May-pole, as the May-tree, may be claimed as the Celtic variant of the world-tree, an Eastern legend, which again has been identified with the ash Ygdrasill; and the original of the most interesting personage of the May game or play may be denied to the North and ascribed to the Southern goddess Flora, who by this supposition was brought hither by the early missionaries. But that the spring festival was celebrated independently by the Northern peoples there can be no doubt.
In connection with the popular custom of celebrating the strife between winter and summer—common to both Teuton and Celt—Grimm says:
“I hope I have proved the antiquity and significance of the conceptions of Summer and Winter, but there is one point I wish to dwell upon more minutely. The dressing-up of the two champions in foliage and flowers, in straw and moss, the dialogue that probably passed between them, the accompanying chorus of spectators, all exhibit the first rude shifts of dramatic art, and a history of the German stage ought to begin with such performances. The wrappage of leaves represents the stage-dress and masks of a later time. Once before (p. 594), in the solemn procession for rain, we saw such leafy garb. Popular custom exhibits a number of variations, having preserved one fragment here and another there, of the original whole.” (Grimm's Teutonic Mythology., ii, 784.)
In the worship and ritual of Odin and in the celebrations of the seasons lie the beginnings of our Northern drama; and there is no call to regard the devious stream of tradition from this source in the spirit that denies, or with wilful scepticism. The adaptive power of tradition is a source of difficulty to the student, but it is that which gives its peculiar value to tradition. Robin Hood became King of the May, a genuine English product; and the Queen of the May became indifferently, Maid Marian, lady, or queen. The king and queen, or lord and lady, presided over the May games. They led the processions. Spoken words were introduced; Friar Tuck and other
