A lot of stories have been told about the Easter chocolate eggs that are used in egg hunts. As a tradition, those Easter eggs are a big part of Easter Sunday celebration. Children and even some adults hunt those eggs down as a form of celebration of the Holy Week. Easter egg hunts are part of the normal celebrations that people have for this holiday season. And since it is such a huge part of the celebrations that people have over Easter, it is no wonder that there are a lot of stories and legends about the origins of these Easter eggs. Many different folk tales have been spun regarding where these chocolate eggs supposedly came from.
There is a legend in most European countries, such as France, that the Easter bells do not ring for the full Holy Week. The bells do not continue to ring from Good Friday to Easter Sunday. This is because a legend has said that the bell ringers have to go to Rome where they can get more Easter eggs. They will then spread those Easter eggs on their return from Rome. This is supposedly where all of the Easter eggs that can be hunted down on Sunday, are from. All of the chocolate Easter eggs that are part of the Easter egg hunt are spread by the bell ringers who get them from Rome.
In other European countries, such as Germany, there is actually another legend for where these chocolate eggs supposedly came from. One of those legends is that an invisible white colored bunny comes and hides them. This is probably one of the most famous folk tales about Easter eggs. This is mainly due to the fact that the Easter Bunny is one of the most recognizable Easter-related figures around the world. And the Easter Bunny is probably heavily influenced by the German folk tale of the Easter egg hunt.
Other countries actually also have a different folk tale origin for the Easter eggs as well. Countries, such as England, Alsace, and the United States, have a rabbit that hides and shares the Easter Eggs. There are even some countries, such as Thuringia, that have an Easter stork! Switzerland has got a cuckoo clock that hides the Easter eggs. A lot of countries seem to have the Bunny or Hare as the Easter animal, because in ages past the hare was a symbol of fertility.
There are also a lot of historical explanations for why Easter eggs are actually painted in bright colors. For example, the ancient Egyptians used to dye and paint their eggs, because colorful eggs were another symbol of fertility. This same practice was also done in Persia around 3000 BC. Thus, it is pretty obvious that the use of colorful eggs for fertility and life festivals, which is what Easter basically is, actually dates backs thousands of years in the past, even before Christian-times. You could say that for a Christian holiday, Easter actually has a lot of roots in pagan rituals.