Some hints for Europe and Diaspora issue 3

New cover art for The Antlered one Youtube courtesy of our member Rhi

Erlkönig, also known as the Erlking or Alder King. Is a king of the elves and spirit of the black forest. His daughters are often said to lure men similar to a siren and he himself takes the starring role in a poem by Goethe. He is described as beautiful and bewitching and attempts to spirit away and in some cases kill children. In the famous ballad by Goethe and the song that eventually accompanied it, a father is riding home with his ailing son who claims they are being pursued by beautiful and tantalizing spirits (The Erlking and his children). The father continues to try to calm his son while he rides home before he admits or at least pretends to be able to see them. By the time he has arrived home his son has died. The Erlking's name translates directly to Elf King and his name Alder King seems to have been a deliberate attempt to tie him to a forest demon. Which only grows when he is associated with Der Grossman AKA the Tall man. A boogeyman like faerie who steals children and has often been credited as the origin of or the older name of the modern Slenderman creepy pasta. He is also sometimes tied in with the wild hunt and is often depicted with hunting dogs. His status as both as high ranking fae and his boogeyman status could indicate a christianized version of spirits. Or just as likely he is an example of a figure who works for his own ends as not all spirits and creatures are an ally.

Slavic god wheel featuring Belobog, Chernobog, Svarog, Yarilo, Veles, Stribog, Svetovid and Perun (Simargl is there if you look closely) credit to Neale "Aethelwulf" Rundgren for the grasphic design. Art is from various artists.

Slavic Goddess Wheel Featuring Devana, Morena, Ursula, Mokosh, Vesna, Lada, Baba Yaga, and Ziva also designed by Neale "Aethelwulf" Rundgren with the use of various artists. Both are useful as basic memes for starting to introduce slavic mythology to someone.

Ragana, also known as Rage and at times as the Plural Raganos is a Baltic goddess. She is often considered a witch goddess though this is a gross oversimplification she does share similarities to similar goddesses of Magic such as Baba Yaga, Freyja, and Perchta. She is known to shapeshift especially into an Owl and fly around the Baltic at night. Witches are known as Raganos in Baltic mythology and they are keepers of balance often turning people into stones and animals who are greedy or otherwise upset the balance. Ragana is also said to govern fertility and personally weakens the sun after the Summer Solstice in order to keep the sun from growing too strong and burning the earth, she also governs lactation and menstruation as aspects of her Fertility aspects and will take them away as punishment, both for animals and women. This in turn also associates her with Winter as she weakens the sun and as she is said to appear as either a beautiful woman or a crone she is not dissimilar to Beira of Scotland. She is typically seen as a Prophetess and sorceress in the modern day, a drop down from ancient goddess or spirit that she was seen as in Pagan times. She is also associated with the moon perhaps crescent but some argue that it is the Full Moon and the lack of Full moon symbolism in the Baltic is due to Ragana being demonized and purged from the folk songs and lore. She is also said to be a master healer who can cure any ailment and can bestow her gifts and curses with the touch of her red wand. Her name may mean “horns” “Crescent” or “To see”. The Lithuanian Toad Symbol may be associated with Ragana.

Our good friend Aethelwulf got his art shared on a wonderful art archive channel.

The Seelie and Unseelie Courts: Are two courts of Fae in Scottish folklore. They could be classed as political divisions within the realm of fae, or as seasonal differences in the attitudes or types of fae in Scotland. The Seelie (Blessed/Holy) Court is often considered more kind to humans, though this should not be confused with beneficial. More that they will warn humans who have crossed the line and may even help provided they are not offended. The Seelie court is broken down into further courts such as the Spring Court and Summer Court, notable members may include: Puck, Oberon, and Titania. More helpful spirits such as Hobgoblins and Brownies can be found in this court. The Unseelie (Unblessed/Unholy) Court is much the same except they are not likely to warn and will often harm humans without provocation, just because the fancy took them. If they are fond of humans rather than aid they may find you entertaining as a sort of pet. The Unseelie court is said to be present in Autumn and Winter and notable members include: Queen Mab and Morgan le Fae, Boggarts and Bogies may be present in this court. While these courts are by and large a sort of division within the realm of fae between different temperates and seasonal functions they in many ways resemble stories of the Riders of the Sidhe or the Wild Hunt. Their association with the seasons especially. It is also possible that there were only the Seelie Courts pre-Christianity split by seasons but the Unseelie court was added in later with the after effects of Christian beliefs on the folk faith.

Elen, Elen is a british goddess whose name likely derives from a word for fawn or deer. She is often considered a very old and very important British goddess. Despite very little remaining in the modern day about her at least clearly. She appears in an Aisling (Vision dream) in the Mabinogion. Mascen Wledig (Who is often thought to be based on the Roman emperor Maximus) has a dream that involved a red gold castle. Inside two children are playing chess, a king is carving chess pieces, and the Beautiful Elen is there. Upon waking Mascen becomes obsessed with finding Elen and has his men go look for her and after finding her proposes to her, she accepts and asks for the territory of three chiefs as her bridal payment. Receiving the Isle of Britain, she then builds many roads which “Oddly” are said to predate the supposedly Roman time period the story is meant to reference. She then leads an army to protect Britain from invading Celts, as in this story she is Celto-Roman, and said to be Gaulish in descent. However a female antlered figuring, place names, and other finds mark her as a likely British deity that has remnants of a once wider spread through Europe. The combination of her name and the belief she is an antlered goddess of great age, combined with her association with paths and roads resulted in her becoming classified not only as an antlered goddess but a Reindeer goddess. Considered so old she is said to have originated when Doggerland connected mainland Europe to Britain and the reindeer still roamed onto what became the British Isles. This combined with what could be an egregious symbiosis of various Siberian and far north Shamanic tribes association with Reindeer have resulted in her being classified as a shamanic goddess. However, she is still likely to be a horned/antlered goddess and the common headdress featuring antlers as well as cave art depicting the animal does bring such a possible association to light, especially when the Mabinogion Elen and her sovereignty and Aisling come into focus. All this together causes her to be known as Elen of the Hosts, Elen of the ways, as well as her Christianized Counterpart St. Helen. She is also at times thought to essentially be a sort of Land Dis of Britain not dissimilar to Skadi, in that she represents the land that must be made fertile by joining a king/sovereign/leader(male) to the land. It is unclear if this is truly the case though an unfit king causing the land to become infertile does appear in the story of the Fisher King due to his “leg” injury. Possibly both originate from an older concept or perhaps both are christianized to a point. From there unfortunately is UPG, with her becoming known as both a physical deity and the Green Woman. A feminine counterpart to the Green Man. While I can neither confirm nor deny her status as such, I see no clear evidence of such. However she clearly was an important if somewhat forgotten deity. She is said to be continued in traditions such as Abbots Bromley Horn Dance in Staffordshire which typically uses Reindeer antlers, other sections include Roads such as the High Deer Road. The possibility of a sort of Deer Mother becoming more obscure as the animal she was associated with being extricated from the land she was associated with is not far fetched, and like many goddesses who never make it into the books the folk culture keeps alive some of the oldest and most treasured stories. For who bothers writing down what everyone knows? What is your favorite thing about Elen?