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Monday Morning Mystery 041017
This is a bit far afield (from Neavitt on Maryland's Eastern Shore), but I loved the sign.
What is the connection between Halcyon and the kingfisher?
(Do I hear you Googling? Admit it.)
2 comments
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To add to Marianne’s research:
From Diana Wells’s book, “100 Birds and How They Got Their Names”, we learn that the species name of the Belted Kingfisher (depicted on the sign) is Megaceryle alcyon for the Greek goddess Alcyon or Halcyone, from Greek hals, “sea” and kuo, “conceive”. She was the daughter of Aeolus, the god of the wind. He calmed the sea for seven days before and seven days after the winter soltice while the kingfishers raised their young. -
Off the top of my head halcyon means storied or a special time, no? NOW I will google because that is as far as I got unless the sign means hearkening back to a time with many belted kingfishers in existence? AHA…the google produces that Halcyon is also the name of said bird. So as a noun, we have,
1.a tropical Asian and African kingfisher with brightly colored plumage.
2.a mythical bird said by ancient writers to breed in a nest floating at sea at the winter solstice, charming the wind and waves into calm.
I love the romance of those definitions! So fascinating.
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Diane L
To add to Marianne’s research:
From Diana Wells’s book, “100 Birds and How They Got Their Names”, we learn that the species name of the Belted Kingfisher (depicted on the sign) is Megaceryle alcyon for the Greek goddess Alcyon or Halcyone, from Greek hals, “sea” and kuo, “conceive”. She was the daughter of Aeolus, the god of the wind. He calmed the sea for seven days before and seven days after the winter soltice while the kingfishers raised their young.
Marianne Herrmann
Off the top of my head halcyon means storied or a special time, no? NOW I will google because that is as far as I got unless the sign means hearkening back to a time with many belted kingfishers in existence? AHA…the google produces that Halcyon is also the name of said bird. So as a noun, we have,
1.a tropical Asian and African kingfisher with brightly colored plumage.
2.a mythical bird said by ancient writers to breed in a nest floating at sea at the winter solstice, charming the wind and waves into calm.
I love the romance of those definitions! So fascinating.