Green Man

A foliate head in the shape of an acanthus leaf: a corbel supporting the Bamberg Horseman, Bamberg cathedral, Germany, early 13th century

Carved sign outside the Green Man public house, Great Offley

A Green Man is a sculpture, drawing, or other representation of a face surrounded by or made from leaves. Branches or vines may sprout from the nose, mouth, nostrils or other parts of the face and these shoots may bear flowers or fruit. Commonly used as a decorative architectural ornament, Green Men are frequently found on carvings in churches and other buildings (both secular and ecclesiastical). "The Green Man" is also a popular name for English public houses and various interpretations of the name appear on inn signs, which sometimes show a full figure rather than just the head.

The Green Man motif has many variations. Found in many cultures around the world, the Green Man is often related to natural vegetative deities springing up in different cultures throughout the ages. Primarily it is interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, or "renaissance," representing the cycle of growth each spring. Some speculate that the mythology of the Green Man developed independently in the traditions of separate ancient cultures and evolved into the wide variety of examples found throughout history.

Types of Green Man

A medieval Green Man (disgorging type) on the capital of a column in an English church

Grave slab in Shebbear churchyard

The term "Green Man" was coined by Lady Raglan, in her 1939 article "The Green Man in Church Architecture" in The Folklore Journal.^[1] The figure is also often erroneously referred to as Jack in the green.^[2]

Usually referred to in works on architecture as foliate heads or foliate masks, carvings of the Green Man may take many forms, naturalistic or decorative. The simplest depict a man's face peering out of dense foliage. Some may have leaves for hair, perhaps with a leafy beard. Often leaves or leafy shoots are shown growing from his open mouth and sometimes even from the nose and eyes as well. In the most abstract examples, the carving at first glance appears to be merely stylised foliage, with the facial element only becoming apparent on closer examination. The face is almost always male; green women are rare. Green cats, lions and demons are also found. On gravestones and other memorials, human skulls are sometimes shown sprouting grape vines or other vegetation, presumably as a symbol of resurrection (as at Shebbear, Devon, England).

The Green Man appears in many forms; the three most common types have been categorized as:

• the Foliate Head - completely covered in green leaves
• the Disgorging Head - spews vegetation from its mouth
• the Bloodsucker Head - sprouts vegetation from all facial orifices.^[3][4]

Green Men in churches

Detail of a "disgorging" medieval misericord in Ludlow parish church.

This stone carving of a Green Man from Dore Abbey, Herefordshire, England, retains some of its original colouring.

Superficially the Green Man would appear to be pagan, perhaps a fertility figure or a nature spirit, similar to the woodwose (the wild man of the woods), and yet he frequently appears, carved in wood or stone, in churches, chapels, abbeys and cathedrals, where examples can be found dating from the 11th century through to the 20th century.

To the modern observer the earlier (Romanesque and medieval) carvings often have an unnervingly eerie or numinous quality. This is sometimes said to indicate the vitality of the Green Man, who was able to survive as a symbol of pre-Christian traditions despite, and at the same time complementary to, the influence of Christianity^{[citation needed]}: rather than alienate their new converts, early Christian missionaries would often adopt and adapt local gods, sometimes turning them into obscure saints.^[5]

Later variations on the Green Man theme

Fountain found on the island of Murano, Italy.

This wood carving of a "foliate head" type is on the Renaissance screen at Dore Abbey.

From the Renaissance onwards, elaborate variations on the Green Man theme, often with animal heads rather than human faces, appear in many media other than carvings (including manuscripts, metalwork, bookplates, and stained glass). They seem to have been used for purely decorative effect rather than reflecting any deeply-held belief. A Swiss engraver, Numa Guyot^[6] created a bookplate depicting a Green Man in exquisite detail. It was completed circa 1887.

In Britain, the image of the Green Man enjoyed a revival in the 19th century, becoming popular with architects during the Gothic revival and the "Arts and Crafts" era, when it appeared as a decorative motif in and on many buildings, both religious and secular. American architects took up the motif around the same time. The Green Man travelled with the Europeans as they colonized the world. Many variations can be found in Victorian-style Neo gothic architecture. He was very popular amongst Australian stonemasons and can be found on many secular and sacred buildings.

Modern images

Banksia Man by Australian artist Graham Wilson; his numerous reinterpretations of the Green Man incorporate native Australian flora

The Whitefield Green Man, woodcarving (in dead section of a living tree) by Paul Sivell

The Green Man image has made a significant resurgence in modern times, with artists from around the world interweaving Green Man imagery into various modes of work. Among some of the artists discussed in Green Man Resurrected (a Master's degree thesis by Phyllis Araneo, available online)^[7] are English artist Paul Sivell, who created the Whitefield Green Man, a wood carving worked into a dead section of a living oak tree; David Eveleigh, an English garden designer who created the Penpont Green Man Millennium Maze, located in Powys, Wales (the largest depiction of a Green Man image in the world); and M.J. Anderson, a US based sculptor who created the marble sculpture titled Green Man as Original Coastal Aboriginal Man of All Time from Whence the Bush and All of Nature Sprouts from his Fingers. ^[7]

Other artists mentioned by Araneo include Ghana-born Jane Brideson, Australian artist Marjorie Bussey, American artist Monica Richards (also known as a singer and composer), and English fantasy artist Peter Pracownik, whose Green Man artwork has been created in several media, including full-body tattoos.^[7]

These artists and others have continued the path and tradition of the ancient Green Man imagery into modern times, a creation which Araneo calls “an instinctive expression of our relationship with nature.” ^[7] The modern images have often shown a marked divergence from the face-only images of traditional Green Men, and sometimes reveal a feminine nature, though this is still rare. American artist Rob Juszak, for example, has taken the theme of the Green Man representing Earth’s spiritual protector and turned it into a vision of the Green Man cradling the entire planet; artist Dorothy “Bunny” Bowen, also American, created a kimono silk painting, titled Greenwoman, as an expression of the feminine aspect of the Green Man legend.^[7]

Related characters

18th century print of chimney-sweeps' May Day Jack in the Green in London

In Thomas Nashe's masque Summer's Last Will and Testament (1592, printed 1600), the character commenting upon the action remarks, after the exit of "Satyrs and wood-Nymphs", "The rest of the green men have reasonable voices…".

Parallels have been drawn between the Green Man and various deities. Many see the Green Man as being connected to many gods such as Osiris, Odin and even the Christian Jesus, as well as later folkloric and literary characters such as the Green Knight, John Barleycorn, the Holly King and Tammuz of the Mesopotamians who is thought by some to symbolize the triumph of Green Life over Winter and Death.^[8]

Mythical figures such as Woden, Cernunnos, Sylvanus, Derg Corra, Green George, Jack in the green, John Barleycorn, Robin Goodfellow, Puck, and the Green Knight all partake of the Green Man's nature; it has also been suggested that the story of Robin Hood was born of the Green Man mythology. A more modern embodiment is found in Peter Pan, who enters the civilized world from a nether land, clothed in green leaves. Even Father Christmas, who was often shown wreathed in ivy in early depictions, has been suggested as a similar woodland spirit ^[9].

The Green Knight of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight serves as both monster and mentor to Sir Gawain, belonging to a pre-Christian world which seems antagonistic to, but is in the end harmonious with, the Christian one.

In the Germanic nations such as Germany, Iceland and England, depictions of the Green Man could have been inspired by deities such as Freyr^[10] or Woden, as both have many attributes of the later Green Men from throughout Europe.^{[11][12][13][14]}

Etymological research by the University of Wales into the meaning of the names of Celtic gods and goddesses shows that one Celtic deity, Viridios, has a name meaning "Green Man" in both the Celtic languages and Latin.

Neo-paganism

In Wicca, the Green Man has often been used as a representation of the Horned God, a syncretic deity inclusive of ancient pagan gods such as the Celtic Cernunnos and the Greek Pan.

Green Men outside Europe

In his A Little Book of The Green Man, as well as his website, Mike Harding gives examples of similar figures in Borneo, Nepal, and India: the earliest is a foliate head from an 8th century Jain temple in Rajasthan.^[15] He also notes that heads from Lebanon and Iraq can be dated to the 2nd century and that there are early Romanesque foliate heads in 11th century Templar churches in Jerusalem. He tentatively suggests that the symbol may have originated in Asia Minor and been brought to Europe by travelling stonecarvers.

Tom Cheetham, an authority on Islamic mysticism, identifies Khidr of esoteric Sufism with the Green Man. In his book about the work of Henry Corbin and others concerning the 12th-century Muslim saint Ibn Arabi, he develops the idea of the Green Man/Khidr as the principle mediating between the imaginary realm and the physical world.^[16]

Osiris, lord of the dead. His green skin symbolizes re-birth.

On a similar theme, author on spirituality and architecture William Anderson writes:^[17]

There are legends of him (Khidr) in which, like Osiris, he is dismembered and reborn; and prophecies connecting him, like the Green Man, with the end of time. His name means the Green One or Verdant One, he is the voice of inspiration to the aspirant and committed artist. He can come as a white light or the gleam on a blade of grass, but more often as an inner mood. The sign of his presence is the ability to work or experience with tireless enthusiasm beyond one's normal capacities. In this there may be a link across cultures, …one reason for the enthusiasm of the medieval sculptors for the Green Man may be that he was the source of every inspiration.

In one of his roles the ancient Egyptian God Osiris is regarded as a corn-deity and is commonly depicted with a green face representing vegetation, rebirth and resurrection. Containers of soil in the shape of Osiris planted with seed ("Osiris Beds") are found in some New Kingdom tombs . The sprouting corn implied the resurrection of the deceased.^[18]

Other gods depicted green are (in Tibet) Amogha-siddhi and (in Mexico) Tlaloc.

In Sanskrit the Green Man is cognate with the gana Kirtimukha or "Face Of Glory" which is related to a lila of Shiva and Rahu. The Face of Glory is often seen in Vajrayana Buddhist Thanka art and iconography where it is often incorporated as a cloudform simulacrum; and depicted crowning the 'Wheel of Becoming' or the Bhavachakra.^[19]

Gallery

Romanesque carving, doorway of Norman church at Kilpeck, Herefordshire, mid 12th century	Sketches by Villard de Honnecourt, c.1230	Carved capital, south door of Maria Laach Abbey, Germany	Engraving of foliate head, Hans Sebald Beham, 1543
Medieval misericord; abbey-church of Vendôme, France	Painted wooden roof boss from Rochester Cathedral, Kent (medieval)	One of more than 110 Green Men carvings in Rosslyn Chapel, Scotland	Foliate mask from Casa de Arizón near Cádiz, Spain (17th–18th century)
Grotesque mascaron in courtyard of the Broletto (the old Province Hall), Brescia, Italy (17th century?)	Green Man painted on 1867 neoclassical ceiling, Bankfield Museum, Halifax, UK	Architectural detail, Portland, Oregon (late 19th or early 20th century?)	Illustration of the sign which hung outside a public house in Covent Garden in the 1970s
A modern garden ornament. Stonecarving by Pat Austin, David Austin Rose Garden, Albrighton (20th century)	New Orleans Mardi Gras body painting carnival costumes	Dramatised combat between the Green Man and Jack Frost at a community festival in Yorkshire	Costumed performer at Scarborough Faire (2007)
Modern fantasy art image of Green Woman by Phyllis Araneo	A Green Man with the body of a faun: Green Mason by Australian artist Graham Wilson (21st century)

In popular culture

• The Green Man shows up as a character in the 1990s adventure game, Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood.
• The Green Man is also quite possibly the reference to the fictional deity Obad-Hai in the popular fantasy role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons.

The English Pop\Rock group XTC also have released a track called "Green Man" which explores the Green Man mythos in song and lyric.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Green men

• Clun Green Man Festival
• Ent
• Gargoyle
• Grotesque
• Hunky Punk
• Sheela na Gig
• Woodwose
• Wilde-Mändle-Tanz (Dance of the Wild Men), Allgäu, Bavaria (German Wikipedia)
• al-Ĥiḍr (Arabian "Green Man")

References

Further reading

• Amis, Kingsley. The Green Man, Vintage, London (2004) ISBN 0-09-946107-2 (Novel)
• Anderson, William. Green Man: The Archetype of our Oneness with the Earth, Harper Collins (1990) ISBN 0-00-599252-4
• Basford, Kathleen. The Green Man, D.S. Brewer (2004) ISBN 0-85991-497-6 (The first monograph on the subject, now reprinted in paperback)
• Beer, Robert. The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs Shambhala. (1999) ISBN 157062416X, ISBN 978-1570624162
• Cheetham, Tom. Green Man, Earth Angel: The Prophetic Tradition and the Battle for the Soul of the World , SUNY Press 2004 ISBN 0-7914-6270-6
• Doel, Fran and Doel, Geoff. The Green Man in Britain, Tempus Publishing Ltd (May 2001) ISBN 0-7524-1916-1
• Harding, Mike. A Little Book of the Green Man, Aurium Press, London (1998) ISBN 1-85410-563-9
• Hicks, Clive. The Green Man: A Field Guide, Compass Books (August 2000) ISBN 0-9517038-2-X
• MacDermott, Mercia. Explore Green Men, Explore Books, Heart of Albion Press (September 2003) ISBN 1-872883-66-4
• Matthews, John. The Quest for the Green Man, Godsfield Press Ltd (May 2004) ISBN 1-84181-232-3
• Millar, Ronald. The Green Man ~ Companion and Gazetteer, S.B. Publications (1997 & 1998 currently out of print) ISBN 1 85770 131 3
• Neasham, Mary. The Spirit of the Green Man, Green Magic (December 2003) ISBN 0-9542963-7-0
• Varner, Gary R. The Mythic Forest, the Green Man and the Spirit of Nature, Algora Publishing (March 4, 2006) ISBN 0-87586-434-1

External links

• The Company of the Green Man - An online repository of images and information about the Green Man
• The Blessed Order of the Greenman — Fraternal Order dedicated to the image Hosting an extensive collection of links on the subject
• Clun Green Man Festival in South Shropshire
• The Breinton Morris — Who is the Green Man?
• Green Man on bosses at Canterbury Cathedral
• The Green Man in Birmingham
• Green Man East Anglia
• The Green Man: Variations on a Theme
• Sean Breadin's Green Man Page Alternative perspectives, striking images, together with several short films from a number of UK locations.
• Green Men of Manhattan -Photos
• The name of the Green Man Research paper by Brandon S Centerwall from Folklore magazine
• www.mythinglinks.org
• The Green Man of Cercles Julianna Lees on Green Man sculptures in Romanesque Churches in France
• Carved Green Man various examples of native Australian style Green Men and play written about the Green Man
• Green Men in Germany a catalogue of photos of Green men in Germany
• Green Men in The Netherlands many neo-gothic and a few medieval examples