The Holly King & The Oak King

The Holly King and the Oak King is a story about the changing of the seasons and the turning of the wheel, but there are many different versions and plenty that people disagree on.

To start with often people can’t agree on whether this is an old Celtic story or a neopagan story. The themes contained in the story of the Oak King and the Holly King are common and are found in lots of other stories, such as Jesus and John the Baptist, The Green Knight and Sir Gawain, Lugh and Balor of the Evil Eye, Lleu Llaw Gyffes and Gronw Pebr.

I don’t think it particularly matters, all stories were new once and as long as we like them, I think that is enough.

The other thing people tend to disagree on is the timing, but I should probably tell the story, especially for those who don’t know it, before talking about that.

The Story of The Holly King & The Oak King

Since the very early days, when the wheel had only just started turning, there have been two mighty kings.

One is known as the Oak King, he wears a crown of oak leaves and wherever he goes the sun will follow and new life appears, flowers bloom and birds sing in that way that they do best on a beautiful spring or summer day when the sun warms your skin.

The other is the Holly King, he wears a crown of holly leaves. Recognising the need for dark as well as light, the importance of rest and sleep, in his presence the trees lose their leaves and sleep for the winter and animals hibernate, cosy and warm in their dens and nests.

The trouble comes, as it often does with power, that once one king got power over the land he was not too keen on relinquishing that power, and so they fought. The kings are so evenly matched in power and in neccessity that sometimes one will win and sometimes the other, whoever has been reighning for a while is often a little worn out and will lose.

Whether the kings still engage in this battle to control the land or whether they realise that this balance between the two of them is necessary and so keep fighting their battles to ensure the turning of the wheel is a mystery, but it happens all the same.

On the Winter solstice The Holly King is at the height of his power and at the spring equinox he will lose to the Oak King who will then reign.

The Oak King will be at the height of his power at the summer solstice until he is defeated at the autumn equinox, and so the wheel keeps turning.

Now, as I mentioned there is some disagreement over the times. Some people prefer the version where the battles and the transfer of power happens on the solstices, which is fine, that makes sense too and it doesn’t change the story, just the timing.

For me the summer solstice doesn’t feel like the start of the autumn and winter, it is still very much summer, then going through August it starts to feel to me as if the summer is getting tired so, in my opinion, the battles happening at Ostara and Mabon just feels right.

It’s ok, it’s a story, it’s fine to have different versions, in fact most stories do.

Making The Holly King & The Oak King Artwork

The Holly King and The Oak King artwork is actually something I have been playing around with for a few years now. It was originally a lino print, when I used to do printmaking, it only made it to the test print stage though and was never made available to buy.

Eventually this lino print was made into a design for hoodies and T-shirts, you can find both a gold and an amber version over in my hoodies shop at the moment.

I had been thinking about doing a full artwork for it and made a couple of vague attempts but I wasn’t completely happy with it, so I went back to the beginning and decided to draw a fresh version of it.

I usually start with a rough drawing to get it all laid out how I want it and then put it on a light box to transfer it over to the paper for the final piece to keep it clean and not have it covered with all sorts of pencil marks.

Then I add in all of the details and colour.

The Holly King and Oak King artwork is currently available to own as a high quality giclée print.