The Hare and Fire

The following is excerpted from The Leaping Hare by George Ewart Evans and David Thomson.

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Tradition in many parts of the world carries [the] linking of the hare with fire and burning. The sacrificial element is present in most of these universal traditions. . . . The hare, in other words, is like the phoenix, a symbol of regeneration or rejuvenation. . . .

[Today there] is only a faint echo of the deep-toned myth linking the hare with sacrifice. But this is the usual fate of even the central myths and beliefs of former religions: they are demoted to the rural underground or linger on in thin disguise in the harmless games of children. But why should the hare and not some other animal have been chosen for this particular role?

We tried to find whether the hare is in any way linked with fire in its natural state. This is what we found. . . . The hare will stay in a heath-fire till the last. [A Suffolk gamekeeper reports that] “they don’t go out to run with the smoke. They turn round and try to get through the fire. . . . They seem to think that if they get back clear on to the fire, in a way, they’ll get out of the scent of it. They jump into the fire.”