Green Man sculpture by Tawny Gray at the Custard Factory, Birmingham, England, photographed by Valiantis, Wikipedia “Green Man (Folklore)” licensed under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

(17) GREEN MAN

It’s not easy being green – the Green Man, Jack in the Green, Green Knight…

“The Green Man, also known as a foliate head, is a motif in architecture and art, of a face made of, or completely surrounded by, foliage, which normally spreads out from the centre of the face. Apart from a purely decorative function, the Green Man is primarily interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, representing the cycle of new growth that occurs every spring.”

It has been argued as “related to natural vegetation deities” or even to represent “a pagan mythological figure” surviving in medieval art and architecture, but sadly the latter is a recent argument not supported by evidence.

However, “the Green Man is a term with a variety of connotations in folklore” – “During the early modern period in England and sometimes elsewhere, the figure of a man dressed in a foliage costume, and usually carrying a club, was a variant of the broader European motif of the Wild Man (also known as wild man of the woods, or woodwose). By at least the 16th century, the term “green man” was used in England for a man who was covered in leaves, foliage including moss as part of a pageant, parade or ritual”.

Hence the argument of the survival of a pagan mythological figure – by Lady Raglan in 1939 – which proposed a kind of Green Man Grand Unification Theory of the Green Man (including its frequent use as a name for pubs), the Jack in the Green folk costume and May Day celebrations.

And that’s just getting started – “The Green Man has been asserted by some authors to be a recurring theme in literature…the figures of Robin Hood and Peter Pan are associated with a Green Man, as is that of the Green Knight”.

RATING:

X-TIER (WILD TIER)

Cernunnos or at least a similar figure on the Bronze Age Gundestrup Cauldron (public domain)

(16) HORNED GOD & SACRED KING

“He is the laughter in the woods.”

Pan and Cernunnos may be the most famous or iconic (the former more so) but there are more horned deities, particularly if you include deities that are represented or symbolized by horned animals.

“Deities depicted with horns or antlers are found in numerous religions across the world. Horned animals, such as bulls, goats, and rams, may be worshiped as deities or serve as inspiration for a deity’s appearance in religions that venerate animal gods”.

Like the Triple Goddess, modern witchcraft and neopaganism have adapted the horned deities of paganism to the Horned God, representing the male aspects of divinity and second only to the Triple Goddess, typically as her consort among other roles.

“The Theme, briefly, is the antique story, which falls into thirteen chapters and an epilogue, of the birth, life, death and resurrection of the God of the Waxing Year; the central chapters concern the God’s losing battle with the God of the Waning Year for love of the capricious and all-powerful Threefold Goddess, their mother, bride and layer-out. The poet identifies himself with the God of the Waxing Year and his Muse with the Goddess; the rival is his blood-brother, his other self, his weird.”

Of course, supernatural horned beings are depicted much more negatively in Christianity, with the devil and other demons typically as horned (or is that horny)? Interestingly, there are the occasional exceptions, with no less than Moses famously said to be or depicted as “horned” upon being radiant or glorified by God. That is usually attributed to mistranslation but has recurred throughout artistic depictions of him, including by Michelangelo.

“The Horned God has been explored within several psychological theories and has become a recurrent theme in fantasy literature” – with my favorite example of the latter being the titular Horned God in “Slaine: The Horned God” by Pat Mills.

And then there’s the mythic figure of the sacred king, overlapping with that of the horned god, at least in modern paganism and a recurring theme in fantasy.

“In many historical societies, the position of kingship carried a sacral meaning and was identical with that of a high priest and judge…The monarch may be divine, become divine, or represent divinity to a greater or lesser extent.”

The figure of the sacred king was famously propounded by Sir James George Frazer in The Golden Bough – behold the monomyth of the sacrificial sacred king!

“A sacred king, according to the systematic interpretation of mythology developed by Frazer in The Golden Bough…was a king who represented a solar deity in a periodically re-enacted fertility rite. Frazer seized upon the notion of a substitute king and made him the keystone of his theory of a universal, pan-European, and indeed worldwide fertility myth, in which a consort for the Goddess was annually replaced. According to Frazer, the sacred king represented the spirit of vegetation…came into being in the spring, reigned during the summer, and ritually died at harvest time, only to be reborn at the winter solstice to wax and rule again. The spirit of vegetation was therefore a ‘dying and reviving god’. Osiris, Dionysus, Attis and many other familiar figures from Greek mythology and classical antiquity were reinterpreted in this mold…The sacred king, the human embodiment of the dying and reviving vegetation god, was supposed to have originally been an individual chosen to rule for a time, but whose fate was to suffer as a sacrifice, to be offered back to the earth so that a new king could rule for a time in his stead.”

RATING:

X-TIER (WILD TIER)

Quetzalcoatl – or Kukulkan – as depicted in the Smite video game. There’s not many depictions of Papa Legba.

(15) QUETZALCOATL & PAPA LEGBA

I felt that these pantheons needed some representation in the special mentions for my top mythological heroes – and these two deities seemed to me to be the most heroic of their respective pantheons, Aztec and voodoo, albeit there’s not many heroic choices in pantheons that often seem villainous or at least alien.

Also, how can you not have a soft spot for the name of Quetzalcoatl? It sounds cool – so much so that I like quipping my middle initial stands for it – and what’s more, it IS cool, meaning “feathered serpent”. Also, it absolutely rules at Scrabble.

“A major deity in Aztec and other Mesoamerican cultures, revered as the god of wind, wisdom, learning, the priesthood, and creation, often depicted as a serpent with feathers, symbolizing the connection between earth and sky, and representing life, death, and rebirth. He was associated with the planet Venus (as the morning/evening star), invented the calendar and books, and was a benevolent force, though his myths also involve exile and prophesied return, influencing early interactions with Spanish conquistadors.”

He can apparently be traced back to earlier Meso-American origins – among the Mayans under the less evocative (and Scrabble-winning) name of Kukulkan, or more controversially, even to a legendary Toltec ruler by the name of Ce Acatl Topiltzin. Even more controversially are those Spanish sources identifying Quetzalcoatl with St Thomas the apostle – or that the Aztecs identified Cortes with prophecies of the deity’s return.

I particularly like him because he is the least sacrificial of the Aztec gods, although sources vary as to whether he was opposed to human sacrifice or just had less of it.

Papa Legba is a loa or lwa in voodoo, “acting as the gatekeeper and intermediary between the human and spirit worlds, invoked first in ceremonies to open communication with other spirits. He is depicted as an old man with a cane, associated with crossroads, communication, and passage, symbolizing wisdom and the ability to remove obstacles, though sometimes appearing as a trickster.”

He scores bonus points for being commonly associated with dogs.

RATING:

A-TIER (TOP TIER)

Collage of hook illustrations in the public domain – Cu Chulainn in Battle, illustration by J.C. Leyendecker in T.W. Rolleston’s Myths & Legends of the Celts 1911 (left) and Fionn Fighting Aillen, illustration by Beatrice Elvery in Violet Russell’s Heroes of the Dawn 1914 (right)

(14) CU CHULAINN & FINN MCCOOL

Cu Chulainn had me at warp spasm – and Finn McCool had me at the best name for a heroic protagonist outside of, well, Hiro Protagonist.

Mind you, Cu Chulainn also scores bonus points with me for being literally named for a dog – the hound of Culann (after “killing a fierce guard dog” as a child and “offering to take its place until a replacement could be reared”).

Cu Chulainn “is an Irish warrior hero and demigod in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, as well as in Scottish and Manx folklore…believed to be an incarnation of the Irish god Lugh”. Like Achilles, whom he resembles to a substantial extent, “it was prophesied that his great deeds would give him everlasting fame, but that his life would be short”.

By warp spasm, I’m referring to the “terrifying battle frenzy” for which he is known – “in which he becomes an unrecognisable monster who knows neither friend nor foe”. Like all true warrior heroes, he died in battle – and on his feet, binding himself to a standing stone so that he would remain on his feet until the end.

I can’t help but think of Cu Chulainn as the Conan of Irish mythology – both figuratively and literally, the latter as inspiration for Robert E. Howard’s Conan. That’s my speculation, based on my understanding that Robert E. Howard based Conan’s Cimmerian ethnicity on Celtic models.

Pat Mills’ barbarian Irish hero Slaine was definitely based in part on Cu Chulainn, but also from other sources of Irish mythology.

Speaking of which, Finn McCool is an anglicization of the less distinctive Fionn mac Cumhaill or Finn mac Cumhaill, the latter surname also a potential target for contemporary adolescent humor. He was the central figure of the Fianna Cycle or Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology – “the leader of the Fianna bands of young roving hunter-warriors, as well as being a seer and poet”.

RATING:

A-TIER (TOP TIER)

Lao Tzu as depicted in Judge Dredd (prog 577, “The Sage”). Spoiler alert – the Tao doesn’t do too well against the Law

(13) LAO TZU / LAOZI

The legendary founder of Taoism and the author of its foundational text, the Tao Te Ching.

What I particularly like is that he just jotted down as a literal afterthought or postscript, at the request of a city sentry to record his wisdom for the good of the kingdom before being permitted to pass – before literally riding off into the sunset on a mystical water buffalo because he was that awesome.

Of course, that is probably pure legend in every respect, including the historicity of Laozi himself, but who cares when it’s that cool? And it’s apt enough for the source of Taoism, with its emphases on living in balance, naturalness, spontaneity, simplicity and detachment from desire – particularly living in the moment and wu wei, or the art of doing nothing effectively.

If only there had been some law requiring any foundational religious text be written by its founder like a university exam – within a prescribed time limit of an hour, or two at most.

Surely that would eliminate much of the source of religious conflict, which at heart often seems to be wars of literary interpretation. My book is better than your book. All those long rambling religious texts – really, less is more. Of course, that would also eliminate most, if not almost all religious books.

RATING:

A-TIER (TOP TIER)