THE GREEN MAN IN BRITAIN
By Frances Doel and Geoffrey Doel, published by Tempus at £9.99. 160pp. ISBN: 0752419161 (Reviewed by David Taylor)
This new book on the Green Man, that most mysterious of motifs, is examined here in an attempt to put it in a wider cultural context. The authors investigate the carvings of foliate heads in church architecture and present information on what they perceive to be the wider cultural associations present in literature, folk customs and legends. Their book contains a large collection of photographs of carvings and a smaller number of folk customs that they associate with the Green Man. Also included is a selective gazetteer of church sites that are home to carvings of Green Men.
The book is arranged in a chronological order, starting with the earliest known carvings and finishing with depictions of the Green Man on pub signs and in advertisements.
The authors begin by making a very useful definition of what they mean by Green Man. They define it as: "a head disgorging vegetation from eyes, nostrils, ears or forehead, or a foliate head where the cheeks are depicted as leaf-like". This image of a verdant head is primarily found in church architecture in the British Isles, carved in both wood and stone. The Doels include information on folk customs and symbolic figures they consider to be related to the idea of the Green Man, and even a discussion of the religious and cultural significance of the colour green itself. They admit the difficulty in reconciling the presence of Green Men in church architecture with their absence in scripture. The theories presented range from the idea that that the foliate heads represent mankind itself, or perhaps were part of some complex medieval symbolism based on the close identity of Christ and the Sacred Tree, to the Frazerian proposal that they are the remnants of pre-Christian belief. I was looking forward to reading what the Doel’s had to say about that great poem ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’, and although they offer some interesting insights, I was disappointed by their overall approach, which seems to be through the eyes of 20th century writers, not a medieval one.
Folk customs are examined in detail - especially the May Day celebrations which involve a variety of Jack-in-the-Green figures. The inclusion of the Burry Man of South Queensferry, Scotland is a little unusual, as he is not a green man in the classic sense outlined by the authors at the start of the book. It would have been nice also to see details of the wonderful Clun Green Man festival.
Towards the end of the book the authors examine the Green Man in 20th century literature, art and music. This is a very interesting overview of how the Green Man is still relevant today.
An excellent feature of the book are the great black and white photographs and the very useful gazetteer, although this is not as comprehensive as it could have been.
On the whole this is a great book, full of interesting material on this most mysterious of characters.