Herne the Hunter
Encyclopedia
In English folklore
English folklore
English folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in England over a number of centuries. Some stories can be traced back to their roots, while the origin of others is uncertain or disputed...

, Herne the Hunter is a ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...

 associated with Windsor
Windsor, Berkshire
Windsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....

 Forest and Great Park
Windsor Great Park
Windsor Great Park is a large deer park of , to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. The park was, for many centuries, the private hunting ground of Windsor Castle and dates primarily from the mid-13th century...

 in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 county of Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

. His appearance is notable in the fact that he has antler
Antler
Antlers are the usually large, branching bony appendages on the heads of most deer species.-Etymology:Antler originally meant the lowest tine, the "brow tine"...

s upon his head.

The first literary mention of Herne is in William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

's play, The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare, first published in 1602, though believed to have been written prior to 1597. It features the fat knight Sir John Falstaff, and is Shakespeare's only play to deal exclusively with contemporary Elizabethan era English middle class life...

, though there are several theories attempting to place the origins of Herne as predating any evidence for him by connecting his appearance to pagan deities or ancient archetype
Archetype
An archetype is a universally understood symbol or term or pattern of behavior, a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated...

s.

Herne has appeared in various books, TV series and other media since his first mention by Shakespeare.

The legend

For such an iconic figure, there is surprisingly little written evidence for Herne the Hunter before the 1840s.

Shakespeare as the earliest source merely describes Herne the Hunter as “a spirit” and “sometime a keeper … in Windsor forest” who is seen to “walk round about an oak, with great ragg’d horns” at midnight during winter-time.

Two hundred years later in 1792 Samuel Ireland
Samuel Ireland
Samuel Ireland , British author and engraver, is best remembered today as the chief victim of the Ireland Shakespeare forgeries created by his son, William Henry Ireland.-Early life:...

 slightly expands on Shakespeare as follows:
“The story of this Herne, who was keeper in the forest in the time of Elizabeth, runs thus: - That having committed some great offence, for which he feared to lose his situation and fall into disgrace, he was induced to hang himself on this tree.”

William Ainsworth
William Harrison Ainsworth
William Harrison Ainsworth was an English historical novelist born in Manchester. He trained as a lawyer, but the legal profession held no attraction for him. While completing his legal studies in London he met the publisher John Ebers, at that time manager of the King's Theatre, Haymarket...

’s romantic novel Windsor Castle (novel)
Windsor Castle (novel)
Windsor Castle is a novel by William Harrison Ainsworth serially published in 1842. It is a historical romance with gothic elements that depicts Henry VIII's pursuit of Anne Boleyn...

which began serialisation in 1842 contains a fictionalised account of the origins of Herne the Hunter set during the reign of Richard II
Richard II
-People:*Richard II of England , King of England.*Richard II of Normandy , Duke of Normandy*Richard II of Aquila *Richard II of Capua *A nickname for Richard M...

. This fabrication was popular with the Victorians, and has come down to the present day as being the legend.

The ghost

The earliest written account of Herne comes from Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare, first published in 1602, though believed to have been written prior to 1597. It features the fat knight Sir John Falstaff, and is Shakespeare's only play to deal exclusively with contemporary Elizabethan era English middle class life...

in 1597:
Sometime a keeper here in Windsor Forest,
Doth all the winter-time, at still midnight,
Walk round 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.
You have heard of such a spirit, and well you know
The superstitious idle-headed eld
Receiv'd, and did deliver to our age,
This tale of Herne the Hunter for a truth.
— William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor


This records several aspects of Herne's ghost which is said to have haunted Windsor Forest (covering all of East Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

 and parts of south Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....

, northeast Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

 and northwest Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

) and specifically the Great Park ever since his death. Further details have entered local folklore from reported sightings , such as those in the 1920s. He appears antlered, sometimes beneath the tree on which he was hanged, known as "Herne's Oak", but more often riding his horse, accompanied by other wild huntsmen
Wild Hunt
The Wild Hunt is an ancient folk myth prevalent across Northern, Western and Central Europe. The fundamental premise in all instances is the same: a phantasmal, spectral group of huntsmen with the accoutrements of hunting, horses, hounds, etc., in mad pursuit across the skies or along the ground,...

 and the captured souls of those he has encountered on his journey. He is thus a phantom of ill omen, particularly for the country and, specifically, the Royal Family
Royal family
A royal family is the extended family of a king or queen regnant. The term imperial family appropriately describes the extended family of an emperor or empress, while the terms "ducal family", "grand ducal family" or "princely family" are more appropriate to describe the relatives of a reigning...

. He has a phosphorescent glow and is accompanied by demon hounds
Hellhound
A hellhound is a supernatural dog, found in folklore. A wide variety of ominous or hellish supernatural dogs occur in mythologies around the world, similar to the ubiquitous dragon...

, a horned owl
Horned owl
The American horned owls and the Old World eagle-owls make up the genus Bubo, at least as traditionally described. This genus, depending on definition, contains about one or two dozen species of typical owls and is found in many parts of the world. Some of the largest living Strigiformes are in...

 and other creatures of the forest.

Herne's Oak

The supposed location of Herne's Oak was, for many years, a matter of local speculation and controversy. Some Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...

 maps show Herne's Oak a little to the north of Frogmore House
Frogmore House
Frogmore House is a 17th-century country house standing at the centre of the Frogmore Estate, amongst beautiful gardens, about a half a mile south of Windsor Castle in the Home Park at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is a Grade I listed building.-Early tenants:The original house on...

 in the Home Park
Home Park, Windsor
The Home Park, previously known as the Little Park , is a private Royal park, administered by the Crown Estate. It lies on the eastern side of Windsor Castle in the town and civil parish of Windsor, Berkshire....

 (adjoining Windsor Great Park
Windsor Great Park
Windsor Great Park is a large deer park of , to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. The park was, for many centuries, the private hunting ground of Windsor Castle and dates primarily from the mid-13th century...

). This is generally believed to be the correct site from which the oak of Shakespeare's time was felled in 1796.

In 1838, Edward Jesse claimed that a different tree in the avenue was the real Herne's Oak, and this gained in popularity especially with Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....

. This tree was blown down on 31st August 1863, and Queen Victoria had another tree planted on the same site. The Queen's tree was removed in 1906 when the avenue was replanted.

The legend of the oak was looked into by her son, King Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...

 and a new oak planted on the site of the tree that was felled in 1796.

Possible origins

Various theories have been proposed to account for the origin of the character, none of which has been proved conclusive, and the source for many of the tales told of Herne remain unknown.

In his 1929 book The History of the Devil - The Horned God of the West Herne R. Lowe Thompson suggests that "Herne" as well as other Wild Hunt
Wild Hunt
The Wild Hunt is an ancient folk myth prevalent across Northern, Western and Central Europe. The fundamental premise in all instances is the same: a phantasmal, spectral group of huntsmen with the accoutrements of hunting, horses, hounds, etc., in mad pursuit across the skies or along the ground,...

smen in European folklore
European folklore
European folklore or Western folklore refers to the folklore of the western world, especially when discussed comparatively.There is, of course, no single European culture, but nevertheless the common history of Christendom during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period has resulted in a number...

 all derive from the same ancient source, citing that "Herne" may be a cognate of the name of Gaulish deity Cernunnos
Cernunnos
Cernunnos is the conventional name given in Celtic studies to depictions of the horned god of Celtic polytheism. The name itself is only attested once, on the 1st-century Pillar of the Boatmen, but depictions of a horned or antlered figure, often seated in a "lotus position" and often associated...

 in the same way that the English "horn" is a cognate of the Latin "cornu" (see Grimm's Law
Grimm's law
Grimm's law , named for Jacob Grimm, is a set of statements describing the inherited Proto-Indo-European stops as they developed in Proto-Germanic in the 1st millennium BC...

 for more details on this linguistic feature).

Some neo-pagans such as Wiccans consider Herne to be derived from the Celtic God Cernunnos
Cernunnos
Cernunnos is the conventional name given in Celtic studies to depictions of the horned god of Celtic polytheism. The name itself is only attested once, on the 1st-century Pillar of the Boatmen, but depictions of a horned or antlered figure, often seated in a "lotus position" and often associated...

 (which they connect to the Greco-Roman god Pan). However Herne is a very localized figure not found outside Berkshire and the regions of the surrounding counties into which Windsor Forest once spread. Conversely, evidence of belief in Cernunnos has been recovered only in the region near what is now Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 and not in Britain at all.

In the Early Middle Ages
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...

, Windsor Forest was settled by heathen Angles
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...

 who worshiped their own pantheon of gods, including Woden
Woden
Woden or Wodan is a major deity of Anglo-Saxon and Continental Germanic polytheism. Together with his Norse counterpart Odin, Woden represents a development of the Proto-Germanic god *Wōdanaz....

, who was depicted as horned, rode across the night sky with his own Wild Hunt
Wild Hunt
The Wild Hunt is an ancient folk myth prevalent across Northern, Western and Central Europe. The fundamental premise in all instances is the same: a phantasmal, spectral group of huntsmen with the accoutrements of hunting, horses, hounds, etc., in mad pursuit across the skies or along the ground,...

 and hanged himself on an ash tree
Ash tree
Fraxinus is a genus flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45-65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous though a few subtropical species are evergreen. The tree's common English name, ash, goes back to the Old English æsc, while the generic name...

 in order to learn the runic alphabet
Runic alphabet
The runic alphabets are a set of related alphabets using letters known as runes to write various Germanic languages before the adoption of the Latin alphabet and for specialized purposes thereafter...

. The name Herne is not unlikely to be derived from the name Herian a name used for Woden as leader of the slain (Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

 "Einherjar") and of the Wild Hunt
Wild Hunt
The Wild Hunt is an ancient folk myth prevalent across Northern, Western and Central Europe. The fundamental premise in all instances is the same: a phantasmal, spectral group of huntsmen with the accoutrements of hunting, horses, hounds, etc., in mad pursuit across the skies or along the ground,...

. Another Wild Hunt-associated folkloric figure, King Herla
Herla
Herla or Herla King is a legendary leader of the German mythic Wild Hunt and the name from which the French term, Herlequin may have been derived...

, started as the Old English
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...

 Herla cyning, a figure that is usually said to be Woden, but was later re-imagined by Walter Map
Walter Map
Walter Map was a medieval writer of works written in Latin. Only one work is attributed to Map with any certainty: De Nugis Curialium.-Life:...

 in literature
Medieval literature
Medieval literature is a broad subject, encompassing essentially all written works available in Europe and beyond during the Middle Ages . The literature of this time was composed of religious writings as well as secular works...

 as a Brythonic
Britons (historical)
The Britons were the Celtic people culturally dominating Great Britain from the Iron Age through the Early Middle Ages. They spoke the Insular Celtic language known as British or Brythonic...

 king (see Herla
Herla
Herla or Herla King is a legendary leader of the German mythic Wild Hunt and the name from which the French term, Herlequin may have been derived...

 article) who after traveling to an Otherworld returns to find his lands inhabited by Englishmen, has a name that has also been connected to Herian and thus also possibly to Herne.

It is possible that the name Herne may originate from the Old English
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...

 hyrne or herne, the O.E. for 'horn' or 'corner'

Another view is that Herne is supposed to be the ghost of Richard Horne, a yeoman during the reign of Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

 who was caught poaching in the wood. The earliest edition of The Merry Wives of Windsor spells the name "Horne".

Music

  • Arrigo Boito
    Arrigo Boito
    Arrigo Boito , aka Enrico Giuseppe Giovanni Boito, pseudonym Tobia Gorrio, was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist and composer, best known today for his libretti, especially those for Giuseppe Verdi's operas Otello and Falstaff, and his own opera Mefistofele...

    , composing a libretto
    Libretto
    A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

     for Verdi
    Giuseppe Verdi
    Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...

    's opera Falstaff
    Falstaff (opera)
    Falstaff is an operatic commedia lirica in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, adapted by Arrigo Boito from Shakespeare's plays The Merry Wives of Windsor and scenes from Henry IV. It was Verdi's last opera, written in the composer's ninth decade, and only the second of his 26 operas to be a comedy...

    by improvising upon materials in Merry Wives and Henry IV, built the moonlit last act set in Windsor Great Park around a prank revenge played upon the amorous Falstaff by masqueraders disguised as spirits and the spectral "Black Huntsman," in whom we recognize Herne the Hunter. Carlo Prospers Defranceschi wrote a similar libretto for composer Antonio Salieri
    Antonio Salieri
    Antonio Salieri was a Venetian classical composer, conductor and teacher born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, but who spent his adult life and career as a faithful subject of the Habsburg monarchy....

     that specifically mentions Herne.
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...

    ' opera Sir John in Love
    Sir John in Love
    Sir John in Love is an opera in four acts by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. The libretto, by the composer himself, is based on Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor. Vaughan Williams originally titled his opera The Fat Knight...

    , an adaptation of Shakespeare's Merry wives, feature an impersonation of Herne the Hunter to misguide Falstaff
    Falstaff
    Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare. In the two Henry IV plays, he is a companion to Prince Hal, the future King Henry V. A fat, vain, boastful, and cowardly knight, Falstaff leads the apparently wayward Prince Hal into trouble, and is...

    .
  • 'The Legend of Herne the Hunter' was part of Sir Arthur Sullivan's
    Arthur Sullivan
    Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...

     ballet Victoria and Merrie England
    Victoria and Merrie England
    Victoria and Merrie England is an 1897 ballet by Arthur Sullivan, written to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee – a remarkable sixty years on the throne. The ballet became very popular and ran for nearly six months.-Background:...

    of 1897, which portrayed various scenes from British folklore and history.
  • In the light opera Merrie England
    Merrie England
    Merrie England may also refer to:*Merry England, an idealised conception pastoral English life*Merrie England , a book of essays on socialism by Robert Blatchford* Merrie England , a comic opera by Edward German...

    by Sir Edward German (1902), the librettist Basil Hood
    Basil Hood
    Basil Willett Charles Hood was a British librettist and lyricist, perhaps best known for writing the libretti of half a dozen Savoy Operas and for his English adaptations of operettas, including The Merry Widow. He embarked on a career in the British army, writing theatrical pieces in his spare...

     introduces another impersonation of Herne as a device to induce a change of heart in Queen Elizabeth I.
  • One of the earliest recordings by British progressive rock band Marillion
    Marillion
    Marillion are a British rock band, formed in Aylesbury, England in 1979. Their recorded studio output comprises sixteen albums generally regarded in two distinct eras, delineated by the departure of original vocalist & frontman Fish in late 1988, and the subsequent arrival of replacement Steve...

     is an instrumental song titled Herne the Hunter based on the legend.
  • Herne the Hunter features in the lyrics of the song English Fire by Cradle of Filth
    Cradle of Filth
    Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band, formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic black metal, and other extreme metal styles, while their lyrical themes and imagery are heavily...

     on their album Nymphetamine
    Nymphetamine
    Nymphetamine is the sixth album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth, released on September 28, 2004. Nymphetamine marks the first recorded appearance of guitarist James McIlroy on a Cradle of Filth album. He would later record guitar for the band's 2010 release Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa...

    .
  • On the 2008 Album, "Blessings" by S.J. Tucker a song is titled "Hymn To Herne.
  • Singer-songwriter Kenny Klein has written and recorded two different songs about the legend of Herne, one of which, "Herne's Oak," is featured on the soundtrack of the documentary "Deep Down: A Story From The Heart" by Jen Gilomen and Sally Rubin.
  • In 2011 the Pagan Metal band Herne released an album called 'Face of the Hunter' "inspired by the 1980s TV series 'Robin of Sherwood'", with the album intro describing the famous falling whole tone motif that occurs in each episode.

Literature

  • William Harrison Ainsworth
    William Harrison Ainsworth
    William Harrison Ainsworth was an English historical novelist born in Manchester. He trained as a lawyer, but the legal profession held no attraction for him. While completing his legal studies in London he met the publisher John Ebers, at that time manager of the King's Theatre, Haymarket...

    's Victorian
    Victorian era
    The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

     romance of Windsor Castle featured Herne and popularised him.
  • Herne the Hunter appears in Susan Cooper
    Susan Cooper
    Susan Mary Cooper is an English author best known for The Dark Is Rising, an award-winning five-volume saga set in and around England and Wales. The books incorporate traditional British mythology, such as Arthurian and other Welsh elements with original material ; these books were adapted into a...

    's The Dark Is Rising sequence where he plays a key part in the end of the book by the same name and the series' ending Silver on the Tree.
  • Herne the Hunted is a parody of Herne the Hunter in Terry Pratchett
    Terry Pratchett
    Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...

    's Discworld
    Discworld
    Discworld is a comic fantasy book series by English author Sir Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which, in turn, stand on the back of a giant turtle, Great A'Tuin. The books frequently parody, or at least take inspiration from, J. R. R....

    series. He is a small god and the patron of those animals destined to end up as a "brief, crunchy squeak."
  • Herne the Hunter is a key figure in Ruth Nichols
    Ruth Nichols (author)
    Joanna Ruth Nichols is a Canadian author, primarily of children's literature and historical fiction. She wrote her first published novel, A Walk Out of the World, at age 18.-Education:...

    ' children's novel The Marrow of the World. His character has no supernatural attributes.
  • English Poet Laureate
    Poet Laureate
    A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...

     John Masefield
    John Masefield
    John Edward Masefield, OM, was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until his death in 1967...

     included Herne the Hunter as a benevolent 'spirit of the woodlands' in his children's book The Box of Delights
    The Box of Delights
    The Box of Delights is a children's fantasy novel by John Masefield. It is a sequel to The Midnight Folk, and was first published in 1935.-Plot summary :...

    .
  • Herne made an appearance in the Bitterbynde
    Bitterbynde
    The Bitterbynde is a fantasy trilogy by Australian writer Cecilia Dart-Thornton. It comprises The Ill-Made Mute, The Lady of the Sorrows, and The Battle of Evernight....

     trilogy by Cecilia Dart-Thornton
    Cecilia Dart-Thornton
    Cecilia Dart-Thornton is an Australian author of fantasy novels, most notably the Bitterbynde Trilogy.-Biography:Cecilia Dart-Thornton was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, graduating from Monash University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology. She became a schoolteacher before...

    . In these books Herne is portrayed as a powerful "unseelie wight" by the name of Huon who leads his hellhounds in search of the main protagonist.
  • Herne the Hunter appears as a supporting character in Simon Green's Nightside series. He actually appears on the cover of "Hex and the City" (Book 4), although his role in the actual novel is rather inconsequential.
  • Herne the Hunter is one of the main antagonists in C. E. Murphy
    C. E. Murphy
    C. E. Murphy is an American born author that writes in the fantasy and romance genres. She is the author of the Walker Papers series, The Negotiator Trilogy, and the Inheritor's Cycle as well as The Strongbox Chronicles which were written under a pseudonym. She has also written the graphic novel...

    's Urban Shaman.
  • Herne is the Deer God in the book Fire Bringer
    Fire Bringer
    Fire Bringer is a young adult fantasy novel by David Clement-Davies published in 1999 in the United Kingdom and 2000 in the United States.- Plot :...

    , by David Clement-Davies
    David Clement-Davies
    David Clement-Davies is a British writer of fantasy fiction. He is best known as the author of the animal fantasy books The Sight, Fire Bringer and Fell .- Biography :...

  • Herne the Hunter, also named as Cenneros, is a character in Michael Scott's series of The Alchemist, the Immortal Secrets of Nicholas Flammel.

Other references

  • Herne was incorporated into the Robin Hood
    Robin Hood
    Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....

     legend in the 1984 television series, Robin of Sherwood
    Robin of Sherwood
    Robin of Sherwood , was a British television series, based on the legend of Robin Hood. Created by Richard Carpenter, it was produced by HTV in association with Goldcrest, and ran from 1984 to 1986 on the ITV network. In America it was retitled Robin Hood and shown on the premium cable TV channel...

    . In it, Robin of Loxley is called by Herne to take on the mantle of 'the Hooded Man', which Robin's father had predicted beforehand. It is Herne who encourages Loxley to become 'Robin o' the Hood' and to use his band of outlaws
    Merry Men
    The Merry Men are the group of outlaws who followed Robin Hood, according to English folklore. An early use of the phrase "merry men" occurs in the oldest known Robin Hood ballad, "Robin Hood and the Monk", which survives in a manuscript completed around 1450. The word "merry" in this and other...

     to fight for good against the evil Norman
    Normans
    The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...

     oppressors. Herne's appearance bears a very strong resemblance to the illustrations that previously depicted him, in that an otherwise unnamed shaman character, portrayed by actor John Abineri
    John Abineri
    John Abineri was an English actor.Born in London, he attended the Old Vic drama school and described himself as "Well educated from the age of five to eighteen"...

    , dons a stag's head and tells Robin that, while wearing it, he becomes the spirit of the forest. Herne featured in 17 of the 26 episodes of the series and was shown to have various magical abilities. The series' adaptation of the Robin Hood mythos has become extremely influential and many of its brand-new elements have since been reinterpreted in a manner of different ways in nearly all of the subsequent films and television series of the legend.
  • Herne the Hunter is also featured as a guiding character in John Masefield
    John Masefield
    John Edward Masefield, OM, was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until his death in 1967...

    's novel The Box of Delights
    The Box of Delights
    The Box of Delights is a children's fantasy novel by John Masefield. It is a sequel to The Midnight Folk, and was first published in 1935.-Plot summary :...

    and the 1984 BBC TV adaptation.
  • Herne the Hunter is Monster in My Pocket
    Monster in My Pocket
    Monster in my Pocket is a media franchise developed by Morrison Entertainment Group, headed by Joe Morrison and John Weems ....

     #59.
  • Herne is a deer-headed guide in Ursula Vernon
    Ursula Vernon
    Ursula Vernon is a freelance writer, artist and illustrator. She is best known for the webcomic Digger and the children's books Dragonbreath and Nurk: The Strange, Surprising Adventures of a Brave Shrew...

    's webcomic Digger.
  • Herne is a forest spirit in issue #26 of the Green Arrow
    Green Arrow
    Green Arrow is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, he first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 in November 1941. His secret identity is Oliver Queen, billionaire and former mayor of fictional Star City...

     comic book series.
  • In the 2004 console game The Bard's Tale
    The Bard's Tale (2004)
    The Bard's Tale is an action-role playing game video game created by InXile Entertainment, and released in 2004. Marketed as a humorous spoof on fantasy role-playing video games , it has more in common with modern console games like Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance.The Bard's Tale was released for the...

    , Herne is one of the three guardians of the towers.
  • In The Elder Scrolls
    The Elder Scrolls
    The Elder Scrolls is a role-playing video game series developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks.-History:...

    , a role-playing video game series, the Daedric Prince Hircine is very similar to Herne, as a deer-headed hunter spirit. His servants are called Hernes.
  • In 2010, Herne the Hunter appeared in the Big Finish Doctor Who
    Doctor Who
    Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...

    audio adventure Leviathan, a 'lost' story from the Colin Baker
    Colin Baker
    Colin Baker is a British actor who is known for playing Paul Merroney in The Brothers from 1974 to 1976 and as the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, from 1984 to 1986.- Background:Colin Baker was born in London, but moved north to...

     years (an unproduced script from the 1980s).
  • In Lesley Livingston's 2008 debut novel, Wondrous Strange
    Wondrous Strange
    Wondrous Strange a teen fantasy novel and the first book by author Lesley Livingston. It was published in trade paperback on January 13, 2009 by HarperCollins Canada, Ltd.-Plot:This novel follows teenage aspiring actress Kelley Winslow to New York City...

    , Herne is an ancient hunter and former lover of Queen Mabh who now owns the Tavern on the Green
    Tavern on the Green
    Tavern on the Green was a privately owned American cuisine restaurant located in Central Park on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, in New York City. It remained in operation from 1934 to 2009 under various owners...

     in Central Park
    Central Park
    Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...

    , New York City
    New York City
    New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

    .
  • A person playing Herne the Hunter appears in comic book Hellboy: The Wild Hunt
    Hellboy: The Wild Hunt
    Hellboy: The Wild Hunt is the ninth collected edition in Mike Mignola's Hellboy comic book series, the second of three connected story arcs written by Mignola and illustrated by Duncan Fegredo...

    .
  • Herne the Hunter appears in Susan Cooper
    Susan Cooper
    Susan Mary Cooper is an English author best known for The Dark Is Rising, an award-winning five-volume saga set in and around England and Wales. The books incorporate traditional British mythology, such as Arthurian and other Welsh elements with original material ; these books were adapted into a...

    's novel The Dark is Rising.
  • The Danish band Wuthering Heights
    Wuthering Heights (band)
    Wuthering Heights is a Danish heavy metal band, with a somewhat eclectic musical style which falls in somewhere between progressive, folk, and power metal.- Biography :...

     published a song called "Longing For The Woods Part III: Herne's Prophecy" on their album Far From The Madding Crowd
    Far from the Madding Crowd (album)
    Far from the Madding Crowd is the third full-length album by Danish band Wuthering Heights. The title is taken from the novel by Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd, though the subject matter of the songs themselves has little to do with the content of the novel, having more in common with the...

     in 2004, and Erik Ravn also said "Herne protect you!" at the end of their live show at the ProgPower
    ProgPower USA
    ProgPower USA is a progressive and power metal festival held annually in the United States since 2001. Its twelfth edition will be held at Center Stage in Atlanta, Georgia on September 14 – September 17, 2011, with Sanctuary and Therion as headliners....

     festival in Atlanta, GA in the summer of 2004. Their style of writing can, in general, be related to themes similar to those of Herne The Hunter as well.

See also

  • Cernunnos
    Cernunnos
    Cernunnos is the conventional name given in Celtic studies to depictions of the horned god of Celtic polytheism. The name itself is only attested once, on the 1st-century Pillar of the Boatmen, but depictions of a horned or antlered figure, often seated in a "lotus position" and often associated...

  • Green Man
    Green Man
    A Green Man is a sculpture, drawing, or other representation of a face surrounded by or made from leaves. Branches or vines may sprout from the nose, mouth, nostrils or other parts of the face and these shoots may bear flowers or fruit...

  • Horned God
    Horned God
    The Horned God is one of the two primary deities found in some European pagan religions. He is often given various names and epithets, and represents the male part of the religion's duotheistic theological system, the other part being the female Triple Goddess. In common Wiccan belief, he is...

  • Hunting
    Hunting
    Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...

  • Jack in the green
    Jack in the green
    A Jack in the Green is a participant in traditional English May Day parades and other May celebrations, who wears a large, foliage-covered, garland-like framework, usually pyramidal or conical in shape, which covers his body from head to foot...

  • Wild Hunt
    Wild Hunt
    The Wild Hunt is an ancient folk myth prevalent across Northern, Western and Central Europe. The fundamental premise in all instances is the same: a phantasmal, spectral group of huntsmen with the accoutrements of hunting, horses, hounds, etc., in mad pursuit across the skies or along the ground,...

  • Woden
    Woden
    Woden or Wodan is a major deity of Anglo-Saxon and Continental Germanic polytheism. Together with his Norse counterpart Odin, Woden represents a development of the Proto-Germanic god *Wōdanaz....


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK