¶
blackthorn
Susa Morgan Black in Blackthorn, August 2003:
Blackthorn can be used in spells of protection as well. In Irish tales, heroes were aided by the Blackthorn tree — if they threw a twig of Blackthorn after them, it would take root and form an impenetrable hedge or woods, thwarting the pursuing giant. In England Witches would carve the Norse rune thorn on a Blackthorn stave for protection. [...]
Traditionally, Blackthorn is used in protection against evil, creating boundaries, purifying, confronting our own dark side. Blackthorn dispels negativity, toxins, old wounds, and impurities. It can be used in exorcisms. It is associated with chthonic and protective deities.
Maybe blackthorn is lucky for Briar Pig since he's Irish, and dodges wolves. (His American Indian name would be Dodges Wolves.) He does call the briar patch where he lives blackthorn manor, but with a touch of self deprecation.
¶
wood science
Judith Crews, Ph.D. in Forest and tree symbolism in folklore, 2003:
In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil ("The Terrible One's Horse"), also called the World Tree, was the giant ash tree that linked and sheltered all the worlds.[...]
Evidence from the ancient Celtic civilization of northern Europe suggests signs of an association between trees and writing. The 25 characters of the Celtic alphabet (ogham), used for stone and wood inscriptions, were named for a group of 20 sacred trees and plants (also called ogham). [...]
The letters of the Old Irish alphabet were simple horizontal or oblique lines, similar to runes. They were easy to inscribe and were originally carved into wood. Indeed, the Irish words for "wood" and "science" have almost the same sound (Clark, 1995, 2001). [bold emphasis added]
Briar Pig's immediate predecessors, the fifth and sixth little pigs, were also Celtic, which explains why the fifth little pig tried a house made of wicker, which burned too easily.
folklore « Þ
