illustration by Zara Abraham
The juniper tree is easily the grimmest of Grimm tales I have come across! It starts with woman wishing for a child as white as snow and as red as blood – but this tale has no seven dwarves and friendly woodland creatures. With greed, murder, lies, and treachery at the hands of the evil step mother, the story already has enough macabre to last its length. Yet sadly that is not the case . This woman tops her contending counterparts for other fairy tales with a perverse cannibalistic mind! Fearing competition for family fortune with a son that isn’t her own she kills him and disposes his body by cooking him into puddings that she feeds her hungry husband! Does this sound like the tale of Sweeny Todd- the Demon Barber of Fleet Street?? It practically is! The similarities are uncanny!
What does the Juniper tree have to do with all this? Im not quite sure actually- but it seems to bring the whole story together in a beautiful metaphor. It is the spirit of the tree that is manifested in the boy. His true mother gives her life for him to be born, and when he dies the tree seeks vengeance that is only satisfied when it kills the stepmother, bringing the boy back to life. It is a tree that demand sacrifice for its fruit.
Do we all as humans feed off each other to grow and eliminate the competition around us? It’s a scary thought.
What does the Juniper tree have to do with all this? Im not quite sure actually- but it seems to bring the whole story together in a beautiful metaphor. It is the spirit of the tree that is manifested in the boy. His true mother gives her life for him to be born, and when he dies the tree seeks vengeance that is only satisfied when it kills the stepmother, bringing the boy back to life. It is a tree that demand sacrifice for its fruit.
Do we all as humans feed off each other to grow and eliminate the competition around us? It’s a scary thought.
Text by nishant saldanha
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