#thejunipertree

WARNING: Some of the fictional triggers contained within this article involve graphic content such as death, gore, violence, and child abuse.

Read at your own discretion! 

DISCLAIMER: All of the content written below are merely fan theories written by @sionanimations​ and @mood-owl​ for the sake of understanding the story of RWBY better. If you haven’t watched all of the episodes for RWBY, there are spoilers within this for seasons 4-7, so keep that in mind.

All referenced works will be linked in the google docs listed at the bottom of this article for your own benefit.

Enjoy!

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TL;DR: 

The Juniper Tree (as linked) is a German fairy tale published in Low German by the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Fairy Tales in 1812. It is based on the protagonist of the story, a young boy who is the child of the father and the father’s first wife, who is also Marlinchen’s stepbrother (or in other versions, her half-brother). The boy often afraid to return home from school since he would routinely be abused and beaten, he began to cry himself to sleep every night. Eventually, he is decapitated by his stepmother, she binds his head to the rest of his body with a bandage and props his corpus onto a chair outside, with an apple on his lap for his sister’s discovery. Later, after Marelen discovers that he is dead, his blood is drained and along with his body is cooked into “Blood-Soup/Black Pudding” by his stepmother. When his father returns home and questions where the boy is, she responds telling him that he has gone off to the country to live with his mother’s great uncle. The boy eventually reincarnates into a beautiful bird, returning with items: a golden chain (for his father), a pair of red boats (for his sister), and a millstone, which he uses to kill the stepmother in revenge and reverts back into his original human self by the end of the story. 

THEORY NOTES: 

I believe Oscar’s story is loosely based upon this fairy tale, but if he had lived through the traumatic experience. In RWBY Volume 4  Episode 1 - The Next Step, Oscar Pine is introduced to us upon waking up from a nightmare panicked, possibly indicating a traumatic experience from his past. Another thing noted to us in this episode is Oscar's outfit, much like the young boy in this tale, Oscar is presented wearing a bandage wrap around his neck, possibly indicating a former wound related to the traumatic experience. 

In the Grimm story, after the boy’s death the stepmother responds to her husband stating, "he has gone across the country to his mother's great uncle. He will stay there awhile." However, in this theory, Oscar lives through the ordeal and actually does go to the country in Mistal as a farmhand to live with his aunt. 

In the Grimm Brothers "The Juniper Tree," reincarnation plays a major role in the tale. Similarly to how the reincarnation of Ozma also plays a major theme in the tale of RWBY. However, Oscar is the reincarnation of a former like-minded soul (Ozma)  instead of a bird. 

But perhaps they didn’t entirely leave this out, in RWBY Volume 6 Chapter 8 - Lost, after Oscar is confronted by his teammates about Ozpin’s lies. Oscar, unsure of how to cope, retreats into the city and is later seen wearing a new outfit consisting of gold, green, and red - possibly a direct symbolism to the bird (often depicted as a pheasant) the boy reincarnated into in the story. 

“...fine red and green feathers he had, and how his neck was like pure gold, and how his eyes shone like stars in his head.” A symbolism of Oscar’s purity and innocence.

"Wife," said the shoemaker, "go into the shop. There is a pair of red shoes on the top shelf. Bring them down." Then the wife went and bought the shoes [for the bird]. In RWBY Oscar is shown wearing a pair of red shoes/boots, which he purchased while trying to cope. 

It is important to note here that in most instances red shoes in the Grimm fairy tales symbolize a curse or sin. - In the era of the Grimm Fairy Tales, red shoes were the symbolism of harbinger of evil due to the religious influence in society, where the church declared red as a symbol of the devil and unwanted attention.  

The story of the “Juniper Tree,” is the archetypal bridge between other fairy tale stories produced by the Grimm Brothers: Cinderella, Briar Rose, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Using an object (normally represented through nature) that watches after the main character. In the case of this story, it’s a juniper tree. 

The allusion of using a Juniper tree has long been recognized as one of the most powerful of all fairy tales trees. In the language of flowers, Juniper symbolizes perfect loveliness, beauty, and protection. 

The Juniper tree is in the Cupressaceae family closely related to the Pine tree, a possible reference to Oscar Pine’s name. 

Hopefully, like the boy in this tale, Oscar will be able to revert back into his former self at the end of the fairy tale, no longer another reincarnation of Ozma.

Google Docs Link:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/12dmrUTbvNouXAOTJPmfMVi45n_BWnB5d9X0zkzln4C8/edit?usp=sharing

My Mother she Slew me,

My Father he Ate me,

My sister Marlene,

Gathered all my bones,

Tied them in a silken scarf,

Laid them beneath the juniper tree,