Saint Godric and the Hare

The following is an excerpt from The Leaping Hare by George Ewart Evans and David Thomson.

In Beasts and Saints (1934) her collection of stories written from the fourth to the end of the twelfth century, Helen Waddell included the story of St. Godric and the hare. The saint planted vegetables in his garden to feed the poor but a thief began to steal them. One day the saint came upon the thief in the garden. It was a hare. "The saint caught it and struck it with his rod; and binding a bundle of vegetables on its shoulders sent it off with these words:'See to it that neither thyself nor any of they acquaintance come to the place again; nor dare encroach on what was meant for the need of the poor.' And so it befel." Thereafter the hare, presumably in a state of grace, came under the saint's protection; and if a hare was caught in a snare the saint would release it; and if a hare was fleeing from the huntsman he would take it into his house and protect it until the hunt had gone away.

– George Ewart Evans & David Thomson
The Leaping Hare
p. 223

See also the previous posts:
• Melangell, Patron Saint of Hares
• The Hare and the Great Flood
• The Easter Hare

Opening Image: Ernie Janes.