[Lottie]

I have searched to see if a thread similar to this exists on UM and found nothing. If there has been a thread already than apologies.. I find this legend very interesting especially as I live not so far away from where it apparently took place.


'Herne' was one of the keepers of the 'Forest of Windsor' in the reign of 'King Richard II' and known for his great hunting and woodcraft skills. Whilst King Richard favoured Herne his fellow hunters it is said hated him and plotted to cause Herne's downfall.

One day the royal party were out on a hunt the king was nearly killed when attacked by a stag. Herne stepped in to help the king taking the main blow and fell to the floor. He seemed to be dead. Suddenly a dark figure appeared amongst the party and announced himself as 'Philip Urswick'. He then proceeded to inform the king that for a reward he would cure Herne.

After cutting the head off the stag and binding it to Herne's head, the party took Herne to Urswick's own hut which was located on 'Bagshot Heath'. Urswick vowed that he would take great care of Herne. King Richard then announced that if Herne recovered he would promote Herne to be the chief keeper.

Unbeknown to the king the other hunters were later in contact with Urswick and told him of their loathing for the favoured keeper announcing that they were disappointed that he had not died in the incident. Urswick promised the hunters revenge but only if his first wish and the reward was granted. He told them that Herne would recover but would loose all his hunting skills. Satisfied with his answer, the hunters agreed.

Keeping his promise to the king it seemed, Urswick soon had Herne returned to court whereupon he was promoted to chief keeper. Herne seemed to have recovered thoroughly until it became apparent that his hunting skills had disappeared. The king was extremely disappointed with Herne revoked the promotion. It is said that this is the reason why Herne, being so grieved by the king's actions, hanged himself from an Oak tree in Windsor forest. His body disappeared under suspicious circumstances.

Urswick did not reveal the charm that he had cast upon Herne to the king. A new chief hunter was appointed but he too, once promoted, lost his skill. The same happened to his successor too. Urswick was asked to remove the charm. Before making any agreement, Urswick informed the hunters that they would have to meet him at the Oak. Once there they would be told what had to be done to dispel the charm.

The group of hunters arrived at the Oak as asked and after waiting a short time Urswick appeared. He told the them that Herne's death was on each of them and that horses and hounds should be brought to the oak the next night. Agreeing they made preparations and returned to the forest. On reaching the Oak Herne appeared on a horse and told them to follow him to another area of the forest. Herne took the party to a Beech tree and whilst there Urswick suddenly appeared out of the tree covered in flames. Herne had summoned Urswick to appear. Urswick then made the party swear an oath to Herne that they would form a band of hunters with Herne as their leader to dispel the charm.
Urswick's promise had been satisfied and the hunters became a faithful if not loving band of men loyal to Herne. For many nights the group would raid the forest taking deer until very few were left. King Richard came to learn of their pursuits, and decided to make a visit to he oak. He was angry and desired revenge upon the men.

Once there Herne appeared to the king and learnt of his anger. Herne listened and said that if the king wished him to leave the forest, taking his power with him, the king would have to agree to a request. Doubtless Herne wanted revenge upon his enemies who had desired his death. The king agreed to his request, and the group of men were hanged. Herne was then never seen again.

It is reputed though that Herne returned and reigned supreme, taking control of the forest of Windsor for eight years after the death of King Richard.

Many versions of the Herne legend exist. Some say that Herne hanged himself after committing a terrible crime, whilst another tells of a forest demon that takes on his appearance. The demon is said to place stag horns on its head haunting the forest still trying to convince keepers that it is Herne and that they should sell their souls to him.

'The Merry Wives of Windsor' : William Shakespeare

'There is an old tale goes, that Herne the hunter,
Sometime a keeper here in Windsor forest,
Doth all the winter time at still midnight,
Walk around about an oak, with great ragg'd horns;
And there he blasts the tree, and takes the cattle;
And makes milch-kine yield blood, and shakes a chain
In a most hideous and dreadful manner.'


'Why, yet there want not many, that do fear
In deep of night to walk by this Herne's oak.'


On August 31 1863 the famous Windsor Oak fell from natural causes, but was soon replaced by a new young Oak tree by Queen Victoria on the same spot.

Source:Mystical World Wide Web

This post has been edited by Lottie: 26 May 2004 - 12:52 PM

[Lottie]

Also found this article for anyone interested...

In Search of Herne the Hunter by Eric Fitch.

The Herne the Hunter legend runs deep in the Anglo-Celtic mythos. It's suspected that Cernunnos became Cern, and then linguistic drift shortened and softened it to Hern. It is therefore highly probable that these two horned gods -- Herne and Cernunnos -- are related. Cernunnos was worshipped by Celts all across Europe as late as the first century AD, and his worship most likely goes back centuries before that. Cernunnos is a Roman name meaning Horned One -- just like the later Herne. The images of both beings are remarkably congruous. His main attributes are his horns, those of a stag. He is usually represented as a grown man with long hair and a beard. The antlers that grow from his head are best described as those of a small stag. The Celtic-inclined neo-pagans have adopted him as one of their deities. He often forms half of The Lord and The Lady in neo-pagan mythology. And Richard Carpenter used him as the protector of Sherwood Forest and of Robin Hood himself in his Robin of Sherwood television programme. Robert Graves even speculated that Robin Hood himself was a variant on Herne. And Margaret Murray, in her 1931 tome The God of the Witches, argued that Robin was a manifestation of The Horned God, i.e., Herne.

Lastly, it should be noted that Herne becomes part of The Wild Hunt in some variants of that legend. As Jo Morrison noted in her review of Jane Yolen's The Wild Hunt, it "...is a common story of mythologies throughout Europe, with similar themes occurring in other cultures' mythologies as well. Interpretations on the symbolism of the horned master riding through the forests, leading a pack of wild dogs and a tree-like figure, vary. It is seen by some to be representing the changing of the seasons or the arrival of winter. Christian influences have added the interpretation of a cleansing of the bad from the good. In all interpretations, the main focus is on the chaos, the noise, the excitement, and the great fear such a spectacle evokes. It is an awe-inspiring and frightening scene, full of uncertainty." In this mythos, Herne often becomes literally a tree man as Yolen depicts him.

Eric Fitch's book is concerned with the Herne myth associated with Windsor Forest. An everlasting legend of Herne the Hunter has been connected with Windsor Forest for at least four centuries, and may quite possibly have been part of the local traditional lore in medieval times. It concerns the spectre of a man named Herne who is said to have been one of the keepers of the Forest during his lifetime. Because of some crime he had committed, varying in different accounts from poaching to witchcraft, he fell into very serious trouble, and eventually hanged himself upon an oak tree in the Forest which was afterwards known as Herne's Oak. His resurrection as Herne was made possible by a stranger who granted him immortal life in exchange for his hunting skills. His spectre now rides in Windsor Forest, sounding his horn and riding with his pack of hounds. The guards at Windsor Castle even see him from time to time!

In Search of Herne the Hunter is a slim volume, barely 160 pages long, but it does a more than adequate job of documenting the Windsor Forest version of the Herne the Hunter legend. Fitch commences with a detailed introduction to the Herne tale, complete with its relationship to Windsor Forest, including a look at the actual oak on which Herne hanged himself. (Mind you, the oak was felled over two centuries ago, which is why the hauntings were supposed to have ceased until Herne's Oak II was planted in 1906.) He then proceeds to look at how the Herne myth predated the Windsor myth. [One of the charming aspects of the Windsor variant on the Herne myth is its very late origin, dating from 'bout 1525. This is certainly a unique approach to claiming a legend as one's own.] He gives quite a bit of coverage to the long, long tradition of people in the British Isles dressing up in animal skins and wearing antlers. He clearly understands that the Windsor legend is just a variant upon the much older legend.

Fitch finishes his look at this legend by documenting this Herne the Hunter in some detail. Photographs (no, not of Herne!) and illustrations document the long history of this legend. Detailed appendices cover all aspects, including a timeline of events related to this legend, a look at the nineteenth-century opera on the Windsor legend, and a look at how the Celtic-inclined neo-pagans have 'adopted' Herne the Hunter. I thought as a collector of Anglo-Celtic myths and legends that I knew almost everything about the Herne the Hunter legend, but this make was both informative and entertaining. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in this subject.

Source:Eric Fitch, In Search of Herne the Hunter

[Falco Rex]

Interesting legend, Lottie..It sounds like a variation of the Wild Hunt stories I've heard from some Wiccans..

[Fairie]

Thank you so much for doing this thread, I've heard a couple of stories about people seeing the ghost of Herne, but I never found the full legend of who he was, you've just solved a little mystery for me.

[Wild_Woman]

could anybody please tell me about the wild hunt legends. i've read about them somewhere, but could you please tell me more?

[Falco Rex]

I've heard that it was a ritual started by the early Druids. They performed a ceremony that would summon an entity called the Huntmaster,who may have been an aspect of the Horned God. I believe he also had a pack of dogs with him. The Huntmaster would then lead the Druids on a "Wild Hunt" through the countryside hunting down and killing whatever prey they could find whether it was animal or human.
This sounds to me a lot like the Cult of Dionysus from Greek and Roman times only without the drinking and orgies..

[Starlyte]

Here is some historical info. regarding Cernunnos aka Herne the Hunter:

"The Horned One" is a Celtic god of fertility, life, animals, wealth, and the underworld. He was worshipped all over Gaul, and his cult spread into Britain as well. Cernunnos is depicted with the antlers of a stag, sometimes carries a purse filled with coin. The Horned God is born at the winter solstice, marries the goddess at Beltane, and dies at the summer solstice. He alternates with the goddess of the moon in ruling over life and death, continuing the cycle of death, rebirth and reincarnation.

Paleolithic cave paintings found in France that depict a stag standing upright or a man dressed in stag costume seem to indicate that Cernunnos' origins date to those times. Romans sometimes portrayed him with three cranes flying above his head. Known to the Druids as Hu Gadarn. God of the underworld and astral planes. The consort of the great goddess. He was often depicted holding a bag of money, or accompanied by a ram-headed serpent and a stag. Most notably is the famous Gundestrup cauldron discovered in Denmark.




ARTICLE LINK

[tendo]

the part where it said that they formed a loyal, almost loving group of hunters who went around the forest...doesnt that sound a bit like robin hood as well?