Phrase Origins: Halcyon Days

I used to think that the phrase “Halcyon days” meant the “early days” or “the days before one was experienced.” However, this usage is actually incorrect. The phrase “Halcyon days,” means “calm, peaceful days.”

It turns out that the phrase is very old. The origin starts with Ovid’s Metamorphoses which was thought to be written around the year 8 A.D. In book XI, he tells the tale of Alcyone, the daughter of Aeolus, the king of the wind. She was married to Cyex, the king of Thessaly. Ceyx was drowned at sea. Alcyone was so grieved that she threw herself into the sea. However, instead of drowning, she was brought to her husband by the wind.

Even though the tale deals with tragedy, it is considered to be one of the most tender tales that Ovid wrote. The symmetry created by Ceyx arrival and departure and Alcyone’s dream and the storm suggest that peace is something that is achievable.

Obviously, there is no H on Alcyone’s name. The H was added and the E subtracted when it was thought that the name had to do with the seas, which in Greek is “hals.” “Halcyon” became the name of a bird that is a Greek legend. The source of this myth is the story of Ceyx and Alcyone from Ovid.

This mythological bird is often associated with the kingfisher. It was thought that the birds would appear within fourteen days of the winter solstice. This was because the halcyon would come to brood her eggs on a floating nest during the days that the sea was calm.

In the 1398 translation of Bartholomew de Glanville’s Deproprietatibus rerum, John Trevisa wrote, ” In the cliffe of a ponde of occean, Alcion, a see foule, in wynter maketh her neste and layeth egges in vii days and sittyth on brood … seuen dayes.”

Then, in 1592, Shakespeare wrote Henry VI, part I . In it, Joan la Pucelle says, “Assign’d am I to be the English scourge. / This night the siege assuredly I’ll raise: / Expect Saint Martin’s summer, halcyon days, / Since I have entered into these wars.”

A Saint Martin’s summer is what we now call an Indian summer.

Other myths have also been associated with the kingfisher. A common myth in medieval times was that if the dried carcass of a kingfisher was hung up, it’s beak would always point in the direction of the wind.

In 1605, Shakespeare wrote King Lear and recorded this legend when he wrote, “Bring oil to fire, snow to their colder moods; / Renege, affirm, and turn their halcyon beaks / With every gale and vary of their masters.

Even though the phrase Halcyon days does not mean the same thing as the phrase salad days, it is often used to refer to the carefree days of youth.

Because of the meaning of the phrase “Halcyon days,” there are product collections and spas named “Halycon days,” to give the idea that the spas and products are relaxing. Ogden Nash even wrote a poem called, “Pretty Halcyon Days.

Related Phrases:

Indian Summer

Salad Days

Sources:

Halcyon Days – The Official Website. (n.d.). Halcyon Days – The Official Website . Retrieved May 1, 2012, from http://www.halcyondays.co.uk/

Halcyon Days . (n.d.). Halcyon Days . Retrieved May 1, 2012, from http://www.halcyondays.com/

Halcyon Days Salons and Spas. (n.d.). Premier Salons Inc. . Retrieved May 1, 2012, from https://www.halcyondayspa.com/

Martin, G. (n.d.). Halcyon days. The meanings and origins of sayings and phrases . Retrieved May 1, 2012, from http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/168 000.html

Metamorphoses (Kline) 11, the Ovid Collection, Univ. of Virginia E-Text Center. (n.d.). University of Virginia Library . Retrieved May 1, 2012, from http://etext.virginia.edu/latin/ovid/trans /Metamorph11.htm#485520970

SparkNotes: Metamorphoses: Book XI. (n.d.). SparkNotes: Today’s Most Popular Study Guides . Retrieved May 1, 2012, from http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/metamorphoses/context.html

SparkNotes: Metamorphoses: Book XI. (n.d.). SparkNotes: Today’s Most Popular Study Guides . Retrieved May 1, 2012, from http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/metamorphoses/section11.rhtml

halcyon days. (n.d.). halcyon days . Retrieved May 1, 2012, from http://kellylynnwaters.blogspot.com/