Religious motifs : Overview. Search. About religious motifs
See also Prophet, prophecy
Keywords:
Augury, omen, portent, sign
Description of this motif: Signs, portents and omens are numerous in Andersen's fairy tales and stories. There are two main types of omens: omens evoked by experiments, socalled divination (asking the God(s) by, for example, tossing dice. Cf. Picturebook Without Pictures's First Evening), and omens that come unexpectedly, e.g. in a dream.
Example :
"What is it that whistles and sings in the Great Belt under the coast of Samsö? A mermaid, with sea-green hair, rises from the sea; she reveals the future to the peasant. A prince shall be born who shall become a great and powerful king."
"He was born in the field, beneath the blossoming whitethorn.
Comment on this quote: King Christian IV is born, cf. Just Mathias Thiele: Danmarks Folkesagn (1843-60, issued by Rosenkilde og Bagger 1968), vol. 1, p. 53ff;. According to Thiele it is a "thornbush". The bush being a whitethorn is Andersen's addition. The whitethorn symbolizes faith.
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