St George

A Saint for All

Samantha Riches

• Publisher: Reaktion Books
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781780234779
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

The image of St. George—atop his horse, lance plunged halfway into a dragon's body—is so familiar to us that we take for granted what a long history it has had. As Samantha Riches demonstrates in this book, St. George is easily one of the most transported icons across cultures, and his history is the history of myth writ large. Traveling in Georgia, Greece, Malta, Belgium, Lebanon, Palestine, Ethiopia, Estonia, and many other places, she offers a fascinating look at one of the most popular mythical figures of all time.
           
Riches traces St. George in his various appearances and guises across a wealth of religions and traditions. From Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, and Western European Christian traditions, she follows his trail into Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Candomblé, and the many pagan systems where he has functioned a symbol of nature, springtime, and healing. Exploring the innumerable ways artists, poets, and painters have engaged his mythical import, she shows him to be at the center of many political divisions, where he has been used to advance one agenda or another. Drawing together many aspects of the cult of St. George, Riches provides a fascinating history of an enduring icon. 

1

St George: A Reappraisal for a Multicultural Age

St George is no stranger to controversy. In the late fifth century his legend was included in the first ever index of forbidden books on the grounds that the complex martyrdom story associated with him, with its grisly tortures and multiple resurrections, is too incredible to be given credence; if this was an attempt to suppress the cult it was profoundly unsuccessful, since he is recognized around the world, and in a variety of religious traditions, as a vital component of personal and communal belief systems.

For many readers the immediate association which St George brings to mind is his status as the patron saint of England, but it is worth noting that this designation was not officially recognized until the mid-eighteenth century. Although it is entirely possible to find St George spoken of as an English patron far earlier than this, it is unlikely that he was widely recognized as a national patron of England in any meaningful way until after the Reformation; there may well have been a conscious effort to try to cement him into English affections, but the process was far from straightforward.

One of the most long-standing challenges to St George can be traced back to Edward Gibbon, author of the hugely influential work The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (six volumes, 1776–89). Gibbon propagated the idea that St George could be identified with George of Cappadocia, a well-documented historical figure who pursued a career selling questionable pork to the Roman army, later rising to the position of archbishop of Alexandria. A known adherent of the Arian heresy, a belief system that questioned the divinity of Jesus, he was murdered by an angry mob in 362 CE.

Gibbon’s contention was refuted with some force in an essay by Dr Samuel Pegge, presented to the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1777 and published ten years later in their journal Archaeologia. Despite this, and the periodic restating of the difference between St George and his heretical namesake by a range of authors, the identification of St George with George of Cappadocia still has currency today, and it is regularly put forward by people who wish to discredit St George’s claims to be the national patron of England. The longevity of the misidentification can be attributed not only to the pervasive influence of Gibbon, but also to the fact that no less a figure than Ralph Waldo Emerson restated the erroneous thesis in English Traits (1856), despite the fact that even cursory research would have told him that Gibbon’s conclusions had already been called into serious question.

If St George was not a purveyor of dodgy meat and dodgy ideas, who was he? Much intellectual effort has been expended on the question of the historical authenticity of the figure who has come to be identified as St George.¹ Suffice it to say that, whether or not anyone lived who did any of the things associated with St George – witnessing for his faith, being tortured and executed for his refusal to recant, healing the sick, repeatedly rising from the dead, freeing prisoners, protecting the young, appearing as a ghostly figure to lead armies and break sieges (and, from about the eleventh century, killing a dragon to rescue a princess) – it is clear that over many centuries a wide range of people have been taken with the idea that someone might have done these things. They called that someone St George, and created a lively cult around him that spread to most parts of the world from its probable origins in the early fourth century in the eastern Mediterranean.

Analogues of St George beyond Christianity

Turning away from the question of whether there is any historical reality underpinning the concept of St George, and looking at what – to me at least – is the much more fascinating question of what people have believed about him and why, we quickly come up against a concept which for many Christians, and indeed Anglophone people of all faiths and none, is both a challenge and, one hopes, a liberation. Despite the fact that St George is clearly a Christian figure, one of the most interesting facets of his cult is the way that aspects of his legend and imagery are paralleled in other, non-Christian traditions, both religious and secular.

Al-Khidr

St George has particularly strong links with an archetypal figure who appears in a number of religious traditions under a variety of names, which include Al-Khidr, Khwaja Khizr, Hizir, Pir Badar, Raja Kidar, Mar Jiryis and Jiryis Baqiya. This figure is particularly associated with the eastern Mediterranean. Thus, for example, St George is venerated by Palestinian Christians as Mar Jiryis, and the same figure is recognized by Palestinian Muslims as Al-Khidr. Furthermore, this figure is associated with, and even identified as, the prophet Elijah in some folkloric traditions within both Judaism and Islam.

There are a number of common themes which arise with this figure across religious traditions, particularly an association with immortality, healing, fertility, wisdom and water – especially the discovery of a well or fountain of eternal youth – and also the patronage and protection of people travelling by sea. The figure of Al-Khidr is also associated with rainfall, notably appearing in visions to prophesy the end of drought. One significant difference between this archetypal figure and St George is that there is usually no dragon legend attached to it – although Muslims in Palestine are known to recognize the iconography of the mounted dragon-slayer as Al-Khidr. It is likely, then, that Al-Khidr and the other analogues are more closely associated with the early understandings of St George as a holy man and martyr rather than with the later understandings of him as a dragon-slayer.

All the versions of the archetype can be referred back to figures in the folklore of ancient Sumeria and Babylon. For example, the figure of Ea, known also as Enki, was the ruler of the streams that rose in the underworld, and flowed from there to fertilize the land. In imagery Ea is linked with fish, and often holds in his hands a flowing vase which is the source of the water of immortal life. He is also identified as a figure of great wisdom. The various names applied to the holy archetype known as Al-Khidr, Mar Jiryis and so forth often equate to terms such as ‘the Living’, ‘the Green One’ and ‘the Evergreen One’; he is sometimes said to derive from the Greek sea god Glaucos, whose name means ‘the Blue One’ or ‘the Green One’. Glaucos was a fisherman who achieved immortality, and hence the status of a god, after eating a seashore herb which he had noticed restored his fish to life. Utnapishtim, a character in the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh (eighteenth century BCE), attained immortality in a remarkably similar way, and this parallel may indicate another influence.

Al-Khidr is a significant figure in some Islamic traditions, especially Sufism, but it is true to say that he is primarily a folkloric figure who is recognized to be pre-Islamic in origin. He is reputed to have found the Fountain of Youth, or the Well of Life, which is said to be located near the confluence of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. Drinking from this well or fountain confers immortality; it is claimed that Al-Khidr was repeatedly killed and resurrected, with one story involving martyrdom at the behest of a pagan king. This seems to be evidence of a strong link to early versions of the legend of St George as a Christian martyr, which claim that he was killed and resurrected on more than one occasion, and it perhaps indicates a common source for these legends. Some traditions state that Al-Khidr bathed three times in the Well of Life: in consequence his skin and all his clothing turned entirely green, and he leaves green footprints wherever he goes. In fact, the name ‘Al-Khidr’ (‘the Green One’) can be understood as an invocation of the natural world as well as a reflection of his physicality – it is certainly a theme in the ‘pagan’ equivalent of St George. The immortality of Al-Khidr is sometimes interpreted as a symbol of the immensity of his knowledge and providential wisdom; we should note that the Jewish prophet Elijah is also thought to be immortal and deeply wise.

Like St George, the figure of Al-Khidr is invoked as a healer: one of his shrines, visited by adherents of Christianity and Judaism as well as Islam, is known to have been located at a kind of psychiatric asylum near Bethlehem, where several miraculous healings were claimed. Another healing shrine was located on the slopes of Mount Carmel – a site strongly associated with Elijah – while in the early twentieth century it was noted that those suffering from ‘fever, quaking and fear’ resorted to a Christian shrine of Mar Jiryis at Urmi in Persia. Al-Khidr’s interventions in human affairs are largely meant to help and provide succour to people in times of need: indeed, the ambulance service in Turkey today is called the ‘Khidr-Service’.

Al-Khidr also has strong associations with fertility, particularly in the form of stories linking him with the weather. One example dates to 1906, when the winter rains failed in Palestine, leading to famine and poverty. It is claimed that a woman was slowly filling a pitcher from a scanty spring at a place known as Ain Kârim when she was accosted by a horseman holding a long lance who ordered her to water his horse. She objected to his command, but obeyed him, and was horrified to discover that blood, and not water, streamed from the pitcher. The horseman then revealed his identity as Al-Khidr, and ordered the woman to tell everyone that if Allah had not sent the drought there would have been a great pestilence and other grave misfortunes. He then appeared to another woman at Hebron with a similar message, promising that the rains would come after the Greek New Year. It seems that his prophecy came true. This water-themed story also exemplifies the way in which Al-Khidr is recognized as an eternal wanderer who helps people in trouble.

In parts of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Central Asia and Afghanistan people have held a special Khidr meal at home to gain his blessings. In parts of the Balkans and Turkey, Muslims have also been known to celebrate a Khidr feast, and his sanctuaries and pilgrimage sites can be found throughout the Muslim world. Seeing a vision of and meeting Al-Khidr has been regarded as a great distinction in some branches of Islam: an encounter with him has been one of the distinguishing marks of Sufi saints, just as a vision of Elijah is much sought after in some forms of Judaism. Al-Khidr is sometimes represented as an angel, reflecting both his immortality and his role as a kind of heavenly messenger; he is even described as the ‘Green Angel Guide’ in some Islamic writings.

Khwaja Khizr/Khadir

The figure known as Al-Khidr is understood as a kind of patron saint of travellers, also of sailors, especially in the Middle East and Northern India. In the latter area he is identified with the prophet, saint or deity known as Khwaja Khizr, Khadir (especially in parts of India which have a strong Muslim influence), Pir Badar or Raja Kidar; this figure is the object of a popular cult to this day, common to both Muslims and Hindus. There is a story that links the Indian Khadir to a healing well and – intriguingly – the ‘quelling of a serpent’, which may possibly indicate some link to the identification of St George as a dragon-slayer.

Elijah

The prophet Elijah, who was active in Israel in the ninth century BCE, is a favourite hero in written and oral Jewish folk literature; he is considered to be a special guardian of Israel.

Within rabbinic literature he is identified as the herald of the future redemption – he will announce the arrival of the Jewish Messiah, for example – but this motif is much less significant in folklore than an understanding of him as a heavenly figure that has been sent to Earth to combat social injustice. In many stories he rewards the poor who are hospitable to strangers and punishes the greedy rich, regardless of their status. The link between Elijah and St George may not be immediately obvious – Elijah is never presented as a knightly dragon-slayer, for example – but when some of the other aspects of the saint, such as his roles as a healer and a symbol of fertility, are borne in mind the connection becomes clearer. Meanwhile, beliefs about Elijah’s powers as a healer and wise man are deeply entwined with similar understandings of Al-Khidr; in the Old Testament book of I Kings, and in later Talmudic literature, Elijah is described as a rainmaker, another function he shares with his Islamic counterpart. Hundreds of shrines to Elijah in the Middle East and in Greece testify to a continuing understanding of his effectiveness as a patronal figure.

Many of the stories told about Elijah can be understood as a form of social protest, while at the same time offering comfort to the poor. Elijah alleviates the burdens of Jewish communities suffering from religious and national persecution. He appears especially on the eve of Passover when he punishes misers and provides poor people with the necessaries to prepare the Seder – the ceremony observed in Jewish homes on the first night of Passover (or the second night, in the Jewish diaspora). Every household celebrating the Seder will traditionally set a place for Elijah, in expectation of his appearance, and the best cup is reserved for him. The cup of Elijah is placed in the centre of the festive table; it is usually a large ornate goblet that is filled with wine but not drunk, as an expression of a fervent hope that the prophet will come soon.

Elijah’s interventions and miracles include healing, fertility and the interpretation of mysterious events and visions. Elijah’s cave or shrine on Mount Carmel is claimed as the site of many healing legends. Another prevalent motif is his ability to act as provider, based on his role as a rainmaker. He conferred an inexhaustible barrel of oil on one devotee and distributed magic money-making boxes to the poor, but then took them away when the recipients stopped being charitable.

It is claimed that Elijah did not die but was raised up to heaven in a fiery chariot. He is said to have dropped his cloak as he was carried, and supernatural powers are ascribed to this garment. In some understandings he is thought to wander the earth – just as Al-Khidr does – usually disguised as a poor man. Some Jewish folk beliefs describe ways to bring about visions of Elijah, and even to meet him. His name is inscribed on many protective amulets, especially in areas influenced by Islamic culture.

Ogum

Another syncretic form of St George is recognized in the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomblé. Here we have two quite distinct traditions colliding and cross-fertilizing: Roman Catholicism and Yoruba, a belief system that originated in West African countries such as Nigeria, Benin and Togo.

Interest in St George was imported to Brazil by Portuguese colonists: devotion to the saint in Portugal can be traced back to the twelfth century, and during the reign of King John I (r. 1385–1433) he was recognized as the country’s patron. Candomblé, meanwhile, is based on religious practices brought to Brazil by enslaved West Africans, and Ogum is one of the most significant deity figures in this belief system. In Yoruba mythology, Ogum is a primordial Orisha (a spirit or deity reflecting a manifestation of an aspect of the god Olodumare) whose first appearance was as a hunter. Ogum is identified as the first of the Orisha to descend to earth to find somewhere suitable for future humans to live. He is understood as an aggressively masculine and martial spirit, with a fiery temperament and an ability to heal diseases of the blood. Within Candomblé, Ogum may also be identified with St Sebastian, the soldier saint who is frequently represented shot with arrows; in the European tradition he is associated with protection from plague (since plague sores look rather like arrow wounds) and is also a locus for homoerotic projection.

St Sebastian is the official patron of Rio de Janeiro, but he is rivalled by St George in terms of public displays of interest, and the parallel of both figures with Ogum tends to reinforce the identification of these saints as locally significant. There are many songs about St George and churches are well attended on his feast day, which is identified as a time when the spiritual fight is particularly acute.

In late 2012 St George was invoked in the title of a new soap opera. Salve Jorge (‘Hail George’) is a story set partially in one of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas – hillside shanty towns – and it sets out to reflect social problems such as human trafficking alongside the more standard melodramatic fare of love and betrayal. It is notable that the series has drawn protests from some evangelical Christian groups. It seems that their objections are twofold – they dislike the title’s evocation of St George, because they feel it contradicts the biblical commandment to worship only God; they also allege that the invocation of St George is a reference to a deity in Candomblé (presumably they mean Ogum, though this is somewhat unclear) and are unhappy with this non-Christian context.

There are evangelical websites that show banners saying Queima o Jorge (‘Burn George’), using fiery letters, and slogans such as ‘Those who believe in the Lord Jesus as the only saviour will not watch this soap opera.’ Meanwhile, a spokesman for the production company has said that the title is a reference to one of the characters, who is interested in St George as a warrior who stood for chivalry, and noted that the figure ‘exists in all cultures, religious or not’.² My own feeling is that the decision to use this title for the series, and the strength of feeling in the opponents of this soap opera and its invocation of the saint, are good indicators of the extent to which St George is a significant figure in Brazilian society, both as a Christian and non-Christian archetype; there is also a clear indication of the variance in understandings which is found in a few other places with an ambivalent attitude to the saint, although I am unaware of St George attracting quite this level of active hostility outside this specific context.

The Green Man

Returning to Europe, our final example of a non-Christian analogue of the saint is found, paradoxically, physically within many me...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction: ‘God is Great but Not Like St George’
• 1 St George: A Reappraisal for a Multicultural Age
• 2 Misrepresentations and Reinventions: St George across Continents and Cultures
• 3 St George and the Natural World: A Symbol of Fertility
• 4 St George as a Saint of Water and Healing
• 5 St George as a Dragon-slayer
• 6 St George and England: A Re-emerging Relevance?
• Conclusion: Where Next for St George?
• References
• Bibliographic Essay
• Acknowledgements
• Photo Acknowledgements
• Index