GOG

in the Bible, a hostile power that is ruled by Satan and will manifest itself immediately before the end of the world (Revelation 20). In the biblical passage in Revelation and in other Christian and Jewish apocalyptic literature, Gog is joined by a second hostile force, Magog; but elsewhere (Ezekiel 38; Genesis 10:2) Magog is apparently the place of Gog's origin. An independent legend of Gog and Magog surrounds two colossal wooden effigies in the Guildhall, London. They are thought to represent survivors of a race of giants destroyed by Brutus the Trojan, the legendary founder of London (Troia Nova, or New Troy), and brought there to act as porters at the gate of the royal palace. Effigies of Gog and Magog have existed in London from the time of Henry V. The first figures were destroyed in the Great Fire (1666) and were replaced in 1708. The second pair was destroyed in an air raid in 1940 and again replaced in 1953. In the legends recounted by the medieval English historian Geoffrey of Monmouth, Gogmagog, or Gomagot, was a giant chieftain of Cornwall who was slain by Brutus' companion Corineus.