The Green Man Unmasked

The Green Man Unmasked by James Coulter is a book written mainly for those who delight in the exploration of the churches and cathedrals of England and continental Western Europe. In their many varied architectural styles and decorations these magnificent old buildings reflect the changing customs, beliefs and devotions of passing generations and within their venerable walls they house a gallery of vernacular art and imagery unsurpassed anywhere in the world. The observant visitor exploring a pre-Reformation church for the first time will have many things to engage his attention for these buildings were designed for their visual impact. There is much to be seen that is beautiful  but not all is beauty and some of the images of dragons, serpents and other strange beasts of indeterminate species can appear quite grotesque and inspire one to question the meaning of their presence in such surroundings. As the visitor’s eye takes in the legacy of medieval craftsmanship in wood and stone and glass, he may suddenly find his attention drawn to the arresting image of a human face staring back at him from rood screen, roof  boss or stall. With fronds of leafy foliage spewing in profusion from its mouth and sometimes peering through a screen of leaves, it is the foliate head—an image commonly known as the Green Man. Many of the images are sad; some are smiling as if they were enjoying a secret joke; some are quite fierce and some have an expression of infinite pain and sorrow. If it is mentioned at all in the church guide, it is usually described as a fertility symbol or some amusing relic of the old pagan religion or a figure of folk customs which begs the question what is such a figure doing in a place of Christian worship. Generations of folklore enthusiasts have attempted to identify this strange image—Jack-in-the-Green, The Green Knight, Robin Hood or an archetype signifying our oneness with the earth. None of these satisfactorily explain why the frequency of its widespread occurrence is second only to that of Christ Himself suggesting an image of some considerable significance.

      Throughout all these widely different approaches to identifying the Green Man and giving him a purpose and a meaning, it is the colour green which is the unifying theme - something which is distinctly odd given that the image so called, is practically never seen in this colour. But it is the colour green, with all its mystical connotations, which has triggered a plethora of speculation as to the true meaning and significance of the image and led generations of writers and commentators on the subject into many fanciful byways and mystical speculations involving ‘earth sciences’ and fertility rites. Green is the predominant colour of vegetative nature and as such has primordial associations with the very sources of life. It is the green pigment chlorophyll, present in all plant life which is, without exaggeration, responsible for making habitable the planet we live on.  Small wonder that  ‘greenness’ has acquired such a mystical status with the Green Man widely adopted as an icon by environmental groups. The present study represents a radical departure from the hitherto widely received wisdom on the subject and advances the hypothesis that far from being a pagan fertility symbol or character of folklore, the Green Man can be shown to have played a key role in the teaching of the medieval Church. 

     Who is the ‘Green Man’ and what does his widespread presence signify?  The author, James Coulter, believes that the true identity of this enigmatic image lies in a number of such medieval writings as the apocryphal gospels and The Legend of the Holy Rood which would have been familiar to Christian scholars and teachers of the period. Perceived as being supplementary to the older canonical gospels, these nevertheless had an important influence on the interpretation of the gospels and the imagery which they inspired.  It is the Legend of the Rood in particular which provides a convincing rationale for the outlandish foliage- disgorging image known as the Green Man.