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The Long Man

11/14/2014

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As they approached, a ponderous creaking sound filled the air like the groaning of a huge, old ship in a storm crossed with the scraping of fingernails on a chalkboard.
        "What was that?" Jake started, but then his jaw dropped as the Long Man sat up slowly from the hillside and rose stiffly to his feet, chunks of turf and dirt and chalk dust raining from his towering, lanky body.
        "Who goes there?" he boomed down at them.
        Jake and Dani shrieked.

PictureThe Long Man of Wilmington ~ Photo credit Cupcakekid via wikipedia commons.
Thought you guys would enjoy seeing photos of the actual Long Man of Wilmington, or as we call him, Aelfric. :) It was so much fun bringing him to life for his brief scene in Chapter One of RISE OF ALLIES. Take a look at the actual picture of him and decide for yourself ~ is he holding up two spears or standing guard in the doorway to the Realm of the Fey underneath the hill??

Below is a photo of his trusty steed, the White Horse of Uffington (374 feet long!) aka Stormwind. The White Horse was one of the first sights Eric and I saw when we descended in the plane on our first trip to England, which was actually our honeymoon! The White Horse is truly impressive, isn't he? A very mysterious figure galloping across the green hills.

If you and I had been lucky enough to have been in England this past summer, we could have participated in the massive volunteer effort to keep the White Horse bright and shiny on behalf of the National Trust ~ kids, too! ~ like this mother/daughter team. (See below) Hard work for a good cause! What a great chance that would've been to be a part of hands-on history. Wish we could've been there.

If you are headed to England, check out the National Trust for cool things to do while you're there. Otherwise, why not look into what you can do to help preserve local history in your own area? We're fortunate the Brits have kept these World Heritage treasures from Neolithic times in such amazing shape. Lots of preservation and excavation is going on at Stonehenge, as well, since it hasn't fared as well over the ravages of the past several thousand years. More to come on that! Well, that's all for now, but check back soon for more behind-the-scenes snippets about your favorite characters from RISE OF ALLIES! ~ xo, Gael

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The White Horse of Uffington ~ Satellite photo credit USGS via Wikimedia Commons.
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The Green Man

11/2/2014

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A classic Green Man. Photo credit Dogears via wikipedia commons.
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Photo credit Akoliasnikoff - Own work via wikipedia commons.
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Green Man depicted in Cadiz, Spain. Photo credit José Manuel Franco via wikipedia commons.
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The Green Man ~ a RISE OF ALLIES Book Extra!

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Photo credit Loadmaster (David R. Tribble) via wikipedia commons.
The Green Man was an ancient pagan nature spirit, a Celtic deity of vegetation, woodlands, and plant life. He is usually depicted as a mysterious face with branch-like antlers and a mask of leaves. 

According to paganism expert Patti Wigington in her article, The Green Man, Spirit of the Forest, "Such images appear as far back as the eleventh century, in church carvings. As Christianity spread, the Green Man went into hiding, with stonemasons leaving secret images of his face around cathedrals and churches. He enjoyed a revival during the Victorian era, when he became popular with architects, who used his visage as a decorative aspect in buildings."

Green Men are particularly associated with the feast of Beltane (Jake's birthday in RISE OF ALLIES!), presumably as woodland spirits, they would've been seen as returning or coming back to life with the springtime after a long winter.

 Wingington goes on to write, "Legends connected to the archetype of the Green Man are everywhere. In the Arthurian legend, the tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a prime example. The Green Knight represents the pre-Christian nature religion of the British Isles. Although he originally confronts Gawain as an enemy, the two later are able to work together - perhaps a metaphor for the assimilation of British Paganism with the new Christian theology. Many scholars also suggest that the tales of Robin Hood evolved from Green Man mythology. Allusions to the Green Man can even be found in J.M. Barrie's classic Peter Pan - an eternally youthful boy, dressed in green and living in the forest with the wild animals."

Of course, we took some liberties with the Green Man legend for our character of Dr. Plantagenet in RISE OF ALLIES. The notion of Green Men being afraid of fire, for example, simply seemed logical for a guy who was essentially a tree-person. Or as Tex likes to call him, "Ya overgrown broccoli!"

By the way, there is also an annual Green Man Festival in Wales. Like its American cousin, Burning Man, also of Celtic pagan origins, Green Man is an alternative/indie music festival where some people even like to come dressed up as pagan deities. Each year they constructed a giant Green Man like the one below to add to the festival atmosphere.
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  • Home
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