The Christmas Story of Tree Son and Starmaiden

Once upon a time in the land of winter, the son of the father of trees roamed his father’s forests in delight. He learned the nature of roots and stones and snow and cold.

But with time everything he knew took his mind upward. The stones piled up in mountains made him look to the sky. After he learned the ways of roots in the earth he learned the ways of trees to rise high and spread their pine or fir or spruce needles against the sky. He saw the sky was from where the snow fell.

So one night the Tree Son raised his eyes to the dark sky and between the needles of the tallest pine he saw very far off, high and remote and twinkling, the Starmaiden.

He longed to speak to her as he spoke to the trees and the stones and the earth. He shouted, but all that came out was rough like bark and did not reach the sky.  He longed for the sky like the trees long for it, but like them the Tree Son could not reach. Then he wept for love of the Starmaiden and because he could not speak to her, with tears like a tree weeping resin.

The North Wind heard and took pity on him. The North Wind blew through the trees like the note of a whistle, and made the icicles ring like bells. The Tree Son heard it from afar off long before the icy blast of the wind reached him, and he understood the message that was carried on the  voice of the North Wind. The Tree Son understood he should sing like the wind did.  The Tree Son sang in the starry night like a bell ringing, like a wind blowing, and the Starmaiden heard.

But the Father of Trees heard it also and was angry.

(Next episode here)

Thanks for reading.  My goal is to update these every day through Christmas until Twelfth Night.  I will try to include  links so you can follow but if not please  use the Christmas Fairytale tag at the end of this post.  You can also use the Merry Christmas page on the header bar above to find other writing that celebrates Christmas.