Animal-speaking is one of the three gifts of language in The Books of Bayern.
History[]
"The Creator spoke the first word, and all that lived on the earth awoke and stretched their mouths and minds to say the word. Through many patterns of stars, they all spoke to one another, the wind to the hawk, the snail to the stone, the frog to the reeds. But after many turnings and many deaths, the languages were forgotten. Yet the sun still moves up and down, and the stars still shift in the sky, and as long as there are movement and harmony, there are words. Some people are born with the first word of a language resting on their tongue, though it may take some time before they can taste it... The second is the gift of animal-speaking." -The Aunt
Most animal-speakers seem to hail from the country of Kildenree, but over the ages Kildenreans grew fearful and suspicious of those who could speak to wild things. Uncomfortable with the hostile, mistrustful glares of their countrymen and wanting to live among animals free of cages, most of Kildenree's animal-speakers moved away to live alone in the mountain forests.
Specific Types[]
Bird-Speaking
Birds generally speak the same language, though dialects may differ greatly. If a person gifted with animal-speaking watches and listens closely, they may discern the tiny differences in the sounds and movements birds make and imitate them, eventually puzzling out their meanings.
Communicating fluently in the birds' tongue takes much practice, as with any spoken language. For example, Ani spent many weeks learning the goose dialect even though she already knew swan partially because geese are noisier and use much more body movement in their language than swans do. Speakers include:
Horse-Speaking
Unlike bird-speaking, the language of horses is not verbal, but mental, similar to telepathy. Newborn colts are born knowing their own names and speak it only once at birth. If a person with the talent for animal-speaking hears the name and repeats it back to the colt, it unlocks the horse's voice in the person's mind and they will be able to speak to each other silently without anyone else hearing a sound. Speakers include:
Other Animals
The Aunt attempted to speak with other species, but found that few responded to her. She theorizes that the language of mice and other rodents is too simple for bigger creatures to understand; cats and dogs are lazy in their domestication and are too used to speaking to humans on the humans' terms; and bigger animals like wolves and deer don't care to listen or be listened to.
Balance[]
It is speculated that continually speaking the language of another species may eventually drive a creature into insanity, or at least make it easier to slip into madness. It is implied that animal-speaking may need balance to prevent this, but it is not known what language would balance it.