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Godric: Based on the historical figure of Godric of Finchale, a twelfth-century monk and mystic, Buechner’s aging saint is beset by his past, a past that is crowded by miracles and misdeeds, beatific visions and vices, healings and incest. In his autobiographical work, Now and Then (1983), Buechner offers the following assessment of Godric’s life and character:
Hidden away in his secluded hermitage, Godric suffers the visitations of admiring pilgrims and the devotions of his biographer, Reginald. God, his pet snakes Fairweather and Tune, and the River Wear are his constant companions in conversation as he reminisces, at times darkly and at times wistfully, about humanity, his life, and the life to come, coming to the conclusion that: ‘nothing human’s not a broth of false and true’.[3]He had been a peddler before he turned hermit, and master of a merchant ship. He had tried his hand at piracy for a while. He had rescued Baldwin the First, King of Jerusalem, at the time of the First Crusade. He had not considered himself a saint at all and for that reason balked at giving his blessing to the excessively reverent biography that a contemporary monk called Reginald of Durham was writing about him.[2]
- Reginald: an enthusiastic young monk, Reginald of Durham is given the daunting task of documenting the life of Godric for church history and posterity. The biographer studiously ignores both the shadier elements of Godric’s story and the saint’s darker reflections on life and the nature of sainthood, while also rebuffing his attempts to thwart the process of documentation. He blithely creates an optimistic depiction of Godric’s life, and secures the old man’s reputation as a saintly servant of the church, the quest for holiness, and God.
- Burcwen: vivacious and irrepressible, Burcwen is Godric’s younger sister. Following their separation when Godric went off to sea and, subsequently, became a hermit, the two yearn for one another’s company. In their loneliness, pain, and confusion, they fall victim to their passions and vulnerability and commit incest together. Heartbroken by her fall from grace, Burcwen commits herself to a life as a nun, and is only seen once more by Godric, though from a distance.
- Rodger Mouse: Godric’s companion at sea, Rodger Mouse is the protagonist of their misadventures. From their boat, the Saint Espirit, the two commit acts of kidnap, piracy, looting, and rape, taking advantage of pilgrims headed to the Holy Land. Despite his corrupting influence upon Godric, the aged saint retains a great deal of affection for his old companion, praying for him regularly, and reflecting on the life lessons he imparted during their time at sea.
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