"Embracing the Darkness" by John Callow - discusses RoS
Feb 9, 2023 19:41:42 GMT
Nolwë and Robin of Loxley like this
Post by foresthermit on Feb 9, 2023 19:41:42 GMT
I wonder if anyone here has heard of this book. "Embracing the Darkness" by John Callow is an nonfiction book published by IB Tauris in 2018. It is an anecdotal history of witchcraft in culture. And it's of interest to us because the last chapter, "The Way Through the Woods", is about Richard Carpenter and Robin of Sherwood.
Callow starts the chapter describing the famous debate Richard Carpenter had with Mary Whitehouse, who had complained about RoS. Carpenter began the debate by saying ""I'm Richard Carpenter, and I'm a professional writer. And you're a professional... what?" When Whitehouse replied that she was not "a professional anything", Carpenter replied "Good. Now I'm dealing with an amateur!" The audience burst into laughter at Whitehouse's expense.
The chapter goes on to describe Carpenter's childhood in King's Lynn and his early acting career. His first big success, Callow notes, was Catweazle. Catweazle is a likeable medieval magician who, Callow points out, significantly uses an athame (a knife used in Ceremonial magic and Wiccan magic) to cast some of his spells.
Then it goes into the background of Robin of Sherwood's creation. Callow tells of the show using the Saxons vs. Normans conflict, and the casting of youthful actors as rebels, and creating a sense of Sherwood Forest as a "unified ecology" with humans, animals and plants all linked together. Callow also says the character Jennet of Eldson is a traditional healer with herbs, of the kind sometimes accused of witchcraft in the Middle Ages.
Callow the quotes an interview with Carpenter on the Electric Picture Show about the then-new Robin of Sherwood. Here Carpenter said:
Callow also mentions an Carpenter interview where he read that Robin Hood was "the people's [King] Arthur". So Carpenter decided Robin Hood needed a Merlin figure -hence the introduction of Herne the Hunter to the series. Herne is both Robin's magical mentor - a "Merlin figure" - and a representative of the "pre-Christian religion of tree worship and fertility".
Callow follows this with a section on Herne the Hunter's background. The character began as a joke in Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor- Falstaff dresses up as Herne, and ends up looking a fool. Despite Shakespeare's humorous treatment of Herne, folktales about the character began to circulate in eighteenth century England. These tales were adapted into the novel Windsor Castle by W. Harrison Ainsworth. This 1843 Gothic doorstop was a huge bestseller in Victorian times. It took the story of Herne from Shakespeare, but this time treated it very seriously, with Herne becoming a doomed ghost wandering Berkshire. Then Susan Cooper took Herne in The Dark Is Rising in 1973 and made Herne into a magical "nature spirit".
In the footnotes to this chapter, Callow points out that the British writer Pennethorne Hughes wrote a once-popular book on witchcraft in 1952, This book linked Robin Hood to Herne the Hunter, saying that Robin Hood legends were sometimes similar to legends of Herne the Hunter. Mr. Hughes' book also compared Robin's band of outlaws to "fairies", or a "witches' coven" who met around oak trees. Hughes' book also described Herne as a nature spirit, and detailed a now-discredited theory that Herne was a British version of the Celtic god Cernunnos.
So by the time Carpenter was writing RoS, he knew some British people knew who Herne the Hunter was, and realised Herne could be adapted to his new vision of the Robin Hood story, Carpenter worked Herne into RoS by first moving Herne from Berkshire to Sherwood Forest. Then he changed the time period Herne lived from Ainsworth's Richard II to Richard I, The Lionheart (thus putting Herne in the same era as Robin Hood). Most interestingly, Carpenter made Herne a "shaman", who goes into trances (as in "The Prophecy" episode), and is "possessed" (he tells Robin "When the Horned One possesses me, I am Herne the Hunter"). Herne also heals people, and sees visions, which are other powers traditionally associated with shamans. Clannad's music also helped further popularize Herne as a character.
There's a detailed discussion of the "Lord of the Trees" episode. This uses "pagan" themes, (the Wickham villagers taking part in "The Blessing" ceremony to protect the earth's fertility). And we have Robin Hood and the outlaws meeting around oak trees, to encounter Herne the Hunter. Gisburne and his thugs try to disrupt the ceremony and kill Herne, but is punished by being afflicted with terrifying hallucinations. After the villains are defeated, the bond between the outlaws, the villagers of Wickham, and nature (personified by Herne) has been strengthened.
Callow also mentions RoS fanzines like Herne's Son and Darkmere. He describes the show's following among Wicca and neopagan groups, and points out that the show has made Herne the Hunter a symbolic figure of Nature's power in these circles. He also tells the interesting fact that Mark Ryan (yes, Nasir) helped created a Tarot set focusing on Herne. All fascinating.
Callow starts the chapter describing the famous debate Richard Carpenter had with Mary Whitehouse, who had complained about RoS. Carpenter began the debate by saying ""I'm Richard Carpenter, and I'm a professional writer. And you're a professional... what?" When Whitehouse replied that she was not "a professional anything", Carpenter replied "Good. Now I'm dealing with an amateur!" The audience burst into laughter at Whitehouse's expense.
The chapter goes on to describe Carpenter's childhood in King's Lynn and his early acting career. His first big success, Callow notes, was Catweazle. Catweazle is a likeable medieval magician who, Callow points out, significantly uses an athame (a knife used in Ceremonial magic and Wiccan magic) to cast some of his spells.
Then it goes into the background of Robin of Sherwood's creation. Callow tells of the show using the Saxons vs. Normans conflict, and the casting of youthful actors as rebels, and creating a sense of Sherwood Forest as a "unified ecology" with humans, animals and plants all linked together. Callow also says the character Jennet of Eldson is a traditional healer with herbs, of the kind sometimes accused of witchcraft in the Middle Ages.
Callow the quotes an interview with Carpenter on the Electric Picture Show about the then-new Robin of Sherwood. Here Carpenter said:
"what really attracted me was [Robin Hood's] connection to nature, with the wild wood – – the greenwood – and the pre-Christian religion of tree worship and fertility."
Callow also mentions an Carpenter interview where he read that Robin Hood was "the people's [King] Arthur". So Carpenter decided Robin Hood needed a Merlin figure -hence the introduction of Herne the Hunter to the series. Herne is both Robin's magical mentor - a "Merlin figure" - and a representative of the "pre-Christian religion of tree worship and fertility".
Callow follows this with a section on Herne the Hunter's background. The character began as a joke in Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor- Falstaff dresses up as Herne, and ends up looking a fool. Despite Shakespeare's humorous treatment of Herne, folktales about the character began to circulate in eighteenth century England. These tales were adapted into the novel Windsor Castle by W. Harrison Ainsworth. This 1843 Gothic doorstop was a huge bestseller in Victorian times. It took the story of Herne from Shakespeare, but this time treated it very seriously, with Herne becoming a doomed ghost wandering Berkshire. Then Susan Cooper took Herne in The Dark Is Rising in 1973 and made Herne into a magical "nature spirit".
In the footnotes to this chapter, Callow points out that the British writer Pennethorne Hughes wrote a once-popular book on witchcraft in 1952, This book linked Robin Hood to Herne the Hunter, saying that Robin Hood legends were sometimes similar to legends of Herne the Hunter. Mr. Hughes' book also compared Robin's band of outlaws to "fairies", or a "witches' coven" who met around oak trees. Hughes' book also described Herne as a nature spirit, and detailed a now-discredited theory that Herne was a British version of the Celtic god Cernunnos.
So by the time Carpenter was writing RoS, he knew some British people knew who Herne the Hunter was, and realised Herne could be adapted to his new vision of the Robin Hood story, Carpenter worked Herne into RoS by first moving Herne from Berkshire to Sherwood Forest. Then he changed the time period Herne lived from Ainsworth's Richard II to Richard I, The Lionheart (thus putting Herne in the same era as Robin Hood). Most interestingly, Carpenter made Herne a "shaman", who goes into trances (as in "The Prophecy" episode), and is "possessed" (he tells Robin "When the Horned One possesses me, I am Herne the Hunter"). Herne also heals people, and sees visions, which are other powers traditionally associated with shamans. Clannad's music also helped further popularize Herne as a character.
There's a detailed discussion of the "Lord of the Trees" episode. This uses "pagan" themes, (the Wickham villagers taking part in "The Blessing" ceremony to protect the earth's fertility). And we have Robin Hood and the outlaws meeting around oak trees, to encounter Herne the Hunter. Gisburne and his thugs try to disrupt the ceremony and kill Herne, but is punished by being afflicted with terrifying hallucinations. After the villains are defeated, the bond between the outlaws, the villagers of Wickham, and nature (personified by Herne) has been strengthened.
Callow also mentions RoS fanzines like Herne's Son and Darkmere. He describes the show's following among Wicca and neopagan groups, and points out that the show has made Herne the Hunter a symbolic figure of Nature's power in these circles. He also tells the interesting fact that Mark Ryan (yes, Nasir) helped created a Tarot set focusing on Herne. All fascinating.