The Green Man

Green Man

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Green Man (disambiguation).

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

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^[1] [2]

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.

[edit]
Types of Green Men

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

Grave slab in Shebbear churchyard

Lady Raglan coined the term "Green Man" in her 1939 article "The Green Man

 in Church Architecture" in The Folklore Journal.^[3] Some commentators conflate

 or associate the term with "Jack in the Green".^[4]

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

othermemorials, human skulls are sometimes shown sprouting

grape vines or other vegetation, presumably as a symbol of resurrection

(as at Shebbear, Devon, England).^{[citation needed]}

The Green Man appears in many forms, with the three most common

types 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.^[5][6]

[edit]Green Men in churches

Detail of a "disgorging" medievalmisericord in Ludlow parish church.

This stone carving of a Green Man fromDore 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 through to the

20th century. The earliest example

of a green man disgorging vegetation

 from his mouth is from St. Abre, in

St. Hilaire-le-grand, c 400 AD. ^[7]

To the modern observer the earlier (Romanesque and medieval)

carvings often have an unnervingly eerie or

numinousquality.^{[says who?]}

 This is sometimes said^{[by whom?]} 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:

 rather than alienate their new converts, early Christian missionaries

would often adopt and adapt local gods, sometimes turning them into saints.^[8]

[edit]

Neo-paganism

In Wicca, the Green Man has often been used as a representation of the

 Horned God, a syncretic deity that appropriates aspects of, among others,

the Celtic Cernunnos and the Greek Pan.

Many forms of Neopaganism consider the green man

to represent a common form of personal transformation

 in meditations or ritual. The icon of the face with leaves

 sprouting out is a representation of a personal visionary

experience of "becoming" a green man or woman.^{[citation needed]}

[edit]Literature

The Green Man is a recurring theme in literature.

Sometimes the figure of Robin Hood is associated

 with a Green Man, as is that of the Green Knight in

 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Sir James Frazer

mentions the tradition in "The Golden Bough".

Kingsley Amis's novel The Green Man (1969

) is based a modern incarnation of the ancient

pagan monster. Stephen Fry wrote a pastiche of a

poem called "The green man" as part of his novel The Hippopotamus.

[edit]Green Men outside Europe

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.^[22]

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

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.^[24]

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 andiconography where it is often

 incorporated as a cloudform simulacrum; and

 depicted crowning the 'Wheel of Becoming' or the Bhavachakra.^[25]