In the list of animals With better public reputation, the stork Win by win. He does not bite, he does not scare, he does not get where he should not even cause discomfort. And besides Bring babies. It is not bad for a bird that, objectively, does not do much more than fly thousands of kilometers and nest on fireplaces.
That he became Official messenger of fertility It was no accident. Their behavior, their migratory routes and a couple of mythological misunderstandings did the rest. And of course, once sneaks into stories and legends, there is no turning back.
Ancient beliefs that sealed their role in culture
The tangle begins when biology is mixed with imagination. For centuries, storks have been linked to Life cycle for a simple practical reason: each spring returns, just when Many births occur after summer weddings former.
The peoples of northern Europethat they saw how the birds returned at the same time that the newborns appeared, began to tie ends. The coincidence It was as effective as any other explanation that would save uncomfortable talks.
Since ancient times, stork have been surrounded by respect. In it Pharaonic Egypt They were associated with the Baone of the forms of the soul. In the Ancient Greece They were protected with laws, to the point of punish with death who will kill a. It was not so much for the animal itself, but for what it was believed that represented: the idea of returning home, the care between generations, the family bond.
In fact, there was a norm known as Pelargonia law that forced the children to take care of their parents when they aged, inspired by the supposed behavior of the stork. Today it is known that this behavior was not real, but the belief was more than enough.
Roofs, souls and other misunderstood signs
In Slavic landsit was thought that nest in the roof of a house It was a sign that a New life was on its way. The logic was simple: if the stork returned to the same nest year after year, something good would have that home. And if someone was lucky that a couple chose their roof, fate seemed to be already decided. Actually, the only thing they were looking for was structural heat and stability. But about babies sounded much better.
The German legends They also played their role. According to some of them, the Holda goddess I trusted the storks for the souls of the deceased so that the They will take the world back in the form of babies. In Dresde there is even a source, known since the fifteenth century as The source of lifeof which it was said that it helped to conceive sterile women. Thus, the stork became seen as a Messenger between worldsassociated with both birth and transcendence.
The myth is completed and nobody questions it
The icing put it Hans Christian Andersen. Your story The stork He consolidated the image of the bird that brings babies to the houses. “Good children receive a baby, and the bad, a dead baby,” wrote the Danish author. Although later the story was sweetened by animated versions, the image was already fixed: the storkflying between clouds, holding a White fardo with a newborn.
With all those ingredients, much more was needed to close the circle. That modern expression plays the storks Leaving Paris It responds more to the romantic fame of the city. But it doesn’t matter. The expression was established, and as usually happens with the myths that work, nobody bothers to look for another.
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