FOR-erasmus + project
LINDEN
Vulgar name
Spanish: Tilo
Basque: Tilo
Italian: Tiglio
Greek: φιλύρα
Description
History
Mythological history
The Linden tree (genus Tilia, also called Lime), shares much of the common symbolism associated with any Sacred Tree in European lore: It’s presence protects against ill luck and against the strike of lightning, and it’s bright nature repels those spirits that would cause harm to the household.
In Slavic mythology the Linden (Lipa) is a Holy tree, and many towns and villages are named from it. It also lends its name to the months of June (Croatia) and July (Poland) respectively, and is apparently the root of the name for the city of Leipzig in Germany.
German towns often had (and have) Lindens growing in the town center, spreading shade beneath their graceful canopies. Some of the town-Lindens alive today are reputed to have been planted many hundreds of years ago. Perhaps the most well known town planting of Lindens is in the historic district of Berlin – the boulevard called Unter den Linten. Lindens were first planted along this way in the 16th century, though the Lindens currently growing there were planted in the 1950’s to replace the former trees, which had been cut down in the early 20th century, or destroyed during the 2nd World War.
It seems that the Linden tree has been used by poets through the ages as a metaphor for the beauties of Nature, as a tree of grace and peace. In one on-line research we often found repeated the claim that the Linden tree belongs to Freyja, and is the Tree of Lovers. This specific symbolism isn’t ancient, rather it sprung from the font of 19th Century Romanticism. Even so – the Linden has been for the Central Europeans a romantic image for centuries