According to legend, runaway slaves could attain a sort of freedom by breaking off a branch -- the Golden Bough -- from a sacred tree.
An extensive study of the cults, rites, and myths of antiquity, The Golden Bough explores ancient customs and their parallels.
This 1890 work by Sir James George Frazer, an expert in myth and religion, was inspired by the legend.
If the runaway could kill the tree\'s attendant priest, he would become King of the Wood until his defeat by a new challenger.
According to legend, runaway slaves could attain a sort of freedom by breaking off a branch -- the Golden Bough -- from a sacred tree