Eros because of its high libido. Live hares were often presented as a gift of love. Now, the hare is commonly associated with the Anglo-Saxon goddess Ēostre, and therefore pagan symbols like the Easter Bunny have been appropriated into the Christian tradition. However, no primary sources support this belief, which seems to be a modern invention. In European tradition, the hare symbolises the two qualities of swiftness and timidity. The latter once gave the European hare the Linnaean name Lepus timidus that is now limited to the mountain hare. Several ancient fables depict the Hare in flight; in one concerning The Hares and the Frogs they even decide to commit mass suicide until they come across a creature so timid that it is even frightened of them. Conversely, in The Tortoise and the Hare, perhaps the best-known among Aesop's Fables, the hare loses a race through being too confident in its swiftness. In Irish folklore, the hare is often associated with Sidh (Fairy) or other pagan elements. In these stories, characters who harm hares often suffer dreadful consequences. In fiction In art Three hares A study in 2004 followed the history and migration of a symbolic image of three hares with conjoined ears. In this image, three hares are seen chasing each other in a circle with their heads near its centre. While each of the animals appears to have two ears, only three ears are depicted. The ears form a triangle at the centre of the circle and each is shared by two of the hares. The image has been traced from Christian churches in the English county of Devon right back along the Silk Road to China, via western and eastern Europe and the Middle East. Before its appearance in China, it was possibly first depicted in the Middle East before being reimported centuries later. Its use is associated with Christian, Jewish, Islamic and Buddhist sites stretching back to about 600 CE. Place names The hare has given rise to local place names, as they can often be observed in favoured localities. An example in Scotland is 'Murchland', 'murchen' being a Scots word for a hare. See also Lagomorpha References Further reading Windling, Terri. The Symbolism of Rabbits and Hares. William George Black, F.S.A.Scot. "The Hare in Folk-lore" The Folk-Lore Journal. Volume 1, 1883 Gibbons, J. S., Herbert, K., Lascelles, G., Longman, J. H., Macpherson, H. A., &