History of the Green Man

Who is the Green Man?not used. However, with time he made a
The Green Man is the representation of a face whichreappearance and can now been seen on many
is covered by leaves. These faces can take manychurches and cathedrals where he is used for
forms but the most popular examples are to be founddecoration.
in sculptures and drawings. His leaves change colourIn fact, nobody actually knows what the original name
depending upon the season he belongs to and fromwas for the Green Man. It was the scholar, Lady
these leaves can sprout branches and/or otherRaglan, who coined the term whilst writing an article on
vegetation.him. She struck on the name after likening the Green
Roots of the Green ManMan to other cultural figures and believed the Green
Trying to trace the origins of the Green Man is almostMan deserved cultural status too!
impossible to do. There are no records to show whereThe Green Man in Culture
he emerged from and so the original symbolism heDifferent cultures view the Green Man in wildly
held remains a mystery.different ways. Whilst Pagan culture considers the
The earliest records we have of the Green Man startGreen Man a symbol of life, death and rebirth other
somewhere around 100AD in the Roman Empire. Byfaiths have not been so kind to him. For example, in
the year 500, the Green Man was beginning to beMedieval Christian churches the Green Man takes on
used by the Christian church after the Bishop, Nicetius,an autumnal appearance suggesting a nearness of
salvaged some Green Man ruins from a Romandeath. He was considered a demon which
temple to decorate his cathedral.represented the 'fall' of nature. Over time, the Christian
During the Reformation when the Roman religion ofchurches began to adopt the Green Man as a symbol
multiple Gods worship was replaced with Christianityof life, death and rebirth also.
throughout the Roman Empire, the Green Man was