I had a dream last year that an enormous falcon gave me a ride on its back. It told me things, most of which I can’t now remember. And then it raked me on my leg. When I awoke, I had marks on my right thigh, exactly where the bird raked me in my dream. I knew somehow the species the falcon belonged to was a real species, and I looked for months, on and off, trying to find a photo that looked like the bird in my dream.
I found it today:
Gerfalkon, one of the largest falcon species in the world.
For more information: http://animalia-life.com/birds/gyrfalcon.html
I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me, after all I do worship Freyja of the falcon cloak. I’d imagine feathers from a bird like this would be eminently suitable.
What a beautiful bird … and I agree that this could also be suitable for the falcon that Freyja’s cloak transforms its wearer into. You might also like this page (it’s in German; but still has nice pictures of these falcons in Iceland, and immature falcons, and even an egg). The falcon, upon which you rode in your dream … are you sure it wasn’t Freyja, herself? 😉
I have wondered that myself. I think it may have been. The bird in my dream was definitely female, don’t ask me how I knew. And thanks for the extra pictures, it only confirms this is indeed the right species!
I don’t have to ask how you knew – it was your dream, and you knew the falcon was female 🙂 I may have suspected your falcon was Freyja; but that’s another matter entirely, and in the end, it is still your dream and for you to know 🙂 I still think the falcon in your dream is a beautiful bird, ranking right up there with a barred owl and almost as pretty as a corvid 😉