Of Witches, Wizards, and Saints

Here is a post covering the latest arrivals from Dark Alliance.

The first set is of Witches, consisting of 44 figures in 11 poses.

About half of the figures wear the stereotypical witches hat that later became part of pop culture through the design of Adrian for the MGM film The Wizard of Oz.

Some media outlets entertain the dubious theory that these hats were derived from headgear worn by alewives, but this is sensationalist tripe propagated by the likes of the "History" Channel, VICE, and BBC, where lazy writers who don't do proper research, churn out authoritative sounding slop that would make AI cringe in embarrassment.

Christina Wade does not mention it in her braciatrix post, but the alewife theory was postulated by Alan Eames, self-styled anthropologist and historian who might be better described as bar owner, beer retailer/importer, marketing consultant, and all-around beer evangelist.

Anyway, back to the miniatures. These six figures are all doing stereotypical witch things, like carrying a familiar, examining a potion, stirring a cauldron, or holding/riding a broomstick.

In the second image, the first three figures follow the traditional archetype of witch as old crone popularized by Shakespeare in Macbeth. I'm not sure if the poses are based on existing artwork. The next two figures however, are obvious Disney characters — Queen Grimhilde in crone form, and Maleficent in her escoffion à cornes.

Crone Grimhilde was cast with a huge block of plastic obscuring the right side of her face, and will probably require a bit of skill to correct the issue.

I wonder if Dark Alliance will put out a set of modern witches like they have done for Krampus and Amazon figures. In any event, witches in an older post can be found here.

The second set is of Wizards, consisting of 48 figures 12 in poses.

The first image is of wizards with staves. I can't say that I really recognize these sculpts as representing anything other than generic wizards.

The second image is of more wizards with staves. The first figure is an obvious Saruman. The second figure holding a book is reminescent of John Dee, but that's just my impression.

The final image is of a wizard girded with sword, a wizard searching for reagents in his bag, a wizard holding a potion, and a gesticulating wizard.

This set is probably the most useful of the lot as candidates for player characters. More wizards from an older post can be found here.

The last box is Modern Krampus Set 1, consisting of 44 figures 11 in poses. I go over the background of the Krampus in a previous post.

In the first image, the first figure is St. Nicholas, based on the 4th century saint, Nicholas the Wonderworker. The next two figures are of Krampusse with bags of coal, followed by a Krampus with a basket on its back, and ending with two Krampusse with ruten.

The second image consists of three Krampusse being menacing, and two Krampusse carrying some sort of Krampus Staff.

I can't find much information on these staves other than they seem to be set ablaze in Austria. For the more tame North American Krampuslauf, they seem to use the Krampus Light Up Staff (illuminated with LEDs).

The final image is the reverse of some of the Krampus figures showing bag and basket. All of them have what I assume are two round bells on their belts. The kneeling Krampus distributing coal has a cowbell on his belt as well.

I prefer Set 1 over Set 2 because the figures are more in line with traditional Krampusse.

Krampus

The Krampus is a dark companion figure who accompanies Saint Nicholas during his midwinter rounds in Alpine regions and countries that were part of the former Habsburg Empire.

Krampus, 2015

There are a number of alternative names for Krampus, including Klaubauf, Bartl, Pelzebock, Gumphinckel, Schmutzli, Tuifl, and Ganggerl among numerous local variations. The feminine form of Krampus is said to be Krampa.

On Krampusnacht (December 5), Krampus visits each household to punish bad children by lashing them with a whip or rute, while for the Feast of St. Nicholas (December 6), Saint Nicholas rewards good children with treats.

Krampus also carries a sack or basket to carry off disobedient children to administer more serious consequences.

Greetings from Krampus!

Various theories on the roots of the Krampus myth propose a pagan origin. Some stories claim he is the son of Hel (a modern confabulation?), while others hypothesize he is derived from Cernunnos, Vidadus, or Silvanus.

Stephen Winick in a post at the Library of Congress Blog, dismisses these claims of pagan origin, and suggests Krampus legends come from medieval morality or miracle plays.

British Library Add MS 47682

Rituals involving the Krampus are said to have developed from pagan winter rites like Klaubaufgehen or Rauhnächten which centered around masked figures dressed in furs boisterously making a clammor with bells and chains to disperse evil spirits or usher out winter and the previous year.

These evolved into celebrations where figures costumed as St. Nicholas and one or more Krampusse parade through town to visit homes and businesses. A good article on this tradition can be found at earthstoriez.

In modern days, people engage in Krampuslauf and Krampus Balls. The former involves a procession of Krampusse running through the streets in Krampus costumes while the later appears to be some sort of modern Krampusnacht celebration.

From what I understand,these celebrations can get quite rowdy in Europe, with onlookers being swatted with whips and ruten. I imagine that the Krampuslauf in the U.S. is commercialized and much more tame, but I couldn't say for sure.

Regardless, Dark Alliance has released Modern Krampus sets in 1/72 scale, and I was able to order Set 2.

The set consists of four sprues of figures in ten poses. They appear as the type of Krampus one might find at a Krampuslauf, but are armed with ill-kept medieval-style weapons.

Unlike the traditional Krampus that serves as a deterrent to bad behavior, these Krampusse appear to be on a crusade to eliminate anyone who commits apostasy against the spirit of Christmas.

The figures are actually rather reminescent of the old Heritage Lord of the Rings orcs, or maybe could be used as bugbears for those who don't have a use for an army of Krampusse.

A Modern Krampus Set 1 that includes a figure of Saint Nicholas is also supposed to exist, but I have yet to see it being sold anywhere.

It would have been nice if there was a figure that looked like the Krampus from the 2015 film.

Ten Little Indians

Just a short post showing the size of the Strelets Comanche Warriors set (M166).

My overall impression is not dissimilar to what PSR says with respect to the sculpting, but these figures are very undersized.

PSR claims they average 22mm in height, but they don't mention that the bases are 3–4mm thick.

Very disappointing.

The Dragon and the George

The Cult of Saints emerged in Christiandom during the 3rd century. Saints were seen as examplars of behavior, and capable of interceding on the behalf of believers for divine favor.

In the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, military saints became popular objects of veneration due to being viewed as protectors. Among these, were four dragon-slaying saints that represented the triumph of Christianity over heresy/evil.

The earliest attribution of dragon-slayer is usually given to St. Theodore [Tyro]. A second [later] St. Theodore is also said to have slain a dragon (or serpent), with both events having occured near Euchaita.

St. Demetrius is yet another dragon-slaying saint, though I think his iconography is more associated with killing Tsar Kaloyan [whom I presume was considered a heretic for opposing Constantinople].

Occasionally, the figure being slain is
misrepresented (purposely?) as Lyaeus,
who was actually killed by St. Nestor.

In Bulgarian folk tales, St. Demetrius and St. George were said to be twins. Their origin legend is similar to later fairy tales like The Knights of the Fish, with Demetrius saving George from a dragon.

The narrative of St. George as the sole dragon-slayer solidified in the 13th century through the Legenda aurea.

The iconography used to depict these saints is influenced by the Cult of the Thracian Horseman, and the Dioscuri, but depictions of the dragon from this legend are varied.

Personally, I always associated the St. George legend with the paintings of Saint George and the Dragon by Paolo Uccello.

His earliest painting of this subject shows a dragon with four limbs, wings with ocellated markings, and long neck and tail. The dragon is reminescent of medieval depictions of demons, and it wraps its tail around the saint whose helmet is surrounded by golden rays.

Paolo Uccello, ca. 1430
NVG 2124-4

When he revisited the subject decades later, the dragon is painted as a wyvern, though the ocellated wings remain. St. George is depicted as the classic horseman, but modernized to an armored knight.

Paolo Uccello, ca. 1465
MJAP-P 2248

His final attempt at the subject is a refinement of the second painting. The wyvern has the ocellated wings and corkscrew tail of the earlier work, but does not look as awkward. This painting defined how I thought wyverns should look.

Paolo Uccello, ca. 1470
NG6294

Apparently Conan Scanlon, the sculptor for Saxon Manufacturing was of like mind, and used the painting as inspiration for his Wyvern (Saxon Fantasy 5010).

This particular miniature was used on the Lost Minis Wiki. After I got ahold of it, I used a green Sharpie to color in the eyes and wings. A bit of isopropanol created the ocellated spots. I'm still deciding whether to strip and repaint the miniature or not.

It's probably twice the size it should be to replicate the painting, so one of these days I'll probably use this miniature as a reference to sculpt a smaller version that matches better with 1/72 scale figures.

What's good for the goose

During the Middle Ages, there was a belief that certain types of geese emerged fully grown from driftwood through spontaneous generation (with goose barnacles being some sort of embryonic form).

This legend was propagated without any sort of critical evaluation in natural history texts by scholars like Gerald of Wales in a manner similar to the Google AI.

British Library Royal MS 13 B VIII

While this myth was challenged by Frederick II in his treatise On the Art of Hunting With Birds, it wasn't really until the 18th century when it became fully discredited.

Biblioteca Vaticana Pal. lat. 1071 f. 14v

In 1/72 scale plastic, I think the only live goose may be from the Linear-B Roman Market set, but I was hoping to find some options from HO scale manufacturers.

Busch makes two sets of geese (wild and domestic) that are repaints of the same models, but they look more like ducks to me. Faller has a set of Hens, Ducks and Geese, and Woodland Scenics has a set of Geese & Chickens. I don't have any of these sets because they are rather pricey.

The geese that I do have are from Preiser, Noch, and Merten.

The Preiser set is of Ducks, Geese & Swans (14167). Even for HO scale, the swans look tiny, giving me reservations about the size of the geese.

Based on the size of the birds, I identified a total of four geese in two poses (one hissing, one swimming), however it is very possible that I miscategorized some of the geese as ducks.

The Merten sets include Geese and Ducks on Land (724), and Geese and Ducks Swimming (736). I think that both sets are now available from Preiser.

The figures come attached to sprues (at least for the original Merten releases), so there is the risk of damage or loss during removal unless you have a deft hand at working with such tiny parts.

Based on body size and neck length, I identified six geese in each set. I think that there is one duplicated pose in each set, but I'm not 100% sure. Again, there is the possibility that a couple of the birds I thought were white ducks are actually geese.

The Noch set is of Chickens & Geese (15772).

There are eight geese in the Noch set; four standing (three poses), two flying (two poses), and two swimming (one duplicated pose).

Looking at all the geese together, the Preiser bird look small. The Merten goose is larger, its body close in size to the Noch goose, but its neck is shorter, while the Noch goose is the largest.

Preiser, Merten, Noch standing

Meanwhile, for the swimming poses, the Prsiser goose is very small, while the Merten goose appears larger than the Noch goose.

Preiser, Merten, Noch swimming

I wish there were S scale options to compare with, but out of all the models, I think the Noch geese are probably the closest to being compatible for use with 1/72 scale figures.

It's been a while since I've seen a goose in real life, but when I think of how big they should be, images like these come to mind.

To Pastures New, James Guthrie, 1883

The Goose Girl, Stanley Royle, 1921

Die Gänsemagd, Paul Hey, 1939

In any event, most adventurers probably don't give geese a second thought when it comes to danger, but players of Where Winds Meet consider them creatures that should not be triffled with.

Victory and defeat are unpredictable in the Jianghu.

However, perceptions may have changed with the introduction of the Goose Hydra in 5th edition D&D. The monster is derived from the MTG card The Goose Mother, where it is classified as a Bird Hydra.

Google AI claims that the Goose Hydra originates from 3D printed models created by various people in recent years, but monsters such as the Deep Goose existed ten years ago. There are likely even older incarnations.

My own model was created from splicing together the heads of a gaggle of geese from a bag of plastic farm animals that I believe are bootleg versions of Britains figures.

I gave the monster five heads, since it provided the most streamlined look while preserving the integrity of the individual necks for each head.

To Heal or Not to Heal