Celtic Hare Art, Meaning & Symbolism

Celtic Hare Art – Hare Meaning & Symbolism

16/6/2020

My Celtic hare art – plus I take a dive into hare meaning, myth, folklore, stories, and hare symbolism…

Celtic hare art by Lotti Brown

The hare is one of my favourite wild animals – and I’m lucky that I get to see them relatively often as they seem to love the large flat fields we have here in the east of Yorkshire.

I’ve watched them boxing in fields in March, loping across grassy stretches, hunkering down with a flick of the ear, and one summer, I was fortunate enough to regularly see a family of young leverets playing in the early mornings in a field near my home.

Mysterious, swift, wild, otherworldly… the hare is one of our most cherished countryside animals – and far more than just a big rabbit!

If you watch a hare run, it’s almost impossible to mistake her for a rabbit – a hare runs more like a dog or deer, where a rabbit simply hops.

Running hare

The hare has the air of something fleeting – fleet of foot, but also something ephemeral – a wildness that can’t be tamed, a creature that’s not quite of this world…

So the myths, stories and folklore around the beautiful hare are in many ways perfectly understandable and only add to our intrigue with this creature of the wild as we try to entice her through our stories to become a part of our world.

A Hare by Any Other Name

The hare has many traditional or country names which give us a clue to our past (and present) human relationship with the hare…

Country names

Old Sarah/Owd Sarah
Old Sally/Owd Sally
Aunt Sally
Katie
Bautie/Bawtie/Bawty/Betty
Baud/Bawd/Bawdrons/Baudrons (meaning ‘cat’ – Norfolk)
Wat/Walt/Walter
Malkin/Maulkin/Mawkin/Maudlin
Laverock/Lavrock
Pussy

Gaelic

Gearr

Welsh

Cath-eithin (meaning ‘furze-cat’)
Cath-y-coed (meaning ‘wood-cat’ or ‘cat of the woodland’)

It’s striking how many of the old country words for hare mean cat – hares seem to have had a strong association with cats – perhaps connected to their link with witches… we’ll come back to that later!

In Britain and Ireland there are three native species of hare:

Brown hare (European hare) – Lepus europaeus – widespread across England

Mountain hare – Lepus timidus scoticus – often turns white in winter – present today in Northern England and Scotland

Irish hare – Lepus timidus hibernicus – may turn white in harsh winters – present today on the island of Ireland and the Isle of Mull

Brown hare

A Pre-history of Hares

Cave fossils in Ireland suggest that Irish hares were present in Ireland as much as 30,000 years ago!

The mountain hare is native to the Scottish Highlands. But although the Brown hare is now considered a native animal to Britain, it’s argued that Brown hares may have been introduced to Britain by the Romans – or perhaps a little earlier, between the 5th to 3rd centuries BC.

An archaeological study led by Professor Naomi Sykes of Exeter University discovered that Iron Age hares (as well as chickens) were “buried with great care”. The hares (and chickens) were “carefully buried without being butchered” which implies the hare and chicken were treated with a special reverence and that people considered chickens and hares were “too special to eat.”

Indeed, we know that Roman Emperor Julius Caesar wrote that the Britons believed that it was “contrary to divine law to eat the hare, the chicken, or the goose. They raise these, however, for their own amusement or pleasure.”

Cassius Dio, (writing in the 3rd century AD) tells us about Boudicca, the Iron Age Briton warrior queen who was said to release a hare from beneath her cloak before battle…

“When she had finished speaking to her people, she employed a species of divination, letting a hare escape from the fold of her dress; and since it ran on what they considered the auspicious side, the whole multitude shouted with pleasure, and Bodicea, raising her hand toward heaven, said, I thank thee Andraste [a goddess of battle and victory]… I supplicate and pray thee for victory.”

A number of animal-motif artefacts including brooches have been found in Britain from the late Iron Age through to the late Roman period, which are thought to depict a hare (rather than a rabbit).

It’s been argued that these may point to the worship of a Celtic hare-deity in particular regions where the brooches are found – the south and east of England.

Place names in the same areas may also relate to the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre who is often said to be the goddess of Easter and associated with the hare…

Eastrington, East Yorkshire
Eastrea, Bambridgeshire
Eastry, Kent

It’s thus suggested that the Celtic hare-deity may have evolved into the later Anglo-Saxon Eostre in these areas…

Hare drawing

The Easter Hare

Eostre, also known as Ostara (a Germanic goddess) is believed to represent the origins of our Easter – the name, the link to hares/rabbits, and the concept of rebirth and renewal of life.

Eostre/Ostara has also been linked to a European goddess Austro and also Ausos, an earlier proto-Indo-European goddess – both are goddesses of dawn and bringers of light.

All we know for sure of Eostre/Ostara is taken from the writings of Bede in the 8th century, regarding the Easter month celebrated by the pagan Anglo-Saxons of the past.

“Eosturmonath (Easter month/April) has a name which is now translated as ‘Paschal month’, and which was once called after a goddess of theirs named Eostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month. Now they designate that Paschal season by her name, calling the joys of the new rite by the time-honoured name of the old observance.”

In the early 19th century, mythologist Jacob Grimm again linked Eostre/Ostara to the celebration of Easter. And later that century, Professor Adolf Holtzmann associated Eostre/Ostara with the hare:

“The Easter Hare is inexplicable to me, but probably the hare was the sacred animal of Ostara.”

And also suggested that, “The hare must once have been a bird, because it lays eggs.”

By the very end of the 19th century, it was somehow enshrined in the public’s consciousness that Easter celebrated the story of the Anglo-Saxon/Germanic goddess Eostre/Ostara and how she had found a wounded bird on the ground in late winter…

She helped the poor bird by transforming it into a hare – but the transformation was not complete and, like a bird, the hare still laid eggs, which became part of the Easter tradition.

Legend has it that hares laid eggs in nests on the ground in springtime

It may be that in times past, people did believe the hare was a magical being who laid eggs in spring…

Hares create little nests on the ground in fields that do look like the nests that lapwings create on the ground too – hares and lapwings both thrive in the same large, flat fields. So it’s an understandable jump to link the lapwings' nest of eggs with the hare.

And so the hare is linked with the goddess Eostre/Ostara and the ideas of springtime, new life, and fertility.

The Loving Hare

The Ancient Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, is associated with the hare – and the Ancient Greeks engraved hares on wedding rings and wedding bowls.

The Moon Hare

Hares are very much associated with the moon – not just in Britain but all over the world.

The image of the ‘Mad March Hare’ that we have – those iconic ‘boxing hares’ (which are actually thought to be a mating ritual between male and female hare) – are part of the hares ‘madness’ and linked to the idea of being ‘moonstruck’, being sent mad by the moon.

The markings of the moon are seen as hares (or rabbits) in various cultures, including in Asia, and the Aztecs who believed that the marks on the moon were caused by a rabbit being thrown at the moon by a god.

The markings on the moon are seen as 'The Hare in the Moon' in many cultures

In North America, the Algonquin Ojibwa and Sioux Winebago Native American culture had Menebuch the Great Hare as a mythical ancestor from the heavens and go-between between this world and the Otherworld.

In Ancient Egypt, the god Osiris took the shape of a hare and was ‘killed’ and thrown into the Nile in order to ensure seasonal renewal.

Egyptian mythology linked hares to the moon – like the moon (which was believed male when in waxing phase and female when in waning phase), hares were also believed to switch genders…

And even in Britain and Europe, too, it was thought that hares alternated between genders either monthly (with the moon) (or sometimes annually.)

Ancient Welsh laws stated one flat compensation price for hares as they changed gender month to month (the price for other animals differed according to whether they were male or female).

The Siberian-Ugrian goddess Kaltes-Ekwa was a moon-goddess associated with fertility and childbirth. She was also associated with the bringing of dawn and often appeared as a hare.

The Fertile Harvest Hare

The link with new life and fertility carries through the seasons and we see the hare appear at the Autumn equinox time of harvest just as surely as at the Spring equinox (Easter).

In times of harvest, people would start seeing hares again after their spell of ‘March Madness’ had given way to a quieter time when the hares were effectively hidden from view by the growing crops.

The last sheaf of corn that was cut was known as ‘the hare’ – and people referred to this ritual cutting as ‘cutting the hare’ or ‘killing the hare’. It was believed to be very lucky if a hare ran out from this final sheaf of corn.

The Celtic tale ‘The Book of Taliesin’ from the Mabinogion tells the story of the servant boy Gwion who stirs a cauldron of magical potion for the enchantress Ceridwen. Only the first three drops of the potion will convey beauty and wisdom and the rest is poison. The precious drops are destined for Ceridwen’s son.

Gwion spills the potion on his hand and unwittingly consumes the valuable three drops as he licks his hand clean. As the potion takes effect, he realises that Ceridwen will be angry and turns himself into a swift hare to flee…

Ceridwen chases him as a greyhound. He then becomes a fish and she an otter – then a bird and she a hawk.

Gwion finally turns himself into a grain of wheat. Ceridwen eats it but becomes pregnant. When she gives birth to Gwion, reborn as a beautiful child, she floats him out to sea.

He is found and raised by a Prince and becomes the great and wise Taliesin.

So the hare is very much linked to this story of Ceridwen who is often shown as a Celtic goddess of creation and inspiration.

The Fiery Hare

At harvest time, too, we see more of the association of the hare with fire.

Buddhist and Hindu writings call the hare a ‘creature of fire’ with the idea of rebirth from the fire (similar to a phoenix).

The Indian Jataka Tales tell the story of the Buddha in his previous lives. He was reborn as a hare and in hare form threw himself into the fire, a self-sacrifice to provide food for others who were hungry. This virtuous act was celebrated by the hare’s image being painted onto the moon.

In Britain, too, people associated the hare with fire – often linked to the burning of stubble in the fields that used to happen after harvest, even when I was a child.

In 'The Leaping Hare', George Ewart Evans & David Thomson write of the hare hunkering down as the crop-stubble burns to “hang on to the last minute then make a dash for it” seeming to appear out of the flames.

Sometimes the hare is seen to leap back into the fire – perhaps the fear of the people around controlling the fire is greater than the fear of the fire itself.

It was also believed that “if a hare runs through a village street, a fire will break out in one of the houses very shortly afterwards.”

In Ulster, it was permitted to chase the hare only directly after the harvest – this was called ‘Chasing the Cailleach’ (the hag-goddess).

Brown hare hunkering down - alert

The Shape-Shifting Hare

Hares were very much associated with witches and it was believed that witches would shape-shift into hares.

People feared that witch-hares would suck a cow dry of milk by night – and there were tales of hares who had been wounded disappearing into the night – with the same wound seen on the local wise-woman the following day.

The Celtic tale of Oisin tells of the warrior who hunted and wounded a hare in the leg.

He followed the hare into the ground and discovered a beautiful young woman in a large underground hall – but she was also wounded in the leg!

A shape-shifting hare!

A reported behaviour of hares when they sit in circles is known as a ‘Hares’ Parliament’ and was thought to be a gathering of witches in hare form.

It was believed that a witch-hare could only be killed by a silver crucifix or a silver bullet.

I don’t know if hares really do sit in circles or gaze up at the moon (moon-gazing hares) – but I do know that I’ve seen little hares (or perhaps rabbits) sat up in a field at night, gazing literally ‘moonstruck’ up at a large and particularly bright full moon in the same way that a rabbit or other animal becomes immobilised in a car’s headlights.

I’m not sure if it’s a behaviour that’s unique to rabbits or hares, either, as I’ve also seen my collie gaze ‘moonstruck’ up at a large full moon too (...perhaps I should be worried!).

The Three Hares

The symbol of the hare is important to us culturally and is found throughout the world.

The Celtic hare motif of the ‘Three Hares’ is enigmatic but significant. It’s a design of three hares chasing each other in a circle with intertwined ears, so that each hare shares ears with the other two.

Three Hares Window, Paderborn Cathedral, Germany

The Three Hares window at Paderborn Cathedral, Germany

It’s been found in sacred sites (Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, and Christian) in locations ranging from the Middle East and Far East to Europe and Britain with Northern Germany and Devon seeing particular concentrations.

In England, the Three Hares symbol is often in a prominent position in a church so is seen as having a particular significance or importance. It is likely that the motif relates to the Celtic triple goddess and the Christian Holy Trinity – also encompassing ideas of the changing lunar cycle and concepts of fertility and the natural world.

The hare was viewed as changing genders or hermaphrodite and was believed able to give birth without loss of virginity and so was associated with the Virgin Mary. In medieval illuminated manuscripts and paintings, a hare was often seen at the side of the Virgin Mary.

In some locations, the Three Hares is also associated with the equally enigmatic Green Man – and as such could be seen as a symbol of our earthly nature or representative of the seasons and cycles of our year and lives.

A Welsh Hare

An early Welsh saint, Monacella or Melangell, is associated with hares.

A 15th century rood screen in the church in Pennant Melangell in Wales tells the story...

A Prince was hunting with dogs near the village. They chased a hare into bushes and when they followed the hare, they discovered it sheltering in the skirts of a beautiful maiden, Monacella/Melangell, who was praying.

The dogs did not attack the hare under Monacella’s protection and the Prince granted the land as a perpetual sanctuary.

The Lucky Hare

Hares were seen as both lucky and unlucky...

People used to keep a hare’s foot as a lucky charm. It’s likely this evolved into a rabbit’s foot – when I was a child, my Granny had a rabbit’s foot for luck and it was quite common then – people would wear it like a brooch.

A left rear foot was seen as particularly lucky. A hare’s foot was often kept to protect against rheumatism or by an actor to ‘shapeshift’ more easily into a role. It was seen as disastrous to lose this lucky foot.

But a hare’s foot was seen as unlucky on a fisherman’s boat and the word ‘hare’ was very unlucky to be spoken at sea.

It was also seen as unlucky for a hare to cross your path, when setting out on a journey. Pregnant women startling a hare could miscarry or their child may be born with a ‘harelip’, it was believed.

But it was considered lucky to call on the hare with the phrase ‘white rabbit’ called out on the first of the month – this was a tradition that we followed in our home when I was a child. The idea is for the phrase to be the first words to pass your lips on the first morning of the month – and could bring you luck for the whole month!

My hare drawing

Buy this original hare drawing here...

I scan my hare drawing into the computer and import it into Adobe Illustrator so that I can create with it digitally...

Please click the images below if you'd like a closer look - (Photos of my screen - apologies for reflections...)

Digitising the hare drawing in Adobe Illustrator

My drawing is scanned into the computer and set in a Celtic knotwork circle (previously drawn and digitised) - all in Adobe Illustrator

Resizing the drawing & tidying edges so it fits the circle

Drawings of grasses and plants are scanned in and also imported into Adobe Illustrator

Adding the plants into the composition digitally

Reworking colours digitally

Adding more vegetation to the composition

My completed Celtic hare artwork

Hare Meaning

The hare is a special creature to us and clearly has been for hundreds if not thousands of years, across different cultures and continents as well as across the years.

The hare meaning is:

Energetic
Sexual with associations of fertility
Wild and unconventional
Mystical and magical
Shapeshifting
Selfless and brave
Springtime and rebirth
Inspiration, creativity and ‘inspirational madness’ (being ‘moonstruck’)

Showing detail from the Celtic Hare artwork

Where to Buy my Celtic Hare Art

Browse & Buy Hare Art

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Celtic Hare mini art-board - ideal for a gift or to keep - click to see...

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Celtic Hare artwork in acrylic block gift idea

Celtic Hare artwork in acrylic block - lovely little gift idea or keep for yourself - click to see...

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'Summer Hare' art

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You might also like this hare artwork I created in 2018...

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Hare original artwork drawing

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Lotti Brown's News & Blog

Celtic Hare Art – Hare Meaning & Symbolism

A Hare by Any Other Name

A Pre-history of Hares

The Easter Hare

The Loving Hare

The Moon Hare

The Fertile Harvest Hare

The Fiery Hare

The Shape-Shifting Hare

The Three Hares

A Welsh Hare

The Lucky Hare

Hare Meaning

Where to Buy my Celtic Hare Art

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Lotti Brown

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Categories

Keep in touch

Lotti Brown's News & Blog

Celtic Hare Art – Hare Meaning & Symbolism

A Hare by Any Other Name

A Pre-history of Hares

The Easter Hare

The Loving Hare

The Moon Hare

The Fertile Harvest Hare

The Fiery Hare

The Shape-Shifting Hare

The Three Hares

A Welsh Hare

The Lucky Hare

Hare Meaning

Where to Buy my Celtic Hare Art

​Also available at:

Love hares...?

Keep in Touch

Further Reading

Categories

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Leave a Reply.

Lotti Brown

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