The Cerne Abbas Giant: A Mini-Essay

     The Cerne Abbas Giant in Dorset, England, is one of Britain’s many hill figures. An impressive 180 feet long from the tip of his club to the base of his feet, the image, akin to its peers, was cut into the steep hillside as a geoglyph meant to be seen from afar.[1] Nude and yielding a knobby club in his right hand, the Cerne Abbas Giant’s most arresting feature is his thirty-six-foot erect penis, which continues to draw attention from both locals and tourists and postcard depictions of his likeness are purportedly the only pornographic images permitted to be carried and delivered by the Royal Mail.[2] Like most hill figures, the origins of the Cerne Abbas Giant have been lost over the course of time; however, scholars propose two possible reasons for its creation: the first hypothesizes the massive carving is an image of Hercules and was crafted in the second century C.E. in honor of Emperor Commodus, who believed himself to be the reincarnation of the fabled warrior; the second, drawing from the facts that the phallus aligns directly with the rising sun on the first of May and May Day festivities were known to be celebrated on the hill, conjectures the etching is associated with fertility rituals, which has prompted some couples to consummate their relationship in the space between his thighs.[3]

Works Referenced

Jones, Richard. Myths and Legends of Britain and Ireland. New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 2003. 

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[1] Jones, 26-27.

[2] Jones, 26-27.

[3] Jones, 26-27.