Herla orKing Herla (Old English: *Her(e)la Cyning) is a legendary leader of the mythical GermanicWild Hunt and the name from which the Old French termHerlequin may have been derived. Herla often has been identified asWoden[citation needed] and in the writings of the twelfth-centurywriterWalter Map, he is portrayed as a legendaryking of the Britons who became the leader of theWild Hunt after a visit to theOtherworld, only to return some three hundred years later, after theAnglo-Saxon settlement of Britain.
Map's tale occurs in two versions in hisDe nugis curialium. The first and longer account, found in section 1.12, provides far more detail; it tells of Herla's encounter with an otherworldly being, his journey to the latter's homeland, his transformation into the leader of the Hunt after his return to the human realm, and, finally, the disappearance of Herla and his band during the first year of the reign ofHenry II of England (a synopsis of this longer version appearsbelow). The second account, found in section 4.13, includes only the ending of the earlier version. Herla is not mentioned in the second account by name; instead, Map refers to the entire host as "the troop of Herlethingus" (familia Herlethingi).
King Herla is a modernisation of anOld English form reconstructed as *Her(e)la Cyning,[1][2] a figure that usually has been identified with Woden in his guise as leader of the GermanicWild Hunt and thus the name is thought to be related to the FrenchHarlequin[3] (variant form ofHarlequin,Hellequin), the leader of theWild Hunt inOld French tradition.[4] The later Germanic tribe of theHeruli are also related to Herla.[citation needed]
Herla, a king of theBritons, meets with an unnameddwarven king with a great, red beard and goat'shooves, who is mounted on a goat. They make a pact: if the latter attends Herla's wedding, Herla will reciprocate precisely one year later.
On the day of Herla's marriage, the dwarf king attends with a vast host, bringing gifts and provisions. The dwarf king's followers attend to the wedding guests so efficiently that Herla's own preparations are left untouched. The otherworldly king then reminds Herla of his promise, and departs.
A year later, the dwarf king sends for Herla, who summons his companions and selects gifts to take to the dwarf king's wedding. The party enters an opening in a high cliff, passes through darkness, and then enters a realm seemingly lit by lamps.
After the wedding ceremony, which lasted for three days in the dwarf king's realm, is over, Herla prepares to depart, and he and his men mount their horses. The dwarf gives him hunting animals and other gifts; in particular, he presents Herla with a small bloodhound, which jumps up onto the mounted king’s lap. The dwarf advises Herla that no man should dismount until the dog had first left his lap.
After Herla and his band return to the human realm, they encounter an elderly shepherd, whom Herla asks for news of his queen. The old man, astonished, replies, "I can barely understand your speech, for I am a Saxon and you are a Briton." The elderly shepherd described a legend of a very ancient queen of the Britons bearing the name mentioned, the wife of King Herla, who had disappeared with a dwarf king into that very cliff and was never seen again. The shepherd also added that currently theSaxons had been in possession of the kingdom for the last two hundred years, and had driven out the native Britons.
Herla, who thought he had been away for just three days, is so amazed he barely could stay in the saddle. Some of his men jump down from their horses, only to crumble quickly into dust. Herla warns his remaining companions not to dismount until the dog alights[clarification needed], but the dog, Map says wryly, has not yet alighted, and Herla and his host have become eternal wanderers.
Map notes, however, that some say Herla's band plunged into theRiver Wye during the first year of the reign ofKing Henry II (the year 1154), and has never been seen since.
This folk tale is supposed to illustrate the trickery of the elder races,[citation needed] such as the dwarves. That, for ignorant men, their miniature kingdoms harboured dangers which could bring even a king to his knees.
It also is an example of the widespread belief that time[citation needed] in theelfin realms passed more slowly than it did on Earth.
The story bears strong resemblances to the Welsh tale ofPreiddeu Annwn or the "Spoils of the Otherworld" and theFirst Branch of the Mabinogi to which it may be connected, with Herla replaced byPwyll.
The legend of King Herla figures inThe True Annals of Fairyland in The Reign of King Herla, ed. Ernest Rhys.http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/28103/C_Fairy_tales.pdf and inElizabeth Hand's historical fantasy novelMortal Love (2004).
Herla is referred to as a female huntress (Lord of the hunt), commanded by Gwen to complete the wild hunt. Song of the Huntress, Lucy Holland (March 2024)
Onions further suggests that it developed from Herla Cyning, or "King Herla" a mythical king of Britain closely identified with Woden