We bought a couple of wooden carvings at Wells market a few years ago. We named them Gog and Magog after the legendary giants who have appeared at the London Lord Mayor’s show since the time of Henry VIII. In our garden, they guard the greenhouse and the tool shed. 🙂

There are two big beloved ancient oak trees in Glastonbury known as Gog and Magog, although one was badly burned – probably ironically, by a candle lit in tribute to it. That story was also on my mind when we gave these little wooden faces their Big Names.

Gog and Magog are legendary figures that appear in different traditions as either one giant or a pair of giants. In the Bible and Quran, Gog and Magog are associated with a final, apocalyptic conflict. In British folklore, they are giant guardians of the City of London. In our garden, Magog looks after the lawnmower and garden tools and Gog protects the plants in the greenhouse.

Since we named these guys I’ve been a bit more curious about the mythology of the founding of Britain and the stories of Gog and Magog. I don’t think the stories make Britain look all that great, tbh.

British tourism websites tell the tale like this…

Albion, island of giants

According to London’s Lord Mayor’s Show “The story goes that Diocletian – the Roman Emperor – had thirty-three wicked daughters. He managed to find thirty-three husbands to curb their unruly ways, but the daughters were not pleased and under the leadership of their eldest sister Alba they plotted to cut the throats of their husbands as they slept…

After a long and dreadful journey they arrived at a great island that came to be named Albion, after the eldest. Here they stayed, and with the assistance of demons they populated the the wild, windswept islands with a race of giants.”

According to the legend of the Brutus Stone, many years later the Trojans arrived.

“Brutus set off with his army of followers… Following the advice of the oracle Diana, who suggested the Trojans should travel to an island in the Western Seas that was possessed by Giants, Brutus set sail for Great Britain – at the time called Albion.” Visit Totnes – Brutus stone

Brutus and the giant’s leap

Lord Mayor’s Show “Brutus, the great-grandson of Aeneas, fled the fall of Troy and by way of various scrapes arrived… He too named them for himself, so we also know them as Britain. With him he brought his most able warrior and champion Corineus, who faced the leader of the giant brood in single combat and eventually hurled him from a high rock to his death. The name of the giant was Gogmagog and the rock from which he was thrown became known as Langnagog or ‘The Giants Leap’. As a reward Corineus was given the western part of the island, which came to be called Cornwall after him. Brutus travelled to the east and founded the city of New Troy, which we know as London.”

According to Creating myths – English Foundation Myths as Political Empowerment. “Geoffrey elaborated a legend from Nennius that described how the first settlers of Britain were descended from Æneas and other survivors from the Trojan War. Thus, Geoffrey’s purpose was to provide a plausible ancestry for the current kings of England—Norman who had invaded only seventy years before—and to establish the nation’s authority on the world stage.”

Plausible ancestral authority?

In the 1500s, the time of Henry VIII, the that the giants first appeared at the Lord Mayor’s show, highlighting the ancient lineage of Britian’s rulers since the time of Troy. It was a way to remind everyone who’s boss.

For centuries two statues have stood in the Guildhall, initially called Gogmagog the Albion and Corineus the Trojan. (The site of the Guildhall is reportedly the location of Brutus’s palace).

One incarnation of these statues was destroyed in the Great Fire of London (1666), another just a few decades later, devastated by rats and damp, and a third was destroyed during the London Blitz. By this time the statues had become known as Gog and Magog.”

Gog and Magog at the Lord Mayors show, 2017. They first appeared at the show in 1554.

For a deeper dive about the Lord Mayors show, and how these ‘ceremonials’ developed as a way to assert power and embed privilege, see this Gresham college lecture on youtube.

Local legends and garden whimsy

I’m partial to a bit of whimsy now and then, and making up silly names for garden features is a fairly harmless pastime. It’s fun incorporating local legends into the story of your garden. Magog (left) and Gog (on the right) are little characters with a big back story.

Let me know if you have any garden whimsy related to local legends…

J xx