This story is one whose origin is shrouded in a great deal of mystery. Colloquial wisdom attempts to trace it back to pre-Christian Germanic folklore, but there is no concrete historical nor academic evidence to support this theory. In fact, the first written mention of the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre (later conflated with the Germanic goddess Ostara) at all comes from Saint Bede in the 8th century, and it’s little more than a footnote. References to a spring hare or rabbit (fun fact: they aren’t the same kind of animal) bringing treats to children first appeared in the late 1600s, seemingly independently from any goddess myths. Attempts to bring the two together appear to date back as early as the 1830s, with Jakob Grimm among those working on this story. The most common versions of the story seem to be as modern as the 1980s, but the details vary in the telling's. So, I will attempt to bring together these threads of old and new into something resembling a cohesive whole! 

Ostara was the goddess of all new things: the dawn, and spring, and the new growth that came with them. Though she slept through the winter months, when she awoke, the world awoke with her. 

However, one year, Ostara overslept, and winter lingered longer than it usually did. As she walked through the snowy world, trying to rouse it from its wintry rest, she came across a sparrow on the ground. The bird was young, hardly more than a fledgling, and hatched while the world was still too cold for it to thrive. The poor thing was nearly frozen to death by the time Ostara found her. Knowing her delay in arrival had caused this misfortune, Ostara gently lifted the bird in her hands, blew her warm breath over the feathers, and cradled the bird to her breast. 

Much to the goddess’s delight, the little bird slowly revived as she warmed up. In further apology, Ostara granted her new feathered friend eternal life, and gave her a perch on her shoulder. Together, they continued through the world, bringing spring in their wake, flowers blooming and animals frolicking around them. This would continue for many long years, with the little bird as Ostara’s beloved companion. 

Now, every year, once spring had sprung, Ostara would host a grand festival in a meadow to celebrate. Animals and children from all around would gather there, bearing gifts to the goddess as tokens of their happiness and gratitude. 

One year, the day before the festival, a white hare by the name of Jack pondered what gift he would bring. Alas, he was poor, barely able to feed himself, let alone present anything of much value that would be fit for the Goddess of Spring. But, as he foraged for something to eat, he found an egg in the grass. This, he thought, could work as a gift for Ostara, for eggs symbolized birth and springtime. Excitedly, he decorated the egg with designs and colors made from flowers, sealing it with beeswax so it was shiny. 

The next day, he presented it to Ostara. She smiled in delight, proudly displaying it among the gifts received, knowing that it was a great act of unselfishness for the hare to give her the egg, given his poverty. The little sparrow was also very impressed with the hare. Ostara decided to offer the hare a reward: he would rise to be king among the hares, no longer impoverished, and could continue to make his pretty decorated eggs to be delivered to children in the springtime. Jack Hare was very grateful for this blessing. 

In the years to follow, as part of his gratitude, not only did Jack, now king of the hares, make his pretty eggs, but he also would lead his fellow hares in drumming and dancing to help wake and welcome Ostara every spring. He grew confident and bold, and where Ostara was fondly amused by his antics, the little sparrow with her looked upon him with love and warbled a sweet song for the hare. This surprised the goddess, and while bittersweet that she was no longer highest in the sparrow’s affections, she did not want to see her friend pained by pining. She gently placed a kiss upon the top of the sparrow’s head and transformed her into a beautiful white hare herself so that she and Jack might be together. With a nuzzle of twitchy noses, the two hares bounded off into the distance, and Ostara went on her own way, until she returned to sleep as spring became summer. 

When spring came again the next year and Ostara awoke, she was sad, for she missed her sparrow friend. Spring came slowly in her grief until she came upon many hares dancing in the fields. When they saw her, the hares bowed and made way, leading her to the center where Jack and the former sparrow’s nest was. Inside were a half-dozen eggs, but they didn’t look like Jack’s pretty colored eggs. Ostara was puzzled at first, as hares did not typically lay eggs, but then one began to hatch, and out came a pretty white baby leveret. Ostara was amazed and cuddled the newborn hare before placing her back at her mother’s feet, for it was the former sparrow’s child with Jack. She had kept her ability to lay eggs. Ostara and the hares all danced in celebration as springtime bloomed all around them. 

But it was not to last. After some time, word got out that Jack was not faithful to his mate.  This saddened Ostara, angered on behalf of her friend that had once been a sparrow. In her fury over his infidelity, Ostara grabbed Jack by the very ears and cast him up into the very heavens. There, he landed at the starry feet of the hunter Orion, where he became the constellation Lepus. Despite Jack’s affairs and the punishment bestowed by the goddess, the former sparrow grieved the loss of her mate. Seeing her tears, Ostara’s heart softened, and she granted one last favor: that once each year, following the first full moon of the first day of spring, Jack would be permitted to return to Earth to color his pretty eggs and gift them to the children of the world. And he still does to this day. 

THE END! 

Photo credit:  © Anne Louvaine Clark