Spirits of the Forest

VHS cover

Spirits of the Forest is the ninth episode of Creatures Fantastic, which aired in 1997 on the Discovery Channel and Arts Channel. The topic of this episode is the mythology surrounding temperate forests, including the creatures living within it, as well as looking at beliefs about the seasonal changes of the forest environment.

## Episode

Click here for the full transcript for Spirits of the Forest.

### Introduction

*“The deep forest. Dark, even in the daylight. A place that casts a spell of terror on anyone who dares visit its interior. Lurking within – witches, giants. The very roots of trees come to life and encircle the unwary. Some say that even the forest’s damp air is the breath of a demon, whose slimy jaws lie in wait to swallow its prey. What is it about the forest that stirs the human imagination? Is the forest the dwelling place of fantastic spirits? Are the trees more alive than they look?”*

### Episode outline

Forests probably first arose in the Carboniferous age, around 100 million years ago. The primeval forest would have been vast, dark and dense. No wonder early humans exploring it began to imagine spirits of the forest. The strange shapes and perfumes perhaps inspired him to imagine he was in the presence of gods and demons. Throughout the history of myth, man has wondered about nature’s seasonal cycle and feared that there may be a time when spring doesn’t come and winter lasts forever. Nature’s cycles of renewal is a central theme in the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Set in the woods of medieval England, it pits man against the irrepressible powers of nature.

*The first story from the storyteller is a full retelling of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. King Arthur’s court are having a winter feast to celebrate a new year, when the festivities are interrupted by the Green Knight. He brings them a challenge. He invited any knight to strike his head from his shoulders on the condition that, if he survived, the knight submit themselves to the same treatment the following year. Gawain takes up the challenge and cuts off the knight’s head. To everyone’s amazement, the knight’s body rises and puts his head back on. He tells Gawain to meet him at the green chapel in twelve months or be forever known as a coward. A year passes and Gawain sets off, but gets lost on the way. His horse takes him to a castle, where the lively and hospitable lord invites him to stay until the day of the challenge. The lord’s attractive wife also takes an interest in Gawain. Gawain does not realise he is being tested. On one day, the lord sets off to hunt deer and the lady of the castle goes to Gawain’s chambers. He preserves his knightly honour by pretending to be asleep. The next day, the lord goes off hunting wild boar and the lady again tries to seduce Gawain. The knight again turns her down. On the third day, the lord goes off hunting for fox, and the lady offers Gawain a green girdle. Gawain accepts it, not as a token of love, but because she tells him it has protective spells on it. The next day, Gawain sets off to face his doom. What he doesn’t realise if that the Green Knight is the same lord that has hosted Gawain, who sent his wife to test Gawain. For his honour, Gawain is allowed to keep his life. His neck is grazed for accepting the girdle, but otherwise he has proven himself worthy. The air suddenly becomes mild and spring comes to the forest.*

The seasonal rebirth of the forest goes to one of our most powerful yearnings – the craving to find, in nature, a consolation for our own mortality. Historically, the head of the green man represents nature’s powers of renewal and symbolises the irrepressible force of natural life. The story of Gawain and the Green Knight tells us that there must be a union between man and nature and that nature commands our respect. The druids revere the power of nature. The oak is their sacred tree and the evergreen mistletoe in its branches were believed to have supernatural powers. In the winter, druids cut the mistletoe with a golden sickle, making sure it doesn’t touch the ground which would bring about disaster. A potion made from the plant was said to deter evil spirits and help women have children. The sacred tree has been a universal symbol since time immemorial. In Scandinavian myth, the universe was seen as a gigantic ash tree called Yggdrasil. Its outstretched branches held up the heavens and the home of the gods, while the trunk was a ladder connecting heaven and hell.

*The second story is about the three roots of Yggdrasil. The first burrows down to Niflheim, the realm of the dead. Here, a dragon-serpent called Nidhogg feasted on the bloody remains of murderers. When he grew tired of human flesh, he gnawed on Yggdrasil’s roots, trying to kill the tree. At the bottom of the second root, the kingdom of Asgard is guarded by three old women called Fate, Being and Necessity. Between them, they shaped all human destiny and also sprinkled Yggdrasil’s roots with water from the well of fate to protect the tree from Nidhogg. At the end of the third root is a bubbling spring that gives insight to any who drink from it. The god Odin sacrificed one of his eyes in return for just a few drops of the water. A single sip gave him immense knowledge and ever-after he craved more knowledge and wisdom. Odin believed he could gain this knowledge by sacrificing himself on Yggdrasil. Using his powers, he drew wisdom up from the spirits of the dead buried under the world tree and eventually returned from the grave with renewed wisdom and strength.*

There are striking parallels between Odin’s death and that of Christ on a wooden cross. Both deaths lead to rebirth, just as happens in nature. In the Middle Ages, Christ was often depicted dying on a tree. The edge of the forest is the border of the supernatural. It is a barrier between the known and unknown worlds. Storytellers have long recognised that children have an innate fear of abandonment. This is why fantastic forests play such an important role in children’s literature – the wild wood creates anxiety and spells danger. Simple fairy-tales can conceal deeper meanings. Getting lost in the wood is often a common metaphor for growing up. In the Russian tale of Babayaga, a young girl learns to use her intuition as she explores the world beyond her home.

*The third story introduces the tale of Babayaga. A young girl, Vasilisa, and her father sit by the bed of her dying mother. Just before she passes away, the mother gives a doll to Vasilisa and tells her that the doll will always help her if she asks it to. Eventually, the father stops mourning and remarries a widow with two older daughters. These women hate Vasilisa for her beauty and love to torment her. One day, the stepmother hatches a plan to put out the fire so Vasilisa has to go into the woods to beg fire from Babayaga. The stepmother hopes the witch will kill and eat Vasilisa.*

This story is about a mother handing on her intuition to her children. The woods symbolise the confused feelings Vasilisa has as a young adult, alone in the world. When she enters the wood, she begins to mature and grows wiser. But she can still draw on her mother’s knowledge in the form of the doll.

*The final story is the next part of the Babayaga tale. Vasilisa follows the doll’s directions, briefly seeing a man ride past on a white horse. Eventually, Vasilisa locates the witch’s hovel. The fearsome witch Babayaga appears out of nowhere in front of her and demands to know what Vasilisa wants. When the girl asks for fire, the witch says she cannot possibly give away fire until Vasilisa has done work for her. Babayaga takes Vasilisa into the hovel. The witch sets the girl tasks, telling her if they aren’t complete by the time the witch returns, she will be killed and eaten. Vasilisa confides in her doll, but the doll convinces her that everything will be alright and that she should sleep. When Vasilisa awakes the following evening, all the tasks have miraculously been completed. With that, Babayaga hands over a burning skull and sends Vasilisa on her way. Vasilisa walks back through the dark wood, again following the doll’s directions. When she returns home, the fiery skull studied the stepmother and stepsister’s every move. By the following morning, the wicked trio were burnt to ashes and Vasilisa lived happily ever after.*

In Russian myth, Babayaga is said to represent the ancient earth mother. She is at once life and death, all-knowing with control over day and night. She is the supernatural mother of the forest. She may sound and look evil but is ultimately a force for good. Many people believe that in the forests of North America lives a giant hominid called bigfoot. Outsiders are either sceptical about its existence or believe it to be a fearsome monster that must be trapped. But Native Americans have a very different view of him, treating him with great respect and seeing him as a spirit of the forest. An old belief is that the appearance of bigfoot is a sign that man must change his ways, that people have angered the creator for disrespecting their sacred instructions and upsetting the harmony of life. People who want to defend nature have taken to occupying trees, in order to protest against deforestation and road-building. They view trees as potent symbols of nature’s vitality. Denuding the world’s trees is not only seen as a physical loss but an act of violence against the natural world. In myth, the spirits of the forest leave their realm to warn that nature is infinitely more powerful than man. If we do not learn from nature’s wisdom, the green man will grow impatient and the tree of life may die.

## Animal species filmed for the programme

### Studio footage

* Domestic horse, *Equus ferus caballus*
* Domestic dog, *Canis familiaris*

### Stock footage

* European fallow deer, *Dama dama*
* Wild boar, *Sus scrofa*
* Spotted owl, *Strix occidentalis*

## Stock footage sources

The Private Life of Plants: The Social Struggle (1995) - Opening bluebells

## Credits

* Director - Andrew Graham-Brown
* Narrator - Zoë Wanamaker
* Storyteller - John Shrapnel
* Production Designer - Graeme Thomson
* Graphics Designer - Laurie Moses
* Graphics Director - Richard Higgs

## Home media releases

As with all Creatures Fantastic episodes, Spirits of the Forest has only been released on VHS. The cover of the box shows a mossy old-growth forest, with the main picture being a close-up of the face of Gawain, featured in the episode. Also on the cover is a bronze cast of the face of a Green Man, a picture showing Yggdrasil supporting the Norse universe and a faded image of two tawny owlets.

The picture on the spine and back cover is a screenshot of the face of the Green Knight as he awaits Gawain.

The blurb on the back cover of the VHS reads:

**Spirits of the Forest** explores how the forest casts a spell over all who visit its dark interior. Lurking within are witches, giants, spirits, hob-goblins and wild, wild men. Some say the very air of the forest is the breath of a demon. What is it about the forest that stirs the human imagination? Why do we fear being abandoned in the woods? Do we dare enter its hidden depths?

Back cover of Spirits of the Forest VHS

**Narrators** Zoë Wanamaker (primary narrator) • John Shrapnel (storyteller narrator)
**Episodes**: Creatures of the Night • Dragons • Creatures of the Deep • Mythical Cats • The Apocalypse • Werewolves • The Underworld • Man Beasts • **Spirits of the Forest** • Mythical Horses • Birds and Things with Wings • Tricky Tricksters • Aliens