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What is the Irish hero warrior Cú Chulainn doing in Oz as the Scarecrow?
Here's my evidence from the original L. Frank Baum books, the film and quotes from the web.
---------------------------
(From the book...)
"The Scarecrow looked at her reproachfully, and answered,
"My life has been so short that I really know nothing whatever. I was only made day before yesterday."
(From a website...)
"Cú Chulainn's appearance is occasionally remarked on in the texts. He is usually described as small, youthful and beardless."
(Cú Chulainn was just a teen when he became a fierce and successful warrior. He was even younger when he earned his name killing a fierce guard dog.You will be hard pressed to find a picture of him as an adult.)
---------------------------------------------
(Cú Chulainn has one eye bigger than the other when he warpspasms. His eyes otherwise are very bright)
(From the book...)
"'Now I'll make the eyes,' said the farmer. So he painted my right eye, and as soon as it was finished I found myself looking at him and at everything around me with a great deal of curiosity, for this was my first glimpse of the world.
"'That's a rather pretty eye,' remarked the Munchkin who was watching the farmer; 'blue paint is just the color for eyes.'
"'I think I'll make the other a little bigger,' said the farmer;
(An episode of his transformation during warpspasm. From the web...)
"You would have thought that a spark of fire was on every hair. He closed one eye until it was no wider than the eye of a needle; he opened the other until it was as big as a wooden bowl."
"He had four dimples in each cheek—yellow, green, crimson and blue—and seven bright pupils, eye-jewels, in each kingly eye."
--------------------------------------
(Cú Chulainn’s birth name was Sétanta, meaning “one who has knowledge of roads and ways.”)
(The scarecrow in the film stands at a crossroads. Dorothy does not know which way to go)
(From the film...)
SCARECROW That way is a very nice way.
SCARECROW It's pleasant down that way, too.
SCARECROW Of course, people do....
SCARECROW ...go both ways!
(From the book...)
"If this road goes in, it must come out," said the Scarecrow, "and as the Emerald City is at the other end of the road, we must go wherever it leads us."
"Anyone would know that," said Dorothy.
"Certainly; that is why I know it," returned the Scarecrow. "If it required brains to figure it out, I never should have said it."
--------------------------------------------
(The scarecrow is not frightening to the crows.)
(From the book...)
By and by an old crow flew near me, and after looking at me carefully he perched upon my shoulder and said,
"'I wonder if that farmer thought to fool me in this clumsy manner. Any crow of sense could see that you are only stuffed with straw.' Then he hopped down at my feet and ate all the corn he wanted. The other birds, seeing he was not harmed by me, came to eat the corn too, so in a short time there was a great flock of them about me."
(Note that this not just any crow but an 'old crow'.)
(Something happens to Cú Chulainn when he is struck during a battle. A crow lands on his shoulder to prove he is harmless)
(From the web...)
"His death was said to be foreshadowed by many evil omens, and the death crow, the , was seen to settle on his shoulder as he made his last stand."
---------------------------------------------
(The scarecow is of course stood up on a pole in the book and film)
(From the book...)
There was a great cornfield beyond the fence, and not far away she saw a Scarecrow, placed high on a pole to keep the birds from the ripe corn.
(Cú Chulainn ends up in a similar position.)
(From the web...)
"He crawled to a standing stone and tied himself to it, gripping his sword tightly.
For three days, he stood there, his eyes unblinking"
-------------------------------------------
In the film the scarecrow is constantly losing his insides(straw).
(From another Baum book The Scarecrow of Oz...)
The Scarecrow sat up and said: "I beg your pardon!" but she whacked him with her stick and knocked him flat again. Then, furious with rage, the old witch sprang upon her victim and began pulling the straw out of his body. The poor Scarecrow was helpless to resist and in a few moments all that was left of him was an empty suit of clothes and a heap of straw beside it.
(From the film...)
SCARECROW They tore my legs off, and they threw them over there! Then they took my chest out,
and they threw it over there!
TIN MAN Well, that's you all over.
LION They sure knocked the stuffings out of you, didn't they?
(Cú Chulainn suffers the same problem. From the web...)
"The third son stepped forward and demanded a spear.
“Never let it be said I brought dishonour upon my family,” Cú Chulainn said—and he cast his final spear through the last son’s chest.
Lugaid pulled it free and hurled it one last time, striking Cú Chulainn through the stomach, spilling his intestines onto the ground."
-----------------------------------------
(In the film the scarecrow begins as a man in the real world. His name is Hunk. A 'hunk' is a slang term for a handsome person)
(From the web...)
"In Cú Chulainn's youth he is so beautiful the Ulstermen worry that, without a wife of his own, he will steal their wives and ruin their daughters."
--------------------------------------
(In the film and book the Scarecrow and his team are headed for the Emerald City. In later books he becomes ruler of this city.)
(Cú Chulainn is Irish. Ireland is known as the Emerald Isle.)
---------------------------------------------------
L. Frank Baum was part Irish and may have known about the figure of Cú Chulainn.
He once wrote a musical play set in Ireland...
The Maid of Arran, An Idyllic Irish Drama Written for the People, Irrespective of Caste or Nationality is an 1882 musical play by L. Frank Baum, writing and performing under the pseudonym, "Louis F. Baum", based on the novel A Princess of Thule by William Black. It was described as "A Play to Ensnare All Hearts and Leave an Impress of Beauty and Nobility Within the Sordid Mind of Man." The play resets the novel from Scotland's Outer Hebrides to Ireland.
Conclusion? Who is The Scarecrow? What about the rest of them? The Tin Man? The Cowardly Lion? Why is this film so magical?
Maybe Baum did this on purpose, or subconsciously; but then the film seems to be hinting at the same connection between The Scarecrow and Cú Chulainn. It is said the book is a deliberate political metaphor. Perhaps he had no idea he was writing about Cú Chulainn. Perhaps something weirder is going on. Maybe it's just coincidence. I don't know. I have straw for brains.
Oz is a metaphor for Heaven, surely. When Cú Chulainn dies he ends up in Oz, as a Scarecrow. Cú Chulainn ends up tied to a stone, stood up. He dies like that. The Scarecrow starts out in a similar way in the film and book. Stuck on a pole. Stood up.
Waiting to be a hero again.
Here's my evidence from the original L. Frank Baum books, the film and quotes from the web.
---------------------------
(From the book...)
"The Scarecrow looked at her reproachfully, and answered,
"My life has been so short that I really know nothing whatever. I was only made day before yesterday."
(From a website...)
"Cú Chulainn's appearance is occasionally remarked on in the texts. He is usually described as small, youthful and beardless."
(Cú Chulainn was just a teen when he became a fierce and successful warrior. He was even younger when he earned his name killing a fierce guard dog.You will be hard pressed to find a picture of him as an adult.)
---------------------------------------------
(Cú Chulainn has one eye bigger than the other when he warpspasms. His eyes otherwise are very bright)
(From the book...)
"'Now I'll make the eyes,' said the farmer. So he painted my right eye, and as soon as it was finished I found myself looking at him and at everything around me with a great deal of curiosity, for this was my first glimpse of the world.
"'That's a rather pretty eye,' remarked the Munchkin who was watching the farmer; 'blue paint is just the color for eyes.'
"'I think I'll make the other a little bigger,' said the farmer;
(An episode of his transformation during warpspasm. From the web...)
"You would have thought that a spark of fire was on every hair. He closed one eye until it was no wider than the eye of a needle; he opened the other until it was as big as a wooden bowl."
"He had four dimples in each cheek—yellow, green, crimson and blue—and seven bright pupils, eye-jewels, in each kingly eye."
--------------------------------------
(Cú Chulainn’s birth name was Sétanta, meaning “one who has knowledge of roads and ways.”)
(The scarecrow in the film stands at a crossroads. Dorothy does not know which way to go)
(From the film...)
SCARECROW That way is a very nice way.
SCARECROW It's pleasant down that way, too.
SCARECROW Of course, people do....
SCARECROW ...go both ways!
(From the book...)
"If this road goes in, it must come out," said the Scarecrow, "and as the Emerald City is at the other end of the road, we must go wherever it leads us."
"Anyone would know that," said Dorothy.
"Certainly; that is why I know it," returned the Scarecrow. "If it required brains to figure it out, I never should have said it."
--------------------------------------------
(The scarecrow is not frightening to the crows.)
(From the book...)
By and by an old crow flew near me, and after looking at me carefully he perched upon my shoulder and said,
"'I wonder if that farmer thought to fool me in this clumsy manner. Any crow of sense could see that you are only stuffed with straw.' Then he hopped down at my feet and ate all the corn he wanted. The other birds, seeing he was not harmed by me, came to eat the corn too, so in a short time there was a great flock of them about me."
(Note that this not just any crow but an 'old crow'.)
(Something happens to Cú Chulainn when he is struck during a battle. A crow lands on his shoulder to prove he is harmless)
(From the web...)
"His death was said to be foreshadowed by many evil omens, and the death crow, the , was seen to settle on his shoulder as he made his last stand."
---------------------------------------------
(The scarecow is of course stood up on a pole in the book and film)
(From the book...)
There was a great cornfield beyond the fence, and not far away she saw a Scarecrow, placed high on a pole to keep the birds from the ripe corn.
(Cú Chulainn ends up in a similar position.)
(From the web...)
"He crawled to a standing stone and tied himself to it, gripping his sword tightly.
For three days, he stood there, his eyes unblinking"
-------------------------------------------
In the film the scarecrow is constantly losing his insides(straw).
(From another Baum book The Scarecrow of Oz...)
The Scarecrow sat up and said: "I beg your pardon!" but she whacked him with her stick and knocked him flat again. Then, furious with rage, the old witch sprang upon her victim and began pulling the straw out of his body. The poor Scarecrow was helpless to resist and in a few moments all that was left of him was an empty suit of clothes and a heap of straw beside it.
(From the film...)
SCARECROW They tore my legs off, and they threw them over there! Then they took my chest out,
and they threw it over there!
TIN MAN Well, that's you all over.
LION They sure knocked the stuffings out of you, didn't they?
(Cú Chulainn suffers the same problem. From the web...)
"The third son stepped forward and demanded a spear.
“Never let it be said I brought dishonour upon my family,” Cú Chulainn said—and he cast his final spear through the last son’s chest.
Lugaid pulled it free and hurled it one last time, striking Cú Chulainn through the stomach, spilling his intestines onto the ground."
-----------------------------------------
(In the film the scarecrow begins as a man in the real world. His name is Hunk. A 'hunk' is a slang term for a handsome person)
(From the web...)
"In Cú Chulainn's youth he is so beautiful the Ulstermen worry that, without a wife of his own, he will steal their wives and ruin their daughters."
--------------------------------------
(In the film and book the Scarecrow and his team are headed for the Emerald City. In later books he becomes ruler of this city.)
(Cú Chulainn is Irish. Ireland is known as the Emerald Isle.)
---------------------------------------------------
L. Frank Baum was part Irish and may have known about the figure of Cú Chulainn.
He once wrote a musical play set in Ireland...
The Maid of Arran, An Idyllic Irish Drama Written for the People, Irrespective of Caste or Nationality is an 1882 musical play by L. Frank Baum, writing and performing under the pseudonym, "Louis F. Baum", based on the novel A Princess of Thule by William Black. It was described as "A Play to Ensnare All Hearts and Leave an Impress of Beauty and Nobility Within the Sordid Mind of Man." The play resets the novel from Scotland's Outer Hebrides to Ireland.
Conclusion? Who is The Scarecrow? What about the rest of them? The Tin Man? The Cowardly Lion? Why is this film so magical?
Maybe Baum did this on purpose, or subconsciously; but then the film seems to be hinting at the same connection between The Scarecrow and Cú Chulainn. It is said the book is a deliberate political metaphor. Perhaps he had no idea he was writing about Cú Chulainn. Perhaps something weirder is going on. Maybe it's just coincidence. I don't know. I have straw for brains.
Oz is a metaphor for Heaven, surely. When Cú Chulainn dies he ends up in Oz, as a Scarecrow. Cú Chulainn ends up tied to a stone, stood up. He dies like that. The Scarecrow starts out in a similar way in the film and book. Stuck on a pole. Stood up.
Waiting to be a hero again.
