#WyrdWednesday
The Cowardly Lion makes his first appearance in the book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”. He is the last of the companions Dorothy befriends on her way to the  Emerald City 

The Cowardly Lion joins her so that he can ask “The Wizard” for courage, ashamed that he is not brave enough to play his cultural role of the King of the Beasts.
 
“The Cowardly Lion of Oz” (1923) is the seventeenth book in the Oz series created by L. Frank Baum  It was illustrated by John R. Neill. 

In the story, the Cowardly Lion believes that he has depleted the reserve of courage imbued in him by the Wizard (as told in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz).

 Someone soon misdirects the Lion into thinking that he can only replenish his courage by eating a courageous man. Since the Lion dislikes the notion of harming anyone, he resolves to do the deed as quickly as possible, and so embarks on his quest.

In the classic 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz, (1939) the Cowardly Lion was played by Bert Lahr . He is fondly remembered by many for singing the showcase song ; “If I Were King of the Forest”
#wyrdwednesday
#WyrdWednesday