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MSJPSakura — Folklore Challenge Week 1

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Published: 2018-02-04 11:14:30 +0000 UTC; Views: 619; Favourites: 3; Downloads: 0
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Description This is my character for the February Folklore Challenge by Improvement-Club  
I got Herne the Hunter and at first, I didn't know him but now I'm glad I got him

Herne the Hunter is a Celtic god said to be one of the gods of the Wild Hunt. He is based on another god called Cernunnos and for some people they are even one and the same.
I could find two tales, both begin with the assumption that Herne was a hunter employed by Richard II. The content then slightly differs but both tales end with a part in which Herne hangs himself on an oark tree (that's why I gave him a hunting horn and the rope around his neck). 

Even Shakespeare wrote about him:
"There is an old tale goes that Herne the Hunter,
Some time 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."

Based on this description, I gave Herne the chains around his body, so that he can shake them if needed but at the same time I wanted to play with his identity as a localized god (a keeper in Windsor Forest). I wanted to give the impression that he is bound to the place. The red eyes should illustrate that he makes cows milk to blood. In addition to that, the horns connect him to a deer and therefore put him in a position of honor so they weren't allowed to be missed.
Furthermore, I read that he rides a mighty black horse accompanied by a pack of hounds and it is said that people who get in the way of the Wild Hunt are swept up in it and have to ride alongside Herne for all eternity. To give this a more dark impression, I plan on making the black coat to a part of black dust/mist to make it visible that one can be "swept up" in the Wild Hunt (this depends on how the Challenge develops).
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