The folklore and superstitions surrounding owls have passed down through the centuries of humankind, from the ancient times of the Greeks to the present. The perceptions of owls are a paradox – which means something that has two complete opposites found together within it. Owls have been hailed as symbols of intelligence, yet they also have been feared and seen as signs of evil or death.

The owl has been seen as killer, messenger, helper and spirit. The association with witches is centuries old – dating at least to the medieval period (about 500-1500 A.D./C.E.). In those days, people believed that the owls and other animals associated with witches were evil spirits in disguise.

“For centuries, indeed millennia, owls have played diverse and fascinating roles in a wide array of myths and legends,” write Bruce Marcot, Mark Cocker and David H. Johnson in a research paper on owl lore and conservation efforts.

The owl was the symbol of Athene, the Greek goddess of knowledge

The idea of “wise old owls” and owl messengers can be found in ancient Greece. Athene (also spelled "Athena") at first was the goddess of darkness, and later of wisdom, arts and sciences. The owl was sacred and associated with her. An owl in Greek art often was a symbol of Athene and was considered a protector. The “tetradrachm,” or four-drachma coin of ancient Athens, Greece, had an owl on it for Athene, the city’s patron goddess and for whom it was named. Owls were good omens to Greeks. If one flew over a battlefield, Greek soldiers believed that there would be victory. Owls were protected and permitted to live in the Greek Acropolis.

The Aesop’s fables – little moral tales popular to this day – began to appear in ancient Greece. The first written compilation of Aesop stories appeared around 4 B.C./B.C.E. Aesop himself was variously believed to be a slave or a soldier, but historians now think he was fictional. The mention of his name was supposed to quickly bring a storyteller to mind. His fables often had wise old owls to which other animals would go to for advice.

For example, in “The Owl and the Birds,” the first character warns the second ones about digging up acorns and flax seeds so that people will not use these plants to harm them. She also warns them about the danger and accuracy of arrows. The birds at first do not listen, and many of them pay the price. The owl only wishes they would have listened: “Hence, it is that when she appears they look to her as knowing all things, while she no longer gives them advice, but in solitude laments their past folly.”

J.K. Rowling’s study and knowledge of the classics (ancient Greek and Roman literature) at Exeter University may have led to her making owls the messengers of the wizarding world. Hecate was the goddess of witches, and many ancient Greeks believed that owls were her messengers. Persephone, the goddess of prophecy, also was thought to employ owl messengers. This just reinforced the idea of wise owls. The shift away from the owl as symbol of evil, death and witch’s companion may have begun during the European Renaissance and Enlightenment periods (about 1500-1800). In these eras, there was a strong pursuit of education and stamping out of ignorance. Science began to take a higher priority than superstitions and mythology. Nowadays, owls are known to be birds of prey, and yes, they do kill small animals for their diets, but they are also some of the most popular of the bird species. Conservation projects for owls have met with success in North America and Europe.

The wise old owl persisted in literature and popular culture into the 20th and 21st centuries. Illustrations of humanized owls often used one or both of the quick symbols to indicate someone is intelligent or educated – a pair of eyeglasses or a mortarboard, the square, flat cap worn by university or college graduates.

With Aesop’s fables translated into English in the 1800s, children received the wise bird stereotype directly from ancient times. British author A.A. Milne included Owl, a friendly, blustery bird who is one of Winnie the Pooh’s best friends. Walt Disney cartoons have included owls who were counselors and protectors of animals. One helps look out for the orphaned Bambi the fawn, and another, “Big Mama,” a maternal type, helps the title characters of The Fox and the Hound become friends.

THROUGH THE CENTURIES

Owls have been part of various civilizations’ decorative arts and graphic images since the days of the caveman. The Chauvet Cave in southern France, discovered by three cave exploring enthusiasts in 1994, has numerous animal paintings and drawings, including an owl. Archaeologists estimate these owl illustrations are 32,000 to 34,000 years old. Many other cave paintings of owls have been discovered in France, Australia and Washington state in the United States.

Owls have also have held symbolism that inspired artisans to include them on items. An owl headdress appears repeatedly in bas-reliefs, figurines and other artifacts from the ancient Mayan civilization of South America. These men wearing the owl headgear were probably high priests. The owl was most likely a symbol of power for the ruling class or of the resurrection of government.

Owls in western art have included regular nature studies, fantasy characters, or sometimes were drawn with a witch to suggest their strong alliance. Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), the famed Spanish abstract painter, became fascinated with owls in the 1940s and ’50 and included them in some of his paintings and ceramics.

It is not surprising that owls were sometimes seen as evil spirits in disguise or omens of death. In the Christian Bible, darkness is associated with evil and the devil, while the light with good and God. Owls are usually nocturnal – that is, they are awake and going about their lives mostly at night. Their huge eyes and fierce expressions contributed to fear and superstition of them in certain cultures.

In Africa, owls are widely viewed as evil, according to researchers. The word for owl in the African form of “pidgin” English, a simplified form of the language spoken in foreign countries, is “witchbird.” Conservationists were having problems rallying support among people to save owl species, such as the aye-aye. There are only a few dozen of these owls left, because most have been killed by people terrified of the “witchbirds.”

Other tribal cultures also have associated the birds with death, such as the Ojibwe Indians of the north central United States. The Pueblo Indians of the southwest U.S. associated owls with their Skeleton Man, the god of death and fertility. Apaches had strong taboos about owls, regarding them as the spirits of their dead ancestors.

In India, owl species, such as the forest eagle owl, are important parts of Hindu and Nepali legends. People thought that when owls were heard in cemeteries that it was a sign that souls were being gathered. However, in other parts of India owls are considered evil and have been mistreated out of fear.

The intertwined ideas of owls and death was not just found in primitive cultures. Russian and Ukrainian peoples believed that spotting an owl meant death or disaster was on the way. Some Armenian tales associated owls with the devil.

The idea that owls are the pets of witches also began to develop in Europe during the Middle Ages, and persisted into the Renaissance in some communities. There was a belief that a witch often had a “familiar,” a creature that she kept not only as a pet but close friend and companion. The familiar was often a small animal, such as a cat, toad, dog, mouse – or an owl. The familiar was supposed to be a demon or even the devil himself in the form of an animal. As a distant spinooff of the familiar concept, Rowling's young witches and wizards are also allowed to keep animals as small pets. (They are actual animals, not spirit beings or humans, with the exception of Scabbers.) Drawings of witches by European artists would show owls perched on their shoulders or close by them. The King Arthur legends of England had the wizard Merlin described and pictured with an owl on his shoulder.

A variation on the familiar idea was owls as helpers to medicine men or magic makers to help them communicate with the dead. A number of native peoples of the Pacific Northwest in North America believed that owls enhanced their shamans' ability to speak to the dead.

Although owls have represented evil to Christians of medieval Europe, in the earliest days of the faith they were considered symbols of wisdom! This was because they were associated with dedicated scholars and wise men, because of their watchfulness in the night. Some Christians went so far as to make owls symbols of Jesus, who was believed to be the son of God and one who came through a symbolic “darkness” to convert unbelievers.

Other cultures associated owls with powers to ward off evil or to prevent catastrophes. The Japanese have put owl figurines or pictures in their homes to prevent famine or epidemics. The Ainu, the ethnic people of the Hokkaido area of Japan, held the highest regard for the bear and the fish owl. They would hold ceremonies to return the spirits of dead fish owls to the world of the gods.

The Pawnee Indians of the U.S. made the birds a symbol of protection. In many Indian tribes there has been the concept of the Sacred Hoop, or the four quarters of the earth and sky. The north is associated with the snowy owl, the same species as Hedwig. The Oglala Band of Sioux Indians allowed warriors to wear caps of snowy owl feathers to indicate their bravery. Other Sioux believed that the man who wore owl feathers would have stronger, sharper visions. In central Asia, some cultures believed that feathers from the eagle owl would protect children and livestock from evil spirits.


Part Two:  The Owls of Harry Potter

Snowy Owl

Harry’s personal pet is Hedwig, a female snowy owl.   The bird gets its name from its nearly white plumage.

Great Gray Owl

Errol, the elderly male owl that can barely deliver mail for the Weasley family, is described as a large, gray bird. He is probably the great gray owl, Strix nebulosa. The bird received its scientific name from Johann Reinhold Forster, who was on the second voyage around the world of Capt. John Cook in 1772. “Nebulosa” is the root for the
world “nebulous,” which means foggy and unclear. Forster was referring to the owl’s gray, ghost-like appearance.

Eurasian Eagle Owl

Considering the flaunting of wealth and display of arrogance, it isn’t surprising that the Malfoy family bird is the Eurasian eagle owl, Bubo bubo. This raptor is one of the largest of the European owl species and is an average of 22.8 to 28 inches tall.

Eurasian Pygmy Owl

After Ron Weasley lost Scabbers in The Prisoner of Azkaban, he received a present of a small gray owl from Sirius Black. Hermione Granger had named the bird Pigwidgeon, or “Pig” for short.

This noisy, “twittering” bird, as J.K. Rowling describes him, is the Eurasian pymgy owl.

Barn Owl

The barn owl, Tyto alba, has a pale body and is closely associated with people due to their tendency in Europe to nest in barns and church lofts and steeples. Its scientific name was coined by Giovanni Scopoli, an Italian naturalist. “Alba” is Latin for white. Other names are monkey face owl, hissing owl, church owl and white owl.

Tawny Owl

The tawny, Strix aluco, is the most common owl species in the United Kingdom and is native to the country. Tawnies are one of the species featured at Eeylops Owl Emporium.