The Guildhall – Gog & Magog

Within the Guildhall are the statues of Gog & Magog, but who are they? The names appear twice in the Bible. Firstly, in the Book of Ezekiel where Gog was a landowner & Magog was the land he owned. They appear again Book of Revelations representing the ultimate enemies of God’s kingdom. However, the Gog & Magog associated with City of London have nothing to do with those mentioned in the Bible.

In one story, they were in fact one person called Gogmagog. According to one legend, Gogmagog was one of the last few giants that lived in Britain when a group of Trojans lead by a man called Brutus landed here. Gogmagog attacked the Trojans & was defeated in combat by a warrior called Cornelius. The original names of the statues when first mentioned in the reign of Elizabeth I were Gogmagog & Cornelius before the latter was forgotten & the names they currently have adopted.

However, another legend says that Gog & Magog were two giants who were the children of one of the 33 wicked daughters of the Roman Emperor Diocletian & some demons they were having relations with. The hero Brutus arrived in Britain, defeats the giants in combat & founded the City of London. To protect his new City, Brutus has Gog & Magog chained outside of his palace, which is said to have been on now the site of the present Guildhall.

The statues of Gog & Magog have been present in the Guildhall since before the Great Fire of London (1666), when the originals were destroyed. They were replaced by paper-mâché models which were eaten away by mice before some sturdier ones were installed. These were made of oak, but they were also destroyed; this time during the bombing raids of World War 2. The current models have been in situ since 1953.

There are a couple of other Gog & Magog statues in the procession of the City of London. If you wish to see these, make sure that you attend the Lord Mayors show on the second Saturday in November when they are paraded through the streets of the City.