The Deer Mother story can be traced back to ancient times and is linked to folklore around the Winter Solstice.
Only fragments of the folktale remain so Danny used his story writing skills to piece together what could be found of the remains of the story with his own offering, while trying to ensure the message and the context remained.
In this story the animals are trapped in the harshest and darkest winter, the night seems to go on forever and something must be done or life in the forest is in danger. The great bear asks for an animal to head south and bring back the sun goddess but who will go?
The Reindeer volunteers and is blessed by the bear, but all is not what is seemed- who is Reindeer, will it make it in time and will the forest be saved?
After listening to this story consider the following questions and plan for future activities:
1- The winter solstice is the longest night of the year and northern countries would often celebrate this as every day from then on until the summer solstice grows longer and longer. The Winter Solstice is on December 21st and has often been celebrated by telling stories around a fire outdoors. This winter solstice build your own fire in the garden and celebrate the return of the light.
2- Before the story did you know that only the female reindeer keep their antlers in the winter? Can you think why? Put on your detective hat and find out why.
3- Some say that this story is the origin of the the story of Rudolph but is Rudolph a boy or a girl?
I love the way you tell stories Danny... engaging, unfaltering, unpretentious.
I‘ve been inspired to draw a Mother Deer with tree of life and sun on my storytelling drum. There were many things I liked about the story but especially that the protagonist and Sun are female.
I might just be telling a shorter version of the story this week to celebrate the reindeer bench we made at forest school this week, so thanks again. C
Glad you enjoyed the story Chris and thanks for your kind words. The bench is amazing by the way, what a wonderful project and a perfect seat for the Deer Mother story.
That was a great telling of the story. Its a wonderful story too.
Thank you Shane, we're pleased you enjoyed it.
I'm going to hide this guy in the forest for the children to discover after the story. He will have a bag of treats for everyone. Thank you once again for the inspiration!
What a beautiful idea and perfect for the story too. Thank you for airing the story with the children.