Oak trees have been revered by countless ancient cultures for as long as we have record. It is said the Druids practiced their sacred rites in groves of ancient oaks. Livy in his Early History of Rome recorded that Romulus himself would dedicate great heaps of war spoils to Jupiter Optimus Maximus, laying them on and around an ancient Oak upon the Capitoline Hill already deemed sacred by the generations of shepherds who lived nearby. In the Greek-speaking world, Hecate, Goddess of Witchcraft and Crossroads was said to also claim the Oak as her hallowed tree. The trees also feature heavily in legends concerning the Fair Folk, and the most common Green Man motifs one comes into contact with usually represent some combination of bearded, Oak leaf visage.
