Tradition / Region: English Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Cow
The Myth
After the young king Kenelm was murdered and secretly buried in the Clent Hills, his sister Quendryda ordered that his name should never again be spoken, so that he might be forgotten. For a time it seemed her command had succeeded, and the child king lay hidden beneath the earth, unknown to the world.
Yet a cow began to visit the place where he was buried. Each morning she went to the spot beside a thorn tree and remained there all day. From dawn until dusk she ate nothing, yet every evening she returned home with her udders full of milk. The next day she came again, and the same thing happened.
This continued for a long time. The people of the district watched in wonder, for the cow seemed bound to that single place and lived without grazing. Because of her strange vigil, the valley came to be known as Cowbach.
Though the king’s name was scarcely spoken, the cow’s silent presence kept the memory of the place alive.
Far away in Rome, a white dove flew into the Pope’s chapel carrying word that the body of Saint Kenelm lay in a place called Cowbach in the Clent Hills. The message was sent onward to Archbishop Wulfred of Canterbury, and men were dispatched to find the saint.
When they arrived in the district, the locals led them at once to the spot where the cow sat each day. There they uncovered the body of the young king. As it was raised from the earth, a clear spring burst forth where he had lain.
Thus the cow’s quiet watch preserved the resting place of the saint until the time came for him to be remembered again.
Gallery
Sources
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Saint Kenelm. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Kenelm
Interpretive Lenses
Religious Readings
- Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
- Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
- Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
- Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
- Marxist Deep Dive