Bird Gods in Ancient Europe 



minstrel who sings the joys of the marriage 

 festival and the lamentations for the dead; Plu- 

 tarch says that Venus presided over birth and 

 death. Hence the use of doves in two such 

 opposite scenes as marriage and funeral feasts. 

 The Longobards placed over the graves of their 

 people wooden slabs with doves carved on top. 

 In England the pigeon was a death-bird and 

 portent of the grave ; the sick man who had 

 a desire to eat of a pigeon was supposed to 

 foretell his own demise. Yet the pigeon also 

 brings good luck. In Russia it was once 

 sacred to Perun the god of thunder, and had 

 some occult power to extinguish fires ; but if 

 one should fly in at a window the portent was 

 just the other way ; a fire might be expected. 

 Living pigeons used to be placed on the head 

 of a dying man in order to attract the pain. 



Pan of Greece, the male Venus of Italy and 

 Vaino of the Finnic tribes have a represen- 

 tative among the German nations who was 

 still fresh enough in the memory of the people 



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