American Gods Wiki
Register
Advertisement
American Gods Wiki

He spent too long a bird, she thought. He has forgotten how to be a man.

Easter's thoughts on Horus, Chapter Seventeen

Horus is one of the Old Gods and spends most of his time as a hawk.

Background[]

Horus came over to America with Mr. Ibis, Bast, Set, and Mr. Jacquel. Both Horus and Set left the Funeral Parlor in Cairo behind with Set last being heard from in San Francisco in 1906 before the earthquake. Horus spends most of his time as a hawk eating roadkill.

Significance in narrative[]

Chapter Eight[]

Mr. Ibis and Mr. Jacquel discuss Horus with Shadow, with Jacquel mentioning he still sees Horus on occasion. Jacquel later reveals to Shadow that Horus is "bugfuck crazy" and spends most of his time as a hawk eating roadkill. Later, as Shadow and Mr. Wednesday drive out of Cairo and head for Wisconsin, Shadow sees Horus in his hawk form, watching them with mad eyes.

Chapter Fifteen[]

While Shadow is hanging on the World Tree, Horus comes to visit, initially as a hawk. Shadow eventually sees a young, mad, naked man in the tree with him. Shadow identifies him as Horus. Horus turns into a hawk to capture a rabbit and bring it back to Shadow on the tree, offering it to him to eat. Shadow declines and Horus eats all of the rabbit, dropping the bones and fur to the ground below. Horus tells him the Old and New gods are getting ready to fight soon.

Chapter Seventeen[]

Easter watches the crowd of gods who have gathered at Rock City. A hawk circles overhead before dropping down to the grass and appearing as Horus. He asks Easter to come with him to the Tree to help Shadow who has been stabbed. Easter tells him she can't abandon the battle but Horus insists that if Shadow is gone forever then it won't matter who wins the battle.

Chapter Eighteen[]

Easter arrives at the World Tree with Horus. They get Shadow down off the tree and Easter encourages Horus to help her warm Shadow up by flying into the sky and removing the clouds from the sun. Easter breathes into Shadow's lungs and gently kisses his face as his side wound bleeds red slightly before stopping. She tells Shadow it's time to get up and he awakens in confusion. She apologizes for bringing him back after he was done but that was what she had to do. Now it is his turn to do what he must do.

Shadow meanders about the meadow at the World Tree as he gets used to being alive again. He reflexively reaches into his pockets looking for a coin but only finds Mr. Wednesday's glass eye. He gets dressed and Easter takes him across the meadow to the thunderbird she had arrived on, telling him she is done and needs to rest. Horus tells Shadow he was the one who brought the thunderbird. Shadow climbs on the thunderbird's back and they take off off into the sky, with Shadow feeling as if he is riding lightning.

Physical appearance[]

Horus first appears as a huge brown and white hawk with "mad eyes." In human form, he looks like a young man with dark brown skin, tightly curled dark hair, and a high forehead.

Notes and trivia[]

  • Horus is an ancient Egyptian god usually depicted with the head of a falcon and the body of a man.

References[]

Advertisement