Walking With the Green Man: Father of the Forest, Spirit of Nature

by Bob Curran, Ian Daniels (Illustrator)

Almost since the dawn of time, the image of the Green Man--the carven enigmatic head surrounded by leaves and foliage--has both intrigued and mystified viewers and folklorists alike. Appearing in churches, taverns, and even on stately buildings, the carving seems shrouded in supernatural obscurity. Is it merely a fertility symbol, or is it something much deeper, which calls for a response from us all? Though it seems a predominantly Celtic icon, does the concept of the Green Man also appear in other places and in other cultures? What is its relevance for the world today? In an absorbing new book, Dr. Bob Curran traces the many strands that make up this enigmatic image. Tracing its origins from prehistoric times, he explores its significance in the medieval world and discusses its development in the modern world. He also investigates the image's psychological appeal, which has allowed it to continue down through the ages, and, pulling from a variety of sources, its impact upon other cultures in various parts of the world. From heroic archetypes such as Robin Hood to Demigods such as Herne the Hunter; from the King of the Woods to the Jack in the Green, Walking With the Green Man examines the interconnection of man and Nature throughout history. Whether as a man amongst the trees, a man of the trees, or a symbol of Nature used to express secrets and solidarity, the Green Man's visage is traced throughout lands and cultures. Walking With the Green Man will appeal to all those who are interested in the image of the Green Man as an example of symbolic art, as well as to those who are interested in folklore and the interplay between folklore and culture. It is a fascinating study, which not only examines the history of the icon but also its development within human perception.

Genres: Mythology, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published April 30, 2007

About the author

BOB CURRAN is an educational psychologist in Coleraine University. His interests are broad-ranging but are focused especially on history and story. He has written several books, including The Field Guide to Irish Fairies, The Wolfhound Guide to the Shamrock, Creatures of Celtic Myth, The Truth about the Leprechaun.

Reviews

[Rachel Brune · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are looking for some serious scholarship on the history of the Green Man, this book is not for you. If you are simply looking to spend some time speculating about the myth and its incarnations, you may find some use here. However, I found that this author often stretched far afield while attempting to make his points, and conflated the specific myth once too often with general fertility myths.

[Elizabeth Judd Taylor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not only was this book so badly written and researched that I didn't finish it, it annoyed me so much that I turned the computer on at 2:30am to write this review after giving up trying to read any more of it.

The final straw for me? The author's discussion of Rosslyn Chapel, in which he states that there is one, and only one, Green Man carving to be found there.* What?! The chapel is famous for the fact that it contains many Green Men; in fact, you can follow them all around the church, inside and out (I have done this myself), from a young and sprightly Green Man to a decayed and aged one. This is hardly a secret, so for the author to completely miss this--in fact, he makes a statement about how there were meant to be more Green Men but for some reason only one was carved--absolutely turned me off of what was already becoming a clearly very badly written book.

As for the rest of what I read, it became clear early on that the author was going to repeat a lot of things over and over again, almost as though he had to reach a mandatory minimum word count and couldn't do it any other way; there are seriously only so many times you need to list every name the Green Man goes by or tell us that the Queen of the May might be the female version, or, as the author might tell in the very next paragraph, the female version of the Green Man might be the Queen of the May. Then there are other passages where words are just missing, so that sentences make no sense (perhaps this is down to a bad proofreader, but it's pretty bad when it happens several times). There are strange non-necessary bits such as stating that Robin Hood may have really been Robin Hudd--fair enough, that bit--but then telling the reader that Hudd is still a real last name, because there's a comedian with the name (Roy Hudd). Now, that could be an interesting little tidbit, I suppose, but it just feels like filler (same with telling us that Robin Hood is so famous he inspired a Kevin Costner film). Oh, and did you know that Gawain and the Green Night is often required reading for English Lit majors? I'm not sure why that's important to how the Green Night might be a Green Man, but it's thrown into the end of a paragraph for basically no reason (feels like more filler).

I read just about half of the book and learned basically nothing about Green Men at all. I did learn that the author really, really wanted to make almost any story or myth that has anything at all to to with the woods relate to Green Men, but not why or how they related. I read that perhaps our forebears in the Middle Ages were terrified of nature so they invented the Green Man (but again, why? this is never adequately backed up). Also, the author has a strange habit of repeating that Green Men are really an English thing at heart, but almost every story he tells is Scottish or Irish, so again, huh? Nothing is really given any context--it just reads like bits of myths and lists of nature gods or nature spirits. No real discussion about what Green Men are or do is given. Wild claims that areas are "filled" with something are made (for instance, Scotland is supposedly chock full of indentations where Kings placed their feet to ritually gain power). There's just no meat to this book and the bits and pieces don't hold together or really go anywhere. There are no notes, no evidence given for all the claims made (there is a list of additional reading at the back, at least. so there's that).

The illustrations are quite nice and basically are the only reason I gave this book the one star.

*A quick search pulls up loads of stuff about all the Green Men; Wikipedia states "There are more than 110 carvings of 'Green Men' in and around the chapel" ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosslyn... ) and much more information is available from many other sites as well.

[Jennifer Templeton · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I decided to read a book on The Green Man because of the use of it on the invitation to King Charles III's coronation. I saw it on the Royal Family's website and was interested in why they used it on the invitation. I see the Green Man is very important in Britain's architectural history. I thought the book was very good. It covered the old, pagan ideas that influenced Britain's history. I would recommend this book for someone who wants a general idea of what is going on with the Green Man. I would recommend looking for another book if someone is looking for something on the Green Man and specific examples in architecture because this book covers it a little bit, but does not provide photographs or very many examples of it.

[Lilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

From heroic archetypes such as Robin Hood to Demigods, such as Herne the Hunter, from the King of the Woods to the Jack in the Green, Walking With the Green Man examines the interconnectedness of Man and Nature throughout history.

I found this to be an absorbing book, rich in detail and study and charming with it’s gorgeous drawings of various Green Man aspects. This is a fantastic source of the mythology of the Lord of the Greenwood.

[Blair Hodgkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely enjoyed this study of the significance of the image of the Green Man in history and culture. The author's ability to elaborate on the image's strong Western European heritage (especially its English heritage) is contrasted with similar or alternate images from the Middle East, Asia and the Americas. The image's influence is traced down through the centuries to modern times in which even comic books have taken it up in the form of vegetation-based muck-monsters like Swamp Thing. An interesting study. There is some repetition in the manuscript and a few errors that should have been caught in editing, or I would be leaving a five-star review.

[Ali · Rating 1 out of 5]

Vibe based, not research based. I’d say that it’s exciting to learn that I could have published my middle school essays as a book, but that comparison would be an insult to my middle school essays. This man does not know anything about the Green Man, he just thinks some things might as well be true so why not act like they are, right?

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is amazing, with a lot to unpack. It kind of introduces you to allot of various legends and such and then at the end gives you a further reading list. I was really pleased and thoroughly enjoyed it, looking forwards to reading more from the author and from the recommendations too.

[My work is never done · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful writing and vert educational