The Wandering Jew is the main character in an absorbing myth of the Middle Ages which has persisted into the modern age. Supposedly he is the man who offended the Son of God on his way to the crucifixion, and was therefore cursed by Jesus to walk the earth alone until the world ends. He's sort of a medieval Ancient Mariner or Flying Dutchman.

The Wandering Jew goes by a bewilderingly wide assortment of names. The three most common appellations are Malchus, Cartaphilus and Ahasuerus (or Ahasverus).

This is actually a really interesting subject in and of itself. The first thing to know is that there are literally tons of literary precedents to the Wandering Jew. However, he seems to have mainly developed from the merging of two separate traditions. In one, immortality is a blessing and a reward, but in the other, it is a curse and punishment. The earlier of the two is the Christian story, Matthew 16:28, of the "disciple (traditionally John) to whom Jesus promised: 'There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom" (Bushnell, pg. 452 of Studies in Philology, vol. 28, published 1931). The slightly later, but far more influential, parallel to the story is the legend of a Roman man, identified as Malchus, who struck Jesus in John 18:20-22 and thereafter received exactly the same gift, but as a curse. G. K. Anderson mentions that there is some question as to whether this is actually the same Malchus whose ear was cut off in John 18:4-10, but he declines to answer question positively. He does note, however, that "the inscrutable process, known to folklorists as the law of transposition, decreed that the two men should be identified as one" (Anderson, pg. 12 of The Legend of the Wandering Jew.)

These two myths fused with numerous other legends, such as the Biblical story of Cain and the Koran's tale of Sameri the Sameritan (if you haven't read the Koran or don't remember, Sameri is the one who was cursed by Moses to wander forever because he helped make the golden calf). When all these tales coalesced, a singularly enduring myth, that of the Wandering Jew, was formed.

By the end of the thirteenth century, the Wandering Jew had taken on most of his key characteristics. The story thereafter is essentially very consistent - the Wandering Jew was condemned to roam the earth until Judgment Day for having angered Jesus.

Two competing versions of the myth explain how he did it. In the first, the Wandering Jew goes under the name Cartaphilus, a Roman gate-keeper who:

"as Jesus was going out of the door, impiously struck Him on the back with his hand, and said in mockery, 'Go quicker, Jesus, go quicker; why do you loiter?' and Jesus looking back on him with a severe countenance said, 'I am going, and you shall wait till I return.'" (quotation from Baring-Gould, pgs 7-8).

This is the version recounted in the earliest extant mention of the Wandering Jew in English, dating from 1228, and found in Roger of Wendover's Flores Historiarum, the book of the chronicles of the Abbey of St. Albans. A later European version (dating 1547) tells of a sighting of the Wandering Jew, now named Ahasverus, who was originally a shoe-maker. In this version, the Jew

"had lived in Jerusalem at the time of the crucifixion of Christ, whom he had regarded as a deceiver of the people and a heretic . . . [On the road to Calvary, Christ passed by Ahasverus' house and], bowed under the weight of the heavy cross, He tried to rest a little, and stood still a moment; but the shoe-maker, in zeal and rage, and for the sake of obtaining credit among the other Jews, drove the Lord Christ forward and told him to hasten on His way. Jesus . . . looked at him and said, 'I shall stand and rest, but thou shalt go till the last day.'" (quoted by Baring-Gould, pgs 14-15).

These two competing versions of the myth are the most common explanations for how the Wandering Jew angered Jesus.

Aha! This is a great topic for a research paper... How many of you have read (and loved?) The Pardoner's Tale (for to read it is, of course, to love it)? Well, do you remember that mysterious old man who directed the three hapless way-goers to the treasure that would be their death? Well, scholars have been trying for ages to figure out who the Old Man (so-called because Chaucer gives him no name) is. They've linked him to God, to the Devil, and to everyone in-between. And, it so happens that Bernhard ten Brink, in 1893, ingeniously linked him to the Wandering Jew. No one's proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Old Man is either one thing or another, but it's quite an interesting conjecture and it would definitely be a fabulous paper to write.

And now we get to the section where I get to say "here's how I heard of him in the first place!" Many people have heard of the Wandering Jew, and it beats me how they first find out about him. I guess people just stumble across him in their readings. Well, my introduction to the subject wasn't quite so high-brow. I was watching an '80s movie starring Demi Moore which was called The Seventh Sign. It's a good little movie, if you feel like renting one tonight, about the apocalypse. Actually, it's more than a good little movie. It's a damn good introduction to Cartaphilus. I won't say any more for fear of giving away more of the plot than I already have. Rent it -- I think you'll enjoy it. And feel free to email me your opinions or relate other guest appearances in other movies of our hero, the Wandering Jew.

Good question. Cartaphilus pops up in art quite often. Unfortunately, art isn't my area, so I can't be much of a guide at all to you in this respect. I myself have only seen one representation of him in art, though I am aware that there is much more out there. What I have seen was wonderful, though. It's a series of etchings by Gustave Dore, the great late 19th century artist, and they're truly spectacular. If you want more info on the Wandering Jew in art, look at my "where to go for more info" section -- those books should get you started on your way.

Yup... and that's not all. George K. Anderson, in his preface to The Legend of the Wandering Jew, says that there's also "a card game, apparently a kind of whist, called the Wanderng Jew, as well as a dice game resembling backgammon or parchisi; there are Wandering Jew dolls, puppets, and coins." He goes on to say that the Wandering Jew has been all sorts of things, and has been found in all sorts of places (even in America, in Boston, under the name Peter Rugg). And, just so you don't think I don't know about it -- there's actually a female version, too -- a "Wandering Jewess," though she is not nearly as common a motif as is the Wandering Jew.