“Hunters of old pursued the miraculous stag, not because they expected to kill it, but because it led them in the joy of the chase to new and fresh adventures, and so to capture happiness.”
Baden-Powell's farewell speech to the Scouts
Image 1. Depiction of a Knight and the White Stag.
The White Stag is an important historical-religious figure found in European and Eastern European mythology. In Celtic tradition, the White Stag is considered a messenger from the Otherworld and often thought to appear when one was transgressing a taboo. In Arthurian legends the White Stag was thought to represent mankind’s spiritual quests and that it perennially evaded capture. In English folklore, the White Stag is associated with Heme the Hunter and even kings. In Christian tradition, the white stag is, in part, responsible for the conversion of several saints, including Saints Eustace and Hubert and often a representation of Christ. In Hungarian myth it was the White Stag that led the brothers Hunor and Magor into Scythia to found two great Empires—the Huns and the Magyar.
