Henry the Hornet

"...Henry became the Lord of Faery Oak's own personal steed..."

Henry the Hornet lives in the hornet’s nest that sits in a small hollowed-out part of the Faery Oak. There is a story that tells why the nest is here and not in some other tree...

by Noël Mallet

As is the case with most of the older trees in the woods, they occasionally lose the odd bough or branch in some of the more violent winter storms.

During one particularly nasty thunderstorm, the Faery Oak lost one of its smaller boughs to a lightning strike.

The wound the lightning left was small but these can often become infected with fungus and mould and make the tree quite ill.

Henry the Hornet was sheltering nearby with his friends and noticed what had happened.

When the storm had passed, he got together with the other hornets and with the permission of the Hornet Queen they decided to move their nest to the recent break so as to help heal and look after the Faery Oak.

The activity of the hornets not only helped stitch the bark together but prevented any fungus from forming and so helped to keep the Oak healthy.

The Faery Oak is a special kind of tree, and it can speak to some of the creatives that live in the woods. It told The Venerable Fairy how Henry and the hornets had helped and the Fairy went to see them.

In thanks for their service to the tree, the Venerable Fairy granted them a permanent home in the Faery Oak.

He made the Hornets his personal bodyguard, and Henry became the Lord of Faery Oak's own personal steed (a tremendous honour amongst the Creepy Crawlies of the Woods).