Owls have been a part of folklore since ancient times, and modern storytellers often use owl superstitions and symbolism to amplify their themes. In most cultures. owls are referred to as symbols of wisdom, omens of death, and even bringers of prophecy. The Greeks according to Homer’s mythology have the Greek goddess of wisdom Athena claim an owl as her mascot when looking for a new companion, for she was impressed with its wisdom and levels of seriousness (The Magic and Mystery of Owls). Native Americans have a different folklore where owls are associated with prophecy and divination (The Magic and Mystery of Owls). Indeed, the Hopi tribe gave special significance to the Burrowing Owl as a sacred creature that symbolized their god of death and was a guardian of the underworld. Another owl that appears in folklore is the Snowy Owl that appears in Alaska told by the Inuit people. The Inuit people tell the story of a Snowy Owl and a Raven making each other dresses, but the Raven would not sit still for their fitting and the Snowy Owl lost their cool -throwing a pot of lamp oil at the Raven- thus the Raven’s dress turned an oily black and remained forever more (The Magic and Mystery of Owls). Owls also appear often in superstitions as an omen of death. In most African countries owls appear to be connected to sorcery and baneful magic, while they can also signify that if a large owl appears out of a house, then a very powerful shaman lives there. Shamans also hold the belief that owls can connect them to the spirit world by being messengers (The Magic and Mystery of Owls). Owl superstitions even appeared in Ancient Rome and Great Britain, nailing an owl to your door was meant to protect you from evil. Owls were seen as harbingers of death and were even said to have foretold Julius Caesar’s death (The Magic and Mystery of Owls). In Kathryn Lasky’s story, Legend of the Guardians: The Guardians of Ga’hoole, ancient owl folklore becomes key in the oral tradition of storytelling and in the daily ritual of seeking meaningful answers.
Lasky’s book series about Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’hoole, became a film directed by Zach Snider and screenplay written by John Orloff in 2010, incorporating owl mythology stems from the idea of tradition being a way to understand the past in order to create meaning for the present through the art of storytelling. The audience is first introduced to a tyto (barn owl) family of five with a snake as their nurse maid. Soren (the protagonist) and his little sister have been playing pretend as they reenact their favorite battle story that was passed down to them from their father (Noctus). Lasky uses the superstition of owls being messengers by incorporating wisdom into the main protagonist’s father Noctus who acts out his parental role by telling his sons a story. The classic hero versus villain tale stems from a significant moment in history (Battle of the Ice Claws) that is supposed to bring hope and good dreams as a daytime (bedtime) story before they go to sleep. Bedtime stories such as these often represent historical lessons -to reflect on, and inspire them to adapt to an unknown future (Sims and Martine 69-74). However, like all daytime stories there is an ominous warning that comes at the end and is treated as a second thought, the villain they call Metal Beak may still be around plotting his revenge. Soren has faith in the Guardians, but his older brother tells him that they are just stories and should not be taken so seriously. Their father reminds them that stories are part of their history and culture that they can always learn from, even after the 700th time. It is in this moment that he tells them that not seeing something doesn’t make it any less true, like their instincts to fly to which he refers to as their gizzards. Traditional stories such as the ones about the guardians are not just about the lore, but the interpretation that can define one’s life and even unite or break a community (Sims and Martine 70).
The storytelling tradition seeks to create and find meaning in various aspects of life. (Why can’t we talk things out?). Kludd the elder brother seems to lack this traditional meaning, while Soren is headfirst invested in these traditions hoping to find his place among them one day. Traditional stories such as the Battle of the Ice Claws are usually told once a child reaches the proper age, in order to prepare the child for what happens after they leave home (Sims and Martine 71). In addition to Soren and Kludd’s differences Soren succeeds in his first coming-of-age tradition of branching with their father. Kludd does not. Soren who fully believes in the guardians even without seeing them has a strong gizzard (a form of ancestral guidance) shows no form of struggling. In this moment, Kludd starts to become the anti-protagonist because everyone has the need to join a group or community, and Kludd starts to feel isolated from his own family (Sims and Martine 71). Unfortunately, Kludd (who doesn’t believe in anything that he can’t see) struggles to get to his next branch. This difference separates Soren from his brother throughout the movie as the stories take him all the way to the great tree, where he sees the guardian at last. Lasky has Soren traveling as the messenger to warn the guardians up to this point, thus incorporating the messenger superstition into Soren. However, Soren also demonstrates the symbol of wisdom after delivering his initial message. He then demonstrates what the importance of stories held for him as he speaks in the room when -other owls were doubting his truth- about the pure ones raising an army by kidnapping owls from their hollows. Usually, not many would like to admit or even believe that a child sees or knows more than the adults do. Yet, this is the case for Soren as his personal truth is what unites the Guardians to act (Sims and Martine 70). Soren tells the guardians that he had no inkling that they were true or not when he came looking for them. All he had to hold on to were the stories that passed down to him. This sparks Ezylryb to speak up and defend Soren even though he does not wish for another war, but if what Soren and his crew say is true than they should at least do him the honor of checking out. This sparks the guardians into action to send scouts to validate Soren’s words.
Lasky also jumps into action by using other owl myths combined with a traditional community through a medieval training montage. Soren and his friends are introduced to the guardian’s culture and tradition as they would begin their training to become guardians themselves. Each guardian has their own chaw (role) to play among the Guardians such as navigation and record keeping. Lasky uses the Guardians’ chaws to illustrate a medieval style of community that reflects the mythology of owls being the protectors from evil. Soren’s party of friends go through each lesson to find where their strengths are. Everyone has a part to play in the community, a meaningful role that suits them the best and through training with various tasks one can interpret and even create a newfound sense of identity (Sims and Martine 70). In addition to Lasky’s medieval theme, she has Soren find himself the historical chronicles so he can realize that the stories he grew up to love were nothing like what really happened. What Soren was reading, had been the truth of battle. No glory. No fame. Just war and death. Lasky then reveals the truth about Ezylryb as Lyze of Keil, Soren’s hero (the leader of the guardians that once struck down Metal Beak), who is considered to be a crazy old war veteran who is one of the scribes for the chronicles. Old Ezylryb is not only a scribe, but a master storyteller for all stories have a place of origins and the legend of the guardians could have come from Ezylryb himself (Sims and Martine 75). Lasky gives her audience another piece of wisdom through Ezylryb, when he tells Soren there is no glory in battle and being a guardian, it’s all about doing the right thing over and over again to protect the peace. Sometimes doing the right thing can feel futile and even frustrating because it requires a connection that is not always received (Sims and Martine 70). Soren takes his hero’s words to heart (making the connection) as he is left to attend his little sister, who was recently rescued from the scouting mission. He learns through his little sister that Kludd was the one who harmed her and helped set the trap for the Guardians.
In addition to Lasky’s methods of using tradition in the case of storytelling, she also uses tradition to show how it can divide people from each other. The initial tear starts with Soren as he is with his little sister, who tells him that their brother was behind her moon-blinking and faked rescue. In realization that his brother was involved with the trap and Metal Beak having an inside man, Soren and the others fly to acting knowing that the guardians are in trouble. Before Lasky’s next tear, Soren takes all his teachings from his father, his teachers, and his hero into account as he -flies into fire igniting a teapot on fire- to strike the contraption with the metal flecks. Within this particular scene, Soren has his eyes closed, trusting his instincts (ancestral guidance) to guide him where there is no path (Sims and Martine 74). He succeeds, but now he must face Kludd. Lasky’s second tare happens when Soren and Kludd have words, but they are past words at this point. Kludd already made up his mind and had been conditioned to the point of accepting that this is him (the brother Soren knew was too far gone for words to matter). Sometimes words don’t even have a chance to be received, for not everyone wants to listen or be -saved- like Kludd. In the final tear of separation that would separate Soren from his brother, Lasky gives Soren false hope as he kept trying to help Kludd. Kludd’s obvious rejections and cruel manipulations became the final tare as he played to Soren’s sympathy so he could save himself and pull Soren into the fire. Kludd’s branch breaks and falls into the flames, there is no time to grieve since the battle is not yet over. One of the greatest forms of separation is death because it is so unpredictable that it can leave others without closure. Lasky illustrates this form of separation with Soren because in war culture, life is gambled and those who survive must power on. Soren did not have time to grieve, instead he flew in to rescue his hero from Metal Beak. Sometimes, in a kill or -be- killed situation, one has to find the resolve to survive no matter what and separate themselves from what happens next. Soren found his resolve by not wanting to lose anyone else, and so while Ezylryb fought Metal Beak’s mate, he fought Metal Beak. Soren took Metal beak’s life. Lasky showcases Metal Beak’s death in this scene, not praising the act of killing another living being but acknowledging the resolve and courage to act. Lasky only introduced a situation where two conflicting ideas that exist as unstoppable forces (guardians and pure ones), and the only way to stop this kind of situation based on the circumstances Lasky has provided her audience is to remove the cause. (This of course can be misinterpreted to just get rid of the parts you don’t like). Soren would have to deal with what transpired because not only did he lose brother in the fire, but he also took a life for the first time.
Lasky introduces two forms of death, theoretical death, and physical death. Theoretical death happens within a community, something or someone changes where they are no longer part of the community. Physical death has to do with the individual loss of life, someone actually died. In the first form, Soren didn’t understand why Kludd abandoned his family for a cult (the Pure Ones). Nor did Soren truly understand the second form until Metal Beak was impaled by his stick. By exploring these two forms, Lasky develops her main protagonist (Soren) through his initial shock and how he coped with what just transpired. At the end of the movie, Soren tells his story to young owlets about what happened in the same way his father taught him, through the oral tradition of storytelling. Lasky put meaning behind Soren’s loss, where she just didn’t have him wallowing in his grief of losing Kludd, nor did she have him experiencing daymares of taking Metal Beak’s life. Instead, Lasky had Soren telling stories to the next generation so they could learn from his journey.
The story comes full circle as traditions are now being passed down from Soren to owlets. Thus, he becomes the next storyteller with the new ominous warning that Kludd is still alive out there -becoming the villain- in a foreseen future. Ominous warnings are often ritualistic for daytime stories when they appear at the end; it’s the last thing to think about before one shuts their eyes. (Beware of the remaining cult members.) In addition to the tradition of finding meaning in life, change also happened. Daily rituals of playing pretend, daytime stories, and even sibling banter transformed into training, telling the stories, and sibling rivalry gone awry. Soren was no longer the naive owl who had his head in the clouds but a guardian who knows the hardships of war filled with daymares for young owlets. His actions and awareness changed those around him, those who once doubted his words, now believed him to be worthy to join the guardians officially (along with his friends).
The sacred oath Soren takes is mentioned a few times throughout the movie that parallels the opposite to what Metal Beak’s words. These words are a part of a ritual and signifier of what it means to accept an honorary role such as a guardian or Pure One. Ritualistic oaths often also reinforce the sense of identity as to guide oneself back to the path they have chosen for themselves (Sims and Martine 104). In the Guardian’s oath the individual vows to make the strong the weak, mend the broken, and vanquish evil without hesitation. This oath is all about acknowledging one’s weaknesses and turning it into a strength. To protect and heal those who can’t protect themselves as well by doing the right thing (even if it means making the hard choice). Sometimes that hard choice means to take a life. For example, Soren killed Metal Beak without hesitation while putting his life on the line to help his hero and teacher. If he had hesitated both he and Ezylryb would have died. In contrast to these actions, Metal Beak believes that Tytos (barn owls) are the best by saying the strong will triumph, the broken are put out of their misery, and honor is another word for weakness. In other words, he does not care about the little guy who works twice as hard despite their weaknesses and he will do anything to achieve a goal including kidnapping and moonblinking (brainwashing) owls. These two ideals collide with Soren and Kludd as each brother deals with their own sense of purpose in this fantasy world. Soren and Kludd’s oath solidify the choices they have made.
The ritual oath provides the main characters with a sense of purpose and strength. Those with strong hearts such as Soren tend to fall into the ritualistic pattern of challenging themselves to be better, especially among peers. Soren always wanted to be the hero, always wanted to do the right thing, and even choose to be picker alongside Gylfie (in attempt to protect her). Soren challenged himself by constantly choosing the path that was filled with difficult obstacles. Meanwhile Kludd’s heart shows weakness as he falls into the pattern of cowardness. He chose to abandon Soren not only once but three times. The first time was when Soren saved him from a giant rat that now had Soren pinned. He stood there and did nothing. Then Kludd tried to escape the Pure Ones, leaving Soren behind, but he failed which brings Kludd to ignore Soren’s existence when Soren tries to stay with him as well. The coward’s path often gets pitied because saving them is a lost cause in most cases. Yet Soren tries to help Kludd despite the obvious rejection. Kludd even turns on Grimble who was trying to help them escape. Cowardice is not the only aspect that makes Kludd weak and in a continuous pattern to fail; he also is affected by jealousy that stems from his desire for approval (to be the strongest). In contrast to Kludd, Soren’s strength comes from trial and error when facing scary circumstances, peer pressure, and rejection as he keeps trying to do the right thing. Kludd had opportunities to choose the same path as Soren, but his nature drew him toward the opposite choices that Soren was making.
Despite their origins (backgrounds) being the same, the two brothers couldn’t stop their culture from changing as they continued making choices for themselves, which consequently put them on separate paths -lined up with different values- that survived over the years. These values may die and change over time because every moment is different. Due to Soren’s passion and value for the lore about the Guardians he was able to teach – survive – learn – thrive – escape – and encourage others; he was able take the historical purpose behind the legend and to adapt to unforeseen obstacles (Georges 65). One day, Soren might have to vanquish his brother despite how much he values his family. One day, Kludd may rebuild the pure ones to his image and find that he lost himself along the way. There is no telling what may happen. The continuity of values and beliefs that Soren and Kludd have gained in their personal journeys depends on them (Georges 67). Nevertheless, the brothers will still fight for what they believe in because that is their owl (human) nature. At the end of the movie, Lasky has Soren be the one telling the story because one day it may not be him who vanquishes evil (Kludd), it may be the next generation of guardians. Often continuity of a ritual or tradition that exists in a culture depends on the next generations to keep up with the practice, however, over time what is needed and acceptable changes thus breaking these practices or transforming them into something modern (Georges 67).
People are truly intriguing beings that are constantly seeking some form of purpose and meaning to their lives. They create rituals, traditions, and continuously strive to keep their cultures safe from change despite it being inevitable. (They challenge the impossible.) In the folklore scale, stories become records of the human psychological history that exists in the from the moment they are created. In relation to Kathryn Lasky’s series and movie about the Guardians of Ga’hoole, extensive research and inspiration created this fantasy world that not only reflects the lore of owls being harbingers of death and wisdom, but the historical meaning and truths involving war. (Including some details about Kathryn Lasky herself). For example, after researching Lasky’s personal history and how her father’s parents who were Jewish and had escaped Russia, the horrific events of the Holocaust came to mind. In taking the initiative by contacting Lasky herself through email, when it came to inquiring about the Holocaust as one of the historical references and other inspirations for this story, she revealed the Holocaust is indeed one of the many resources she used for describing racism especially when portraying “the Pure Ones.” In addition to her other sources Lasky also used “various folktales and fairytales threaded throughout the narrative” (Lasky). In addition to historical references, Lasky took her inspiration from her surrounding environment, for the war hero Lyze of Keil came from a screech owl that lived in her yard. Beyond the information from and about Lasky, a reference from Shakespeare’s play Henry the IV Part II when Kludd states that honor is another word for weakness it mimics Falstaff’s reflection about how it is foolish. Honor is judged harshly in both cases because those who often follow a code of honor end up struggling the most and even dying.
In the case of dying for honor, Grimble (the owl who had captured Gylfie) makes the best example to show how strong beliefs and even values can determine and even -drag a person into a war they did not want-. After the capture of Gylfie (a small elf owl) he told the group of captives that they are now orphans that were -rescued from their parents- who didn’t love them. Children are often considered to be impressionable, which is why children are often targeted and even manipulated to being used as weapons against adults. In contrast to manipulating children, the manipulating of adults is harder because they have already developed a moral compass which means they have to be manipulated through the means of threatening what they value most in the world (this can vary from family, occupations, and even social status). In Grimble’s case, he became a pure one through the family manipulation tactic. His family was captured and threatened if he did not join Metal Beak and his army. Therefore, he became a pure one even though he didn’t want to thus lose his honor in order to protect his family. He gained blood (sins) on his feathers over the years after that, hoping to free his family one day. In retaining some of his sanity, he told himself that he would help anyone who was willing to stand up to the pure ones (Soren and Gylfie). It just so happens that he finds the main protagonist and his new friend are two impressionable children who have strong moral compasses already at such a young age that he can help. Kludd is not one of them. Kludd being the most impressionable child that is ruled by his emotions turns on Grimble instead of escaping with Soren and Gylfie. In consequence to Kludd’s choice to stay and fight Grimble, combined with Grimble’s choice to stay and buy the others time, Grimble dies (with honor). Though his death is considered to be an honorable one, it can also be seen as a suicide mission.
In the Pure Ones’ point of view his death was a foolish one because he should never have betrayed them or believed that he could free his family. (In their eyes, he should have known better than to go up against them). However, if you flip the point of view to the guardian’s point of view, Grimble is the exact embodiment of a guardian because honor is not about strength in the guardian’s culture, it is about having the resolve to take the right course of action. Honor has nothing to do with the results of one’s actions, it has to do with the meaning behind the actions that are being taken (Georges 67). Grimble’s actions were defined by his desire to protect this family no matter the cost, outnumbered with his family’s lives on the line, he took the only course of action he could take to keep them safe. His sacrifice was meaningful because he not only chose to save his family, but to help those who wished to be helped (becoming the inside man). In addition to put meaning behind his actions, Grimble knew he might not see his family again and passed down his knowledge of flight to Soren and Gylfie. He illustrated the first part of the guardian’s oath “Make strong the weak” by building up their wing strength to escape the Pure Ones and get help. Grimble also voiced that he plans to free his family -mending the broken- bonds of his honor despite his past misdeeds. The final actions of Grimble are full of meaning because he had already decided to stay, and when caught by Metal Beak’s mate, he makes his last stand knowing he will soon be outnumbered, but with Soren and Gylfie in flight his role was done. (He did all that he could and now it is up to them.) The choices made by the owls were prompted by an outdated war of the past.
The warlike folklore about owls created by Kathryn Lasky discusses cultural differences that stem from superstitions and beliefs that grow and change over time, reflecting past and present-day conflicts. Lasky gives her audience answers not only to the big questions like why war happens and the reality behind it, she also answers the small questions as well. She puts meaning behind the entire story, which brings us all the way back to Noctus, who tells Kludd that there is always something to learn even after the 700th time. Beyond the obvious war theme mixed with the ancient lore of owls, Lasky gives her audience multiple lessons or messages that can be received even after the 700th time of experiencing (watching or reading) her story. One of these messages has to do with making choices after leaving home, which falls under the coming-of-age theme to the story. No matter the gender, race, belief, and environmental backgrounds, everyone must adapt after leaving home for the first time. They must navigate – learn – grow – and even make the hard choices such as continuing education further away from home and family. This meaningful message about taking flight when leaving home is incorporated into the movie as well by adding Owl City to the ending credits with their song called “To the Sky.” The ultimate message being don’t be afraid when it is time to for the change to come, because even when you do not think that you are ready for whatever that change might be you can always fall back on the traditions and lessons you have learned to act as your guide.
Work Cited
Georges, Robert, and Michael Owen Jones. Folkloristics: An Introduction. Indiana University Press, 1995.
Hallett, Martin, and Barbara Karasek. Folk and Fairy Tales – Fifth Edition. 5th ed., Broadview Press, 2018.
Lasky, Kathryn. “Biography / About.” Kathryn Lasky, www.kathrynlasky.com/about/biography. Accessed 15 May 2022.
Lasky, Kathryn. “My Books” Email. Kathryn@KathrynLasky.com. March 27th 2022.
“Hello Holly
There were many inspirations for my Guardians of Ga’Hoole book. But yes the holocaust was one, particularly with the references to the Pure Ones—all about racism! However this was only one stream of history that fed into the overall narrative. There were many classic themes from history, folktales and fairytales that threaded through the narrative.
Be sure to take a look at my latest animal fantasy book The Secret of Glendunny and you’ll find more.
Thank you for writing.
All my best
Kathryn”
Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’hoole. Directed by Zack Snider. Screenplay written
by John Orloff and Emil Stern. Original novels written by Kathryn Lasky. 2010.
“The Magic and Mystery of Owls.” Learn Religions, 18 Jan. 2019, http://www.learnreligions.com/legends-and-lore-of-owls-2562495.
“The Magic and Mythology of Bats.” Learn Religions, 22 Aug. 2019, http://www.learnreligions.com/bat-magic-and-folklore-2562685.
“The Magic Behind Crow and Raven Mythology, Legends, and Folklore.” Learn Religions, 12 Jan. 2020, http://www.learnreligions.com/the-magic-of-crows-and-ravens-2562511.
Sims, Martha C., and Martine Stephens. Living Folklore. Second, Logan, Utah, Utah State University Press, 2011.
Toelken, Barre. Dynamics Of Folklore. Revised and Expanded, Utah State University Press, 1996.
Craft Legacy 