29th January
Herne the Hunter
Source: Herne the Hunter on Craiyon
On this day in 1906, the ancient tree, Herne’s Oak was replanted in Windsor Park, Berkshire. According to legend, Herne was a skilled hunter who saved the life of King Henry VIII by placing himself between the monarch and a charging stag. Herne was made Henry’s chief huntsman as a reward, but jealous gossip ultimately led to the hero’s dismissal from the king’s service. A distraught Herne then killed himself. But his story did not end there. In death, Herne transformed in a giant stag-masked hunting god, and has haunted the woods of Windsor Park ever since, leading phantom hounds in a never-ending pursuit of spectral stags. Herne was believed to be real enough, appearing in Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor to terrify a drink-addled Falstaff. The unwary are advised to flee at the sight of Herne, whose bow has been known to seek human victims as well as the creatures of the forest.
Herne is almost certainly a Tudor memory of the Celtic god of the Underworld, the winter deity, stag-headed Cernunnos. The god’s manifestation, like that of Herne, is best avoided by mortals.