! So, of course, the Headmistress definitely had the Slytherin's ears perked up at the topic for today. And runes... related to trees? She knew quite a little, but not too much. In effort to give it a try, Vivian raised her hand. "Gandrs are made of wood, Headmistress, right? Also, I'm sure we can carve runes on wood, too, to invoke runic energy." And the Yggdrasil thing was mentioned already by Stasya, so the fourth year didn't want to really elaborate on that because she didn't know much other than the basics.
Mhm, yup. That was it. Vivian smiled at the Headmistress as her way of concluding her answer. The next voice that spoke up made Regina internally puzzled. Had Vivian been paying attention to what her fellow classmates already had said? Ava had just covered the gandr fact. No one did explicitly mention carving runes on wood to invoke runic energy. Well, she had to Derf in response to her question.
"You most certainly can carve runes on wood. Yes, Miss Fairfield." They had been doing it practically all term, after all. "Do you remember the incantation for rune carving?" They were going to need it today.
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Originally Posted by PhoenixRising Something did strike her though, which might be related, because they talked about the phonetically similar one earlier in the term.... "Eihwaz is associated with yew trees and it's associated with change and winter and nature. Trees are changing from starting as seeds to eventually producing fruit, or some other kind of product." So like is that why they each got a seed? Was it symbolic? "An excellent connection between trees and runology, Miss Diggory," the woman said with a nod of her head. "Eihwaz is interpreted into present-day English as 'yew,' which, when you analyze the run itself, makes a lot of sense."
The woman paused. Did they understand? Or was it just her and the Slytherin that had that locked in their minds? Regina looked around at the faces gathered at the Stone Circle. Hmm. An explanation was probably needed. Just in case.
"The yew is symbolic for the energies of Eihwaz. Yew trees are known for being extremely long-lived. Many believed the yew tree to be immortal as it remained supple and strong all year long as the seasons change from a rebirthing spring to the harshness of winter. When one interprets Eiwhaz, change is often at the forefront, whether good or bad. When invoked, it helps the caster to gain knowledge and acceptance of change, promoting an ease of transition, through the wisdom of Yggdrasil. While something may come to an end, it gives birth to another."
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Originally Posted by ArianaBlack Zoryn held her little seed REALLY tightly so that she wouldn’t drop it. And she even tried her HARDEST to pay attention to the Headmistress. Mostly ‘cause Zoryn had a few things she wanted to ask the woman and needed to be on her good side before doing so. In other words, Zoryn was trying to be the BEST STUDENT EVER. Sort of. Eh. Either way, she was here? That had to count for something.
As for her first question… It stumped the Gryffindor. Get it STUMPED? ‘Cause trees had STUMPS!!! So Ravenclaw she was. “Trees help us breath!” Something about oxygen releases or uh… Yeah. Photosynthesomething.
Not that her answer had any relation to runology…. Or Norse mythology… BUT Hawthorne had asked how trees were used in today’s world IN GENERAL. And breathing was PRETTY DARN GENERAL.
So she was QUITE pleased with herself and her answer.
Mhm.
Could she get an O for the day and have an early release? Please and thank you!!! The moment the words came out of Zoryn's mouth was the moment that the headmistress stopped dead in her tracks, blinking at the first year. Thank you, Captain Obvious, for that ground-breaking piece of information. But, then again, she should have expected at least one person to provide that as an answer. The downfall of keeping questions a little too open-ended.
Nevertheless, the first year was right. As simple and elementary as her answer was.
"Yes, Miss Spinnet. That they do." Trees help us breathe.
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Originally Posted by griffin Did she remember what had been said about planting trees? Of course she had. She had been the one who refused to cut down a tree. The headmistress had told her about planting trees in spring. They were going to plant trees! This was going to be a great lesson! It was like applying runes to herbology, and herbology was Isa's favorite subject ever. Isa carefully looked through the box of seeds, identifying the different types of trees they came from. Eventually she selected an oak seed, oak like her wand. She liked the symbolism of oak trees. It fit her well. Re-planting trees was especially important to sustain the ecosystem, so Isa was especially excited for this lesson.
Oooh, they got to talk about trees now! Yay! Isa knew a lot of things about trees. Not all of it related to Ancient Runes, but trees in general were very interesting. "Yew trees are very important in Norse Mythology. They symbolize death and rebirth, probably because yew trees live for so long. Yggdrasil, the tree of life holding the nine worlds, is associated with yew. Runologists use trees for things like making runic wands or carving runes. In general trees are an important part of the environment by producing oxygen, and many trees also provide food for certain animals. Trees also provide a habitat for tree-dwelling creatures like squirrels and bowtruckles." Isa looked over at her friends Derf and Stasya, owners of the specific bowtruckles and squirrels she had been thinking of. She could talk all day about trees, and she wanted to, but she had to remind herself not to start babbling about trees when the real focus here was how runes related to trees. It seemed like she was starting to lose focus from the question and just starting to say things about trees, so now was probably a good time to stop talking. This lesson looked like it was going to be fun! Thankfully the response from Miss Wright was a redeeming one. The woman didn't know what she would have done had she gotten another answer like Miss Spinnet's. Thank Merlin Isabel had something more to say that provided more of a contribution to the lesson. Mind you, the headmistress couldn't help but notice that the Hufflepuff was all over the place, jumping from one thing to the next. But she had brought up good pieces of information, even if a lot of it had already been said.
But what was that about Yggdrasil being associated with yew? Regina's head turned toward the third year, thinking of how best to phrase her next set of words.
"Yggdrasil is synonymous with yew, as you say, Miss Wright. This is, however, based on an etymology made by F. R. Schröder, who proposed that the word means 'yew pillar.' It is a conflicting theory, though it does make sense considering the reverence of the wood in Norse culture. Though we do need to keep in mind that the tree is commonly referred to as an ash."
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Originally Posted by Goblinfrog "Oh, just one?" she said in slight embarassment, dropping all the extra seeds in the palm of her hand back into the box except for a seed of an oak tree. Heh.
It was a good thing they were studying Norse mythology instead of Greek or Roman mythology, because those other two bored her while Norse mythology was fascinating to her. She also loved Australian mythology.
She raised her hand. "One of the trees in Norse mythology is named Yggdrasil, and it is the tree of life connecting the nine worlds of Norse mythology dragon lives inside it, along with an eagle and four stags. It sounds like a fascinating place to visit if it were real. I think it was an ash tree." Kitty's voice also confirmed the general belief about the wood of the World Tree. Though the headmistress didn't linger on that for long. The Ravenclaw prefect had brought up some interesting facts about the tree's inhabitants that hadn't been said yet.
"You are correct in mentioning that there is a dragon, an eagle, and four stags that live within Yggdrasil. Níðhöggr is the name of the dragon; the eagle is unnamed in Norse mythology; and the four stags are Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór." There was more to those mythological creatures, though that would have to wait another day.
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Originally Posted by Deezerz As for the question, Cornelius was more than happy to answer, but look at the blondie Puffer go. The Slytherin folded his arms across his chest, making him seem bigger than he was, as he waited for these little speeches to be over.
Go on, little dudes. Y'all had the floor. Her eyes then fell on Cornelius. The boy didn't go unnoticed with those folded arms of his. An eyebrow rose, wondering if he was going to say anything. There was still a lot that could be said about trees, especially how they were used in runology and in general. A silent beat passed. Nothing to say, Mister Baltazar? Very well then.
Moving on! It was moments like these that having a lesson outside of the classroom and out on the grounds was problematic. There was so much information spewing around, and there were those present that would have benefitted from seeing words written on a blackboard. Looking around, she did see a few attempting to take notes ... and then there were probably a good amount that were overwhelmed.
When no other voices spoke up, Regina took a moment to mentally review everything that had been said. With such a broad question having been asked, some summarization was in order. "From Yggdrasil to the symbolism of Eihwaz to crafting rune sets, galdrs, and wands to being a home, I hope you all realize just how huge of a role trees play in mythological worlds and ours. Though it is something that is obvious, it is something that is sometimes taken for granted. There are, of course, hundreds of other uses that trees have that we didn't mention, but I think we all have a firm grasp on why trees are significant and why they are used. Thank you for your contributions, class."
The headmistress paused for a moment, making sure that everyone was still with her rather than sleeping standing up or trying to sneak off. Her eyes then fell on the box that she had placed in the centre of the circle. She walked over to the box, bent over, and pulled out a seed. Regina was able to identify it on sight: pine, the Tree of the Manifest.
"In my hand, I have the beginnings of what will be a pine tree. Pine is a wood that represents the cycle of life and rebirth. We are going to start from square one with our trees and encourage them to grow with a little magic and help from some runic energies. With that said, what is one rune that you think would be beneficial in growing a tree, or plant in general, from a seed? And why do you think so?" OOC: My apologies for the delay. It was a busy day for me, so, needless to say, I'm beat. But here is the final set of questions before we move on to the practical part of our lesson.
The question is pretty straightforward. What is ONE rune that your character thinks will help a seed grow to to a tree/plant? WHY do they think it will help? As always, try not to repeat something that was already said (in particular when it comes to the explaining why bit). There are MULTIPLE runes you can choose from, especially if you think outside of the box! Remember that both correct and incorrect answers will be accepted. The lesson will continue in roughly 24 hours.
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