batch.motif.comparative-golden-bough-volume-2-frazer-gutenberg-l8131-l8195
---
record_id: batch.motif.comparative-golden-bough-volume-2-frazer-gutenberg-l8131-l8195
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
passage_locator:
label: 'The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2) / CONTENTS;
lines 8131-8195'
start: '8131'
end: '8195'
translation: 'The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2)'
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: Frazer argues that the Arician King of the Wood personified the oak or
its spirit, that his life was linked to the mistletoe or Golden Bough, and that
his ritual death may once have involved breaking or throwing the bough and burning
him at a midsummer fire festival. He compares this reconstruction with Balder
and with fiery rites among Celts and northern Aryans. He then explains the title
Golden Bough by comparing mistletoe with traditions about golden or fiery fern-seed,
which appears at solstitial times, reveals or produces wealth, and is described
in one German story as blood drawn from the sun.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The passage identifies the priest of the Arician grove, called the King of
the Wood, as a personification of the tree on which the Golden Bough grew.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: Frazer reasons that if the tree was an oak, the King of the Wood was a personification
of the oak-spirit.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The passage states that the King of the Wood's life or death was in the mistletoe
on the oak, and that he could not die while the mistletoe remained intact, like
Balder.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:4
text: The passage says that, to slay him, it was necessary to break the mistletoe
and probably throw it at him.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:5
text: Frazer supposes that the King of the Wood was formerly burned, dead or alive,
at a midsummer fire festival in the Arician grove.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:6
text: The passage associates a perpetual fire in the grove with sacred oak-wood
and suggests that the King of the Wood once met his end in a fire of oak before
later dying by the sword.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:7
text: Frazer states that a similar fiery tragedy was annually enacted at Nemi and
compares it with rites witnessed among Celts of Gaul and potentially among northern
Aryans.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:8
text: The passage notes that mistletoe was called the Golden Bough and that in Welsh
it was known as the tree of pure gold.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:9
text: The passage says Virgil describes the Bough as wholly golden, including stem
and leaves.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:10
text: The passage says fern-seed is popularly supposed to bloom like gold or fire
on Midsummer Eve and, in Bohemia, to have golden blossoms gleaming like fire on
St. John's Day.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:11
text: The passage states that possession of fern-seed, or ascending a mountain with
it on Midsummer Eve, reveals gold or treasures, and that placing fern-seed among
money prevents the money from decreasing.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:12
text: The passage reports a Christmas variant in which whoever catches fern-seed
becomes very rich.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:13
text: Frazer interprets fern-seed as an emanation of the sun's fire at the summer
and winter solstices.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:14
text: A German story in the passage says a hunter procured fern-seed by shooting
at the sun at noon on Midsummer Day; three drops of blood fell into a white cloth
and were the fern-seed.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: King of the Wood
description: The priest of the Arician grove, identified by Frazer as personifying
the tree or oak-spirit connected with the Golden Bough.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Balder
description: A comparative figure mentioned as similarly unable to die while mistletoe
remained intact.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Celts of Gaul
description: A group among whom Frazer says Italian merchants and soldiers later
witnessed the same fiery tragedy.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Northern Aryans
description: A group among whom Frazer says a similar rite might have been found
if Roman forces had reached Norway.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Possessor or gatherer of fern-seed
description: A person who has fern-seed, catches it, places it among money, or carries
it up a mountain and thereby discovers or receives wealth.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: German hunter
description: A hunter in a German story who obtains fern-seed by shooting at the
sun and catching three drops of blood in a white cloth.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Sun
description: The celestial body shot by the hunter in the German story; its blood-drops
become fern-seed.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
roles:
- id: role:1
label: tree-spirit personification
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage says the King of the Wood personified the tree and, if it was
an oak, the oak-spirit.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: ritual victim or slain sacred ruler
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage discusses breaking the mistletoe to slay him, a former burning
at the midsummer festival, and a later death by sword.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:3
label: comparative mistletoe-linked invulnerable figure
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The passage compares the King of the Wood's inability to die while mistletoe
remains intact with Balder.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:4
label: comparative ritual tradition group
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:4
basis: The passage compares the Nemi rite with fiery tragedies among Celts of Gaul
and northern Aryans.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:5
label: wealth receiver through fern-seed
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: The passage says fern-seed reveals gold or treasures, keeps money from decreasing,
and enriches whoever catches it.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:6
label: procurer of fern-seed
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: The German story says the hunter procured fern-seed by shooting at the sun
and catching blood-drops.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:7
label: source of fern-seed blood
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: The German story identifies the blood-drops falling from the sun as fern-seed,
and Frazer calls them the blood of the sun.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: Golden Bough or mistletoe
literal_form: Mistletoe growing on the oak, also called the Golden Bough and the
tree of pure gold.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: sym:2
label: oak
literal_form: The oak tree of the Arician grove and sacred oak-wood used for fire.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: midsummer fire
literal_form: A fire festival at midsummer in the Arician grove, with a perpetual
fire probably fed by sacred oak-wood.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:4
label: sword
literal_form: The later means by which the King of the Wood dies after escaping
the fire.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:5
label: fern-seed
literal_form: Mythical seed or bloom described as golden, fiery, wealth-giving,
and gathered or caught at Midsummer or Christmas.
associated_figures:
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: sym:6
label: mountain ascent with fern-seed
literal_form: Ascending a mountain while holding fern-seed on Midsummer Eve to discover
gold or shining treasures.
associated_figures:
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs:
- mountain
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:7
label: sun blood-drops
literal_form: Three drops of blood from the sun, caught in a white cloth and identified
as fern-seed.
associated_figures:
- fig:6
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Slaying of the King of the Wood through the Golden Bough
summary: Frazer reconstructs a rite in which the King of the Wood, whose life is
linked to mistletoe on an oak, can be slain only after the mistletoe is broken
and perhaps thrown at him.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Midsummer burning in the Arician grove
summary: Frazer supposes that the King of the Wood was formerly burned at the midsummer
fire festival in the Arician grove, in a fire associated with sacred oak-wood,
before a later form of death by sword.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Comparative fiery tragedy in oak worship
summary: The passage compares the annual fiery rite at Nemi with similar rites among
Celts of Gaul and northern Aryans and calls it probably part of primitive Aryan
oak worship.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Golden and fiery fern-seed confers wealth
summary: The passage describes fern-seed as blooming gold or fire at solstitial
or calendrical moments and as enabling the discovery or preservation of gold and
money.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:5
label: Hunter obtains fern-seed from the sun
summary: In a German story, a hunter shoots at the sun on Midsummer Day at noon,
catches three blood-drops in a white cloth, and thereby obtains fern-seed.
figure_refs:
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: life bound to a plant token before ritual slaying
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_tree_axis
basis: The King of the Wood's life or death is said to be in the mistletoe on the
oak, and the mistletoe must be broken before he can be slain.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage presents this as Frazer's reconstruction and analogy rather
than as a directly narrated myth from antiquity.
- id: motif:2
label: sacred ruler or tree-spirit burned at seasonal fire festival
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
- seasonal_cycle
- sacred_tree_axis
basis: Frazer suggests the oak-spirit King of the Wood was formerly burned, dead
or alive, at the midsummer fire festival in the Arician grove.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: The burning is explicitly hypothetical, introduced as a supposition to
complete the parallel.
- id: motif:3
label: golden or fiery plant substance grants treasure and inexhaustible wealth
taxonomy_refs:
- seasonal_cycle
basis: Fern-seed is described as golden or fiery, blooming at Midsummer or Christmas,
revealing gold or earth-treasures, and keeping money from decreasing.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The motif is reported as popular belief about fern-seed and is used by
Frazer to explain the Golden Bough by analogy.
- id: motif:4
label: solstitial plant magic as emanation of the sun's fire
taxonomy_refs:
- seasonal_cycle
basis: Frazer connects fern-seed with Midsummer and Christmas solstices and interprets
it as an emanation of the sun's fire; a German story derives it from blood-drops
of the sun.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: medium
cautions: The solar emanation is Frazer's interpretation, while the German hunter
story is presented as supporting evidence.
- id: motif:5
label: cross-cultural fiery oak-worship rite
taxonomy_refs:
- sacred_tree_axis
- sacrifice
basis: The passage compares the Nemi rite with fiery rites among Celts of Gaul and
northern Aryans and calls the rite probably an essential feature of primitive
Aryan oak worship.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: low
cautions: This is a broad comparative-historical claim in the source text and requires
external review before acceptance.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The King of the Wood and Balder are compared as figures whose death is prevented
while mistletoe remains intact and enabled through mistletoe.
claim_level: same_function
target: Balder mistletoe episode
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage gives only the functional parallel and does not provide
the full Balder narrative.
- id: claim:2
claim: The reconstructed Arician burning rite is compared with fiery rites among
Celts of Gaul and northern Aryans as part of a broader oak-worship pattern.
claim_level: common_inheritance
target: Celtic Gaulish and northern Aryan fiery oak rites
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: low
limitations: The claim is Frazer's comparative reconstruction and is not independently
demonstrated within the passage.
- id: claim:3
claim: The Golden Bough's gold imagery is compared with fern-seed traditions in
which a plant substance is golden, fiery, and wealth-giving.
claim_level: same_function
target: mythical fern-seed or fern-bloom traditions
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage argues by analogy between names and properties; it does
not state that mistletoe and fern-seed are the same object.
- id: claim:4
claim: The golden quality of fern-seed is explained as secondary to its fiery solar
character because it appears at solstitial moments and is derived from the sun
in a German story.
claim_level: archetypal_reading
target: solar-fire origin of golden fern-seed
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: This is an interpretive explanation by Frazer, not a direct statement
of belief by all cited traditions.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 8131-8141
quote_or_summary: The King of the Wood is said to personify the tree or oak-spirit;
his life or death is in the mistletoe on the oak, and, like Balder, he cannot
die while it remains intact.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized rather than extensively quoted.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 8141-8153
quote_or_summary: Frazer supposes the King of the Wood was once burned at the midsummer
fire festival in the Arician grove; the perpetual fire was probably fed with sacred
oak-wood, and later the king escaped fire only to fall by the sword.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized rather than extensively quoted.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 8154-8162
quote_or_summary: Frazer compares the annual fiery tragedy at Nemi with rites among
Celts of Gaul and northern Aryans and says it was probably an essential feature
in primitive Aryan oak worship.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized rather than extensively quoted.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 8163-8173
quote_or_summary: The passage asks why mistletoe was called the Golden Bough, notes
the Welsh name 'tree of pure gold,' and says Virgil described the Bough as golden
in stem and leaves.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized with a brief public-domain phrase.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 8174-8185
quote_or_summary: Fern-seed is described as blooming like gold or fire at Midsummer;
possession or mountain ascent with it reveals gold or treasures, it prevents money
from decreasing, and Christmas variants make its catcher rich.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized rather than extensively quoted.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 8185-8195
quote_or_summary: Frazer treats fern-seed's fiery aspect as primary because of its
solstitial timing; a German story says a hunter shot at the sun on Midsummer noon,
caught three blood-drops in a white cloth, and these were fern-seed.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized rather than extensively quoted.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: The passage is itself comparative and interpretive. Literal extraction is
strong, but several motif and historical-comparison items are Frazer's hypotheses
and should be reviewed.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
Only the supplied passage and metadata were used. Taxonomy references are limited to the available motif families and symbols.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:comparative-golden-bough-volume-2-frazer-gutenberg__l8131-l8195
passage_sha256=6d601e86288bb648b3f358cf3b22650e1180eb712fd0f0cb6af3ad3a8af32f63