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by C. Cheek
I had the lack of foresight to be born in the month of May, forever damning myself to combined birthday and Mother's Day gifts. Fortunately, my husband is a kind man who gives me more than enough chocolate to last the dry spell between Easter and Halloween. My favorite chocolates are made by Godiva. While expensive (even though we buy it on sale after the holidays), the chocolate is luscious and sweet, a decadent yet innocent mouthful in every truffle. The boxes shine like gold bullion, and each one has the company's trademark logo, Lady Godiva riding a horse. Why would a chocolatier choose Lady Godiva as its logo? What is it about a half-nude woman that sells 120-calorie morsels of butterfat and cocoa?
I looked into the legend of Lady Godiva and found a curious thing. Like Robin Hood and King Arthur, she is both a real person and an ancient myth. The name Godiva comes from two parts: "Goda" an alternate name for Freya, and "Diva" a universal Indo-European name for goddess. The real Lady Godiva (or Godgifu, in her own dialect) was the wife of Leofric, an Anglo-Saxon earl during the reign of Edward the Confessor. He was earl of Mercia, and lord of the town of Coventry. They died in 1067 and 1057, respectively. Leofric was neither famous nor infamous, but Godiva was known to all as a goodly woman. She was seen as saintly, and as having a beneficial effect upon her husband, even before her famous ride.
The most common version of Godiva's myth is that her husband laid a heavy tax upon the people of the town. Godiva appealed to him to lift it, and he agreed, but only if she met his dare -- that she should ride through the town neither naked nor clothed. She accepted, but covered herself in her long golden hair so that she made her historic ride neither naked nor clothed. It is said that the people, out of respect for her virtue, hid within their homes so that none saw her as she made her ride. When she returned home, triumphant, her husband had no choice but to hold to his half of the bargain and ease his taxes.
Why has this story survived throughout the centuries? Surely, even in the 11th century, people did more remarkable things than ride naked through town. One theory is that Godiva's ride reenacted an older ritual. By looking closer we see ancient symbolism in this rite. First of all, Lady Godiva is always depicted as having long golden hair. Gold is a color for Freya, Teutonic goddess of love and beauty. Godgifu was a common name in the 11th century, but having Godgifu/Godiva named after Freya is an odd coincidence. This isn't the only hint that Godiva's ride was symbolic. The fact that she covers herself in her tresses alludes to an old riddle tale. In a Norse legend, a maiden named Anslaug was told to come by Ragnar Lothbrok neither clad nor unclad, and solved the riddle by draping her body in a fishing net. (In a second version, she uses her hair.) In Celtic lore, a woman named Grainne fell in love with the warrior hero Dairmaid. She cast a geas on him that he had to elope with her. Dairmaid, in response, tells her she must appear neither by day nor by night, neither clothed nor unclothed, neither on horseback nor walking. Grainne responds by wearing clothing formed of mountain dew, riding a goat in the evening.
Yet Godiva rides a horse, not a goat, and this is important. In Celtic lore, the horse is a symbol of fertility. For almost a century, the people of Coventry reenacted the ride of their most famous woman, and as the years went on, the processions became more and more elaborate. At first accompanied only by her handmaid, the symbolic Godiva was later accompanied by her symbolic husband. Leofric rode in black garb, astride a black horse, a perfect counterpoint to Godiva's fairness. In later processions, children also accompanied the couple, hearkening to tales of the goddess Hartland, also called Holda or Percluta, depicted as a woman with long golden hair. Hartland was followed by a troupe of ethereal figures, said to be the souls of unbaptized children. In the Coventry procession families considered it an honor to have their children in the parade, even though, by tradition, even the smallest children rode on horseback. The procession of people on horseback, rather than on foot, parallels with another tradition, called May-riding.
Medieval depictions of May-riding depict the Lady of the May riding on a white steed, accompanied by a man on a dark horse. Some versions claim that the May Lady originally rode naked, others insist that she was well known for her fine accoutrements. Either way, Lady Godiva and the Lady of the May have several connections. In the Holy Trinity Church in Coventry, an old stained glass window depicted Lady Godiva. Long since destroyed, it was described in 1820 by a historian who said that she had golden hair, a crown, a long yellow dress, rode on a white horse, and held a branch of white flowers. Two colors: gold and white. Gold and white are symbols of Beltaine, gold for the fires and white for the purity of the May Queen.
Note that Godiva's processions also took place in May. Godiva is a symbol of feminine beauty and fertility, with her horse, her golden locks, and, of course, her nudity. Feminine beauty is the theme of Beltaine. Not only is Beltaine a time of marriage, a time when, traditionally, young men and women would announce their year-and-a-day handfasting, but it's also a time in which the light half of the year is coming into fruition. All is light, all is feasting and joy and love.
The goddess of love who lent her name to Godiva is Freya (also known as Godu). Freya has power because she seduces, but she's not about power. She's about making the world a better place through feminine virtue. Godiva sacrificed for the sake of her people. She used her beauty and goodness to convince her husband to "free the people from their servitude" as an early account of the tale relates (the reduction of taxes idea came later). Godiva's ride, therefore, is the triumph of goodness and feminine beauty over male oppression. Lady May doesn't fight, she doesn't hurt, she wins over the darkness with the inevitability of blossoms after a cold winter.
Godiva was known for her goodness and purity, but pure women do not usually ride naked. Like the riddle tale, with its fascination with the betwixt and between, Godiva's nudity adds a fascinating aspect of sexuality to the legend. She's nude, and yet no one sees her, or perhaps only one. An apocryphal tale claimed that only Peeping Tom peered out his window at Coventry's lady, and everyone else hid their eyes out of respect for her purity. Where else do we see femininity that is both pure and sexual; beautiful, yet accompanied by her lord and a procession of children? Mothers, of course, are something else celebrated in May.
Ana Jarvis, who founded Mother's Day in 1912, had the right idea when she used a white carnation to symbolize mothers. She also had the right idea when she put Mother's Day in May. She chose the second Sunday in May because of her mother's birthday, but Romans and early Christians had already used spring as a time to celebrate Rhea (mother of the gods) and the Virgin Mary, respectively. Mother's Day is still one of America's most popular holidays. Millions of people buy flowers for their mothers on this day, often white carnations. What could be a more poignant symbol of purity and innocence than white flowers? And yet both the Lady of May and mothers in general are about more than purity. You don't become a mother by staying pure, and Godiva wouldn't be as famous if she left her clothes on. So what gift embodies both sweetness and decadence? Both sinfulness and joy? Chocolate.
Chocolate is feminine. Men offer chocolate when they want to please women, but women rarely offer chocolate to men. Think of all the ads you've seen in which beautiful women moan as they place rich mousse on their tongues. Think of melting chocolate, in wet, sensual ripples, as it covers snowy white ice cream. Chocolate is sexual, but chocolate is also innocent. My earliest memories of spring holidays revolve around chocolate rabbits and eggs, bon-bon filled hearts, truffles on my birthday. What other gift seduces women and pleases children simultaneously? Chocolate. I'm convinced that if cacao grew in Europe, chocolate would have been offered to every Celtic and Teutonic goddess. And if I get lucky, and someone buys me a shining gold box of truffles for my birthday, I'll raise one to Godiva as she rides in half-nude splendor on the lid and say, "This one's for you, Lady of the May."
Copyright © 2006 by the article's author