Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff Lauren
Speaker 1: Bogelbaum here. Earlier this spring, the official invitation for the
Speaker 1: coronation of King Charles the Third created a bit of
Speaker 1: a stir because of whom it included, and no, I'm
Speaker 1: not talking about any of the participants involved. On the
Speaker 1: bottom border of this ornate invitation is a depiction of
Speaker 1: what's known by art historians as a foliate head these days,
Speaker 1: though it's perhaps more popularly known as a green man,
Speaker 1: his face smiling, his beard and hair made of leaves
Speaker 1: of ivy oaken hawthorn mixed with a jumble of multicolored flowers.
Speaker 1: But I said there was controversy, so what's not to like?
Speaker 1: The green man is one of the most popular decorative
Speaker 1: tropes in England. Sculptures of his leafy mug can be
Speaker 1: found looming over the ceilings of medieval churches and up
Speaker 1: from garden paving stones all over the UK and Europe.
Speaker 1: Various renderings depict him in different ways. On the coronation invitation,
Speaker 1: he appears friendly, but depending on the artist and the
Speaker 1: mood of the piece, he can look joyful, goofy, terrified,
Speaker 1: ill leering, stoic, angry or downright demonic. His face can
Speaker 1: be obscured by greenery, as if he's peeping out through foliage,
Speaker 1: or it can overtake and meld with him, replacing some
Speaker 1: of his human features with botanicals. Although the Green Man
Speaker 1: is one of the most common artistic motifs in Christian
Speaker 1: and Catholic churches around the UK and Europe, the story
Speaker 1: that we tell about him today is overtly pagan, a
Speaker 1: symbol of spring and rebirth, or of nature's ultimate supremacy
Speaker 1: over humanity. His connection to the ancient history of the
Speaker 1: British Isles is up for debate, but his face on
Speaker 1: the invitation of an ostensibly Christian coronation ceremony it did
Speaker 1: cause a bit of an uproar. However, The Green Man's
Speaker 1: reputation as a powerful pre Christian nature deity was cooked
Speaker 1: up less than a century ago by a British aristocrat
Speaker 1: and folklore buff named Julia Somerset or Lady Raglan. She
Speaker 1: named the foliate heads seen in English churches the Green
Speaker 1: Man and invented a fairy tale about his origins. In
Speaker 1: a thirteen page article that was published in the March
Speaker 1: nineteen thirty nine issue of the journal Folklore. In her article,
Speaker 1: Somerset not only assigned a name to the foliot head,
Speaker 1: and she likely got green Man from the many English
Speaker 1: pubs with that name, but she also identified him as
Speaker 1: an ancient god of fertility and strength. She went on
Speaker 1: to speculate that ancient Pagans might have engaged in ritual
Speaker 1: human sacrifice each May Day, identifying a male member of
Speaker 1: the community to represent the god, and then hanging that
Speaker 1: man I'm a tree, or decapitating him and placing his
Speaker 1: severed head in a tree. Let's be clear, there is
Speaker 1: no scholarly evidence to back up Somerset's claims, but this
Speaker 1: gruesome story of pagan brutality and hedonism became wildly popular
Speaker 1: in the UK. Since then, the Green Man has been
Speaker 1: ever more plastered, sometimes literally, over English pubs, inns, gardens,
Speaker 1: and even music festivals. There is a green Man Music
Speaker 1: Festival in the UK, and the Burning Man Festival in
Speaker 1: the US made the Green Man its theme back in
Speaker 1: two thousand and seven, if these foliot heads did in
Speaker 1: fact represent a powerful pagan god for whom the ancients
Speaker 1: on what's now the British Isles ritualistically decapitated people it
Speaker 1: would send a bit of a disturbing coronation message. However,
Speaker 1: that's almost certainly not the case. Versions of the foliot
Speaker 1: Head have been found from as far removed as sixth
Speaker 1: century Istanbul, alongside Greek depictions of Dionysus. It's probably found
Speaker 1: in the decor of so many Christian churches throughout Europe
Speaker 1: because it was an esthetic and often intricate design that
Speaker 1: was evocative without being directly religious, a perfect for places
Speaker 1: where an artist was allowed to work with secular or
Speaker 1: less than serious themes. Early Christians may have viewed the
Speaker 1: figure as a symbol of the cyclical nature of Christianity,
Speaker 1: or as a nature centric representation of the Holy Spirit,
Speaker 1: which breathes life into the world, and the leaves, vines
Speaker 1: and flowers flowing from him as a symbol of rebirth.
Speaker 1: No matter where or when the Green Man came from,
Speaker 1: he's become a neopagan icon, a symbol of English folklore,
Speaker 1: and eventually was adopted by the New Age movement in
Speaker 1: the nineteen sixties. Modern Pagans sometimes worship him, which does
Speaker 1: make his visage an unusual choice for coronation invitation, because
Speaker 1: it seems to be inviting controversy. Perhaps by revisiting Robin
Speaker 1: Hood or Sir Gowin in The Green Knight, we might
Speaker 1: learn more about what green Man has to teach us,
Speaker 1: because although he may be watching, the Mysterious green Man
Speaker 1: isn't talking. Today's episode is based on the article who
Speaker 1: is the controversial green Man on the Royal Coronation Invitation
Speaker 1: on HowStuffWorks dot Com written by Jesslyn Shields. A brain
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