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Q:"Are there any folktales about ferrets?....and I was wondering if ferrets
   were ever considered symbols for anything..."
 
A: You mean like the cigar?
 
Actually, according to Stephen Olderr, ferrets are symbolic for
bloodthirstiness, fiery tempers, cunning, restlessness, mischievousness,
and inquisitiveness, especially for hidden objects.
 
Weasels are symbolic for vigilance, courage, slenderness, bloodthirstiness,
arrogant quarrelsomeness, avarice, killer of vermin, squirminess, and the
emblem of Christ.
 
Ermine are symbolic of royalty, honor, purity, nobility, justice,
moderation, chastity, attribute of royalty, judges, lawyers and vergin
saints (St. Ursula), and the personification of Touch and Chastity.  An
ermine in a portrait alludes to the subject's virtue, and on a herald
refers to prudence, courage, cleanliness, dignity and sovereignty.
 
Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrant report the Irish King Conchobar (Tales
of the Ulster Cycle) had a warrior-maiden mother who's name was "Ness," or
weasel.  They suggest she symbolized watchful love, but also fickleness and
falsehood.  They suggest the symbolism of the ermine was confused with the
weasel, and Ness had the attributes of ermine rather than weasel.  They
suggest the ermine symbolized purity, and is thus why it was worn by
royalty and clergy (the white robes with black spots are ermine pelts with
their black tail tips), as well as on banners and heralds.
 
Alison Jones reports the weasel was the only creature besides the cock that
could kill the basilisk, hence the association with Christ overpowering the
devil.  It was eaten as a cure for snakebite.  In old Bohemia and Ireland,
seeing one was a bad omen, but in Greece, even saying the name was bad
luck.  Native Americans attribe great shrewdness and insight to weasels.
In European lore, witches are reported to turn themselves into weasels.  In
some folktales, the ermine got its black tail tip when a trickster tried to
burn it.  In China, weasels reportedly had the power to bewitch humans.
One European legend has it that the ermine so values its beautiful fur that
it will allow itself to be captured rather than dirty it.  Mary Magdalene
is often portrayed in medieval art with an ermine to show her reformed
purity, innocence, and chastity.
 
Seeing the symbolic background, it is easy to understand common attitudes
and misperceptions of ferrets, as well as the origin of some of our
phrases, such as weasel words, weaseling out of it, ferreting out the
truth, etc.  What is really interesting is the weasel, ermine and ferret
are extremely similar in terms of behavior, life history and natural
history, yet ferrets are given many negative attributes, while the ermine
positive and the weasel shares some of both.  Sounds like a PhD disseration
topic in anthropology to me.
 
This is just the tip of the weasels tail, so to speak, and it might be fun
if other people reported symbols and folktales from other sources.
 
Bob C and 20 Mo' Bloodthirsty, Fiery Tempered, Cunning, Restless,
Mischievous, and Inquisitive Ferts-O-Fun
[Posted in FML issue 2527]