{roe} deer           
                                
                                
                                    
                                          
                                          
 [picture  of a deer head,  in  a garland 
        woven of various grasses.         
 the  deer has a  crown of rowan,  and is 
         looking at the viewer.]          
                                          
                                     
                               
                                     
                                          
 in the north, the deer is often  used as 
 a  symbol  for the  forest's agency,  or 
    its self-knowledge. watching eyes.    
                                          
 warmer  regions instead  ascribe it  the 
 knife  (teeth,  rumors of  violence), or 
    obsession (unblinking eyes, always    
      awake, scrapie-like behavior).      
                                          
                                     
                               
                                     
                                          
 the deer  is a cross between a horse and 
 a dog.  it  bears  a  resemblance  to  a 
 young    salix   tree,    and    has   a 
     sweet-smelling nose, like honey.     
                                          
 the horns  of a deer is called  antlers. 
 they have  a complex fractal shape,  and 
 are  believed  to  enable  the  deer  to 
 "fold" through passages which should  be 
 too narrow for them.  antlers  from dead 
 deer   seem    to   lose   this   power. 
                                          
 a  deer's heart has two chambers,  where 
 it stores all  the secrets it might  see 
 during  the  course of it's  life.  with 
 age  the  secrets  will  harden  into  a 
    caramellized structure, which will    
 eventually  block the flow of blood, and 
              kill the deer.              
                                          
                                     
                               
                                     
                                          
 [picture of  a deer  head. from the  far 
 side,  looking   the  other   way.   its 
          antlers are bloodied.]