Halcyon days

Origin of: Halcyon days

Halcyon days

This phrase has been used to describe days of calm, blissful weather since the 16th century. Shakespeare used it in this way in 1591 in King Henry VI, Part I, Act I, Scene II, “Except St Martin’s summer, halcyon days.” The source is Greek mythology. Halcyon, to quote the OED, is “A bird anciently fabled to breed about the time of the winter solstice in a nest floating on the sea and to charm the waves the wind and waves so that the sea was then especially calm; usually identified with a species of kingfisher, hence a poetic name of this bird.” Reference is made to this fable in Aristophanes Birds written in 414 BC.