Newsletter 03/08/04

Der Golem

Welcome to my first by request newsletter. If you have a particular topic you'd like to see covered here, feel free to write in to the feedback section or email me personally. After all, anything that makes the job of finding a topic easier is good by me. :)

Now, the subject of the request is Golems. asked for some information since they tend to be rare in Fantasy literature. That is true, to a point. Technically, however, we could classify any animate unliving object that is not the undead as a Golem, although since the Golem has specific legends associated with it, the reverse definition might be true. As such, living statues, suits of armor that animate and attack and castles that are alive and attack invaders are all creatures similar to Golems. Even more closely related would be the robots of Science Fiction. However, in this article, I would like to look at the history of the actual Golem. Well, the legendary Golem anyway. I tried and E-bay doesn't have a single authentic Golem to be had at any price.

Golem comes from the Hebrew word Gelem, which means Raw Materials. The Golem is a creature of Hebrew myth, made out of clay (the raw materials) and animated through Cabbalistic methods. Normally the legends state that a Golem is brought to life by placing the Name of God in it's mouth. Another part that is often included is that the Hebrew word for Truth (ameth) must be inscribed on its forehead. Through a ritual, a spirit is bound to the clay statue and it animates, even growing hair on its head and nails on its fingers and toes. To kill the golem, the Name of God must be taken from its mouth, and/or the first letter of the word on its forehead must be erased (meth in Hebrew means death).

The most famous Golem is the one created by Rabbi Loew in Prauge in the 1600's. He created so his people would have a defender, as the Jews in Prauge were subject to much discrimination, particularly a number of vile accusations about their religious practices. The Golem worked as a servant to Rabbi Loew and also patrolled the streets at night, protecting its people. When a law was passed banning the discrimination of the Jews, the Golem was no longer needed. What happened to it varies from telling to telling. In some, the Golem is returned to the dust it came from. In some, the Rabbi destroys the Golem because he fears its power. In some, however, the Golem is made to go to sleep and hidden in the attic of the great synagogue in Prauge where it remains today.

The Golem has popped up here and there in the media. In the early 1900's, there were three films made about the Golem legend. The third one was a movie adaptation of the legend of the Golem of Prauge, and seems to be the only one of the three that survives today.

Another treatment of the Golem of legend can be found in a comic book series, Ragman. The Golem in this series has the word on his forehead, and is a creation of Jewish Cabbalistic sorcery. The title character is a variant on the Golem legend. He wears a suit of rags. The suit itself is semi-intellegent, but needs a human operator. The suit was created by a council of Rabbis to give the people a protector that would not be a souless being. In this series, a true Golem had also been constructed, and it was slowly becoming more and more human, since it had been around for some time.

So, that is the story of the Golem. If you would like more information, check out these web sites.

http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/golem.html#golem

The Golem of Prauge legend.

http://www.jewishmag.com/26mag/golem/golem.htm

A short essay about the Golem legend.

http://webhome.idirect.com/~donlong/monsters/Html/Golem.htm

A short information page about the Golem.

http://scils.rutgers.edu/%7Ekvander/golem/index.html

A page with some literary retellings of the Golem legend and discussion of them.

http://rhs.jack.k12.wv.us/sthrills/golem/golem.htm

Some information about the movie Der Golem, from 1920.

http://www.comicsdb.com/comicsdb/issuedetails.asp?Title=Ragman+%282n...

Some information about the Ragman series which featured the Golem.