Puck: The Jester of the Forest and the Summer Night

The Trail of Hooves in the Forest

On the borders where the cultivated fields surrender to the thicket of the old forest dwells Puck, also known as Robin Goodfellow. He is the spirit of transformation and constant change, a creature of dual nature, half man and half beast. Those who have seen him up close describe a being of coppery skin, golden eyes like those of a goat, and small bumps on his forehead that barely suggest the budding of horns. His legs end in cloven hooves that leave strange tracks in the mud of the paths. Puck serves no earthly king, though he often acts as the jester and emissary of the forest powers. He is the herald of the summer night, the time of year when the barriers between the real and the fantastic become so thin they can be torn with a sigh. His laughter is famous: a hoarse and resonant neigh, a "Ho, ho, ho!" that echoes through the thicket and makes travelers quicken their pace toward the safety of the village.

The Cunning Mockery and the Unexpected Favor

Puck's specialty is metamorphosis and the confusion of identities. He can transform himself into a three-legged stool that slips away just as an old woman is about to sit down, into a young colt that misleads the mares from the stable, or into a will-o'-the-wisp that guides drunkards into the heart of the swamp to laugh at their laments as they sink up to their necks in the mud. But behind his apparent cruelty, there is a rudimentary sense of justice. Puck rewards the honest and punishes hypocrites. If he finds a sincere young lover lost in the forest, he is capable of using his magic to solve their problems; but if he runs into a greedy cleric or a corrupt judge, he will torment them with frightening visions and the clanking of chains until he makes them confess their sins to the trees.

The Mediator of Two Worlds

Puck is the bridge between the wild and untamed world of deep nature and the organized life of human villages. He enjoys apple ale, stories told by the fireside, and the company of mortals, whom he observes with a mixture of pity and amusement. To him, human beings are absurd and solemn creatures who complicate their lives with laws and promises they cannot keep. At the end of the night, when the sun begins to tinge the horizon with pink and spirits return to the shadows, Puck cleans his hooves in the morning dew and vanishes into the bark of an old oak. He leaves behind nothing but a trace of the scent of burning leaves and the feeling, in those who crossed his path, of having lived a dream from which it is neither possible, nor desirable, to fully awaken.