The Fabled Hare (A 3D Printed Ball-jointed Doll)

"A hare is not a pet but a person. Hares are clever and brave and loving, and they have fairy blood in them. It’s a grand thing to have a hare for a friend. One doesn’t often, because they have a lot of dignity and keep themselves to themselves; not like rabbits, who are always underfoot; but if you do win the love of a hare — well — it’s a fine thing for you . . . And you’ve done it."

(taken from "The Little White Horse" by Elizabeth Goodge)

Hares are beautiful, mysterious creatures and are found in mythologies all over the world. The hare is a loyal companion to the gods or sometimes a goddess herself. A symbol of swiftness, they are able messengers, they represent fertility and life, indeed the last corn of the harvest was called a hare and of course, hares have always been tied to the Moon, with their shape forever in its shadows. Legend also says hares have an affinity with fire, leaping from and into burning fields unscathed and this image has carried to modern literature:

"The hare runs into the fire.
The hare runs into the fire.
The fire, it takes her, she is not burned.
The fire, it takes her, she is not burned.
The hare runs into the fire.
The fire, it loves her, she is free . . ."

(taken from "I shall wear Midnight" by Terry Pratchett)

Some thought the hare to be a shape shifter and a favored form of witches. Isobel Gowdie who was accused of witchcraft in the 17th century, claimed she could become a hare by chanting the following…