Unraveling the Nature of the Green Man, Part 2: How a Pre-Christian Icon came to be found in Christian Monuments. Read Part 1 One of the most important quandaries to discuss in relation to the Green Man, a representation of a face surrounded by foliage and greenery, is how he came to grace the interiors and exteriors of churches, parishes, and other Christian buildings. A deity proven to have stemmed from before the coming of Christianity, the Green Man's appearance at Christian locations was an interesting puzzle for archaeologists and art historians. Why would the Green Man be depicted on so many Christian locations when his origins were pre-Christian? Wouldn't it thus be considered sacrilegious to present him in a Christian context?
To begin to unravel the nature of these questions, it must first be discussed where images of the spirit appear to originate. The most pertinent to discuss is the impact of the gods of the Roman Empire on the nature of the Green Man. Green man at St. Marble statuette of Pan by Jose Manuel Felix Magdalena (Wikimedia Commons) Cernunnos, a nature god of the Celts. Unraveling the Nature and Identity of the Green Man. An enigma spanning thousands of years, the Green Man is a symbol of mysterious origin and history.
Permeating various religious faiths and cultures, the Green Man has survived countless transformations and cultural diversities, enduring in the same relative physical form to this day. Although specifics about his beginnings and his worship are not fully known, due in large part to how far back and to what initial cultures he can be traced to, it is a testament to the widespread reach of his character that he is still remembered and worshipped to this day. The Green Man is most highly believed to have begun as a pre-Christian entity, a spirit of nature personified as a man. His earliest images have been dated long before the coming of the Christian religion, depictions dating back before the days of the Roman Empire.
The Green Man is almost frequently depicted as a man's face, usually ranging from middle aged to elderly, appearing out of the wild of forest trappings. Bibliography. Ten Mythological Creatures in Ancient Folklore. The world is full of stories about mythical creatures, legendary beasts, and supernatural and god-like beings. For thousands of years, humans everywhere—sometimes inspired by living animals or even fossils—have brought mythic creatures to life in stories, songs, and works of art. Today these creatures, from the powerful dragon to the soaring phoenix, continue to thrill, terrify, entertain, and inspire us. Some, such as the Loch Ness Monster or Sasquatch, continue to be "sighted" and sought to this day. While the origins of these fabulous creatures are varied, and often disputed, they have played significant roles in human society, and have served to stimulate the imagination and desire that is ingrained in human nature to experience more than this physical world.
The legendary Kraken According to the Scandinavian mythology, the Kraken is a giant sea creature (said to be 1 mile long) that attacks ships and is so huge that its body could be mistaken for an island. The mythological Kappa. Finding the Legendary Mongolian Death Worm. Deep within the shifting sands of the Gobi Desert lies the elusive Olgoi-Khorkhoi, The Mongolian Death Worm – or so legend has it. The Mongolian Death Worm is a bright red worm, a mysterious cryptid said to inhabit the southern Gobi Desert. Local Mongolian tribesmen claim to have seen the creature in their travels, but the stories have never been confirmed, even after many attempts by multiple research expeditions over the years. Olgoi-Khorkhoi is Mongolian for ‘large intestine worm’, and the stories describe a 1 meter (3 feet) long, bulging worm. It is red, like an intestine filled with blood. Artistic illustrations depict the worm with a gaping round mouth filled with inward-pointing teeth.
Mongolian Death Worm by Belgian painter Pieter Dirkx. The legend says that the Olgoi-Khorkhoi originally laid its eggs in the intestines of a camel and thus acquired its blood red colour. Many locals are convinced of the existence of the mysterious creature. LiveScience quotes British biologist Dr. Femme-cygne. Un article de Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre. The Swan Maidens (Les femmes-cygnes), par Walter Crane, 1894 Ce thème est assez répandu dans les récits folkloriques à travers le monde sur tous les continents, bien que les types d'oiseaux et d'animaux puissent varier. Quelquefois, il s'agit de créatures célestes féminines qui sont ailées, mais l'idée de fond reste la même. Versions avec des oiseaux[modifier | modifier le code] Versions russes et sibériennes avec femmes-cygnes et autres femmes-oiseaux[modifier | modifier le code] Dans une version bouriate, une femme-cygne a été obligée d'épouser un chasseur bouriate et ils ont onze enfants.
Une version sibérienne met en scène ce qui ressemble à des femmes-oiseaux (le récit est plutôt imprécis sur la nature des femmes, mais il est fait mention de plumes, ce qui suppose qu'il s'agit bien de femmes-oiseaux). Origine du récit et diffusion[modifier | modifier le code] Versions masculines de la légende[modifier | modifier le code]