Clay Golem
In the 1600s, Jewish persecution was at its height, particularly the infamous Blood Libel (claiming that the jEws mix the blood of young boys in their food. wtf?!?!). Rabbi Lowe of Prague wanted to protect his people, and so he created a man of clay, wrote a holy word on its forehead, and sent it out to do battle. Unfortunately, it eventually went out of control, forcing the rabbi to erase its magical words and kill his beloved creation.
Actually, this is from a 1909 novel that purported to be based on 1600s legend. Crazy, eh?
Oh yeah, uh, co-opted by D&D, blah blah blah, etc.
Clay Golem
In the 1600s, Jewish persecution was at its height, particularly the infamous Blood Libel (claiming that the jEws mix the blood of young boys in their food. wtf?!?!). Rabbi Lowe of Prague wanted to protect his people, and so he created a man of clay, wrote a holy word on its forehead, and sent it out to do battle. Unfortunately, it eventually went out of control, forcing the rabbi to erase its magical words and kill his beloved creation.
Actually, this is from a 1909 novel that purported to be based on 1600s legend. Crazy, eh?
Oh yeah, uh, co-opted by D&D, blah blah blah, etc.