If you search for the Green Man online, the most common image you’ll find is a plaque featuring a man’s face completely surrounded by foliage, often oak leaves. Sometimes the leaves hide most of the face.  Sometimes the foliage grows right out of the man’s mouth, nose, or beard.

Plaques like the ones pictured can be found at craft fairs and garden supply stores, on several Amazon vendors, and on artisan sites like Etsy.  Pinterest has several boards devoted exclusively to Green Man images  These three are typical of the selections you’ll find. They’re described as Green Man, Celtic Forest Spirit, Cernunnos Pagan God, Green Nature Man, Leaf Man, and Solstice Green Man.

So, what exactly is the Green Man? And where did the concept come from?

Cernunnos, the Spirit of the Forest

One of the most common references for the Green Man is Cernunnos, the Celtic and Western European god of the forest. He is often pictured seated, cross-legged, surrounded by forest animals, including deer, wolves, and snakes. He usually has antlers and cloven feet with a human body, hands, and face. He often holds a silver torc, a neck ornament symbolizing power, in his right hand, and a serpent, the symbol of wisdom, in his left.

These images of Cernunnos show the variety of representations:

The concept appears in art as early as 30 BCE in a silver bowl found in Denmark but probably made in Britain or Gaul (section pictured). Here, as in some of the modern versions pictured, Cernunnos holds a silver torc in his right hand and a serpent in his left.  Foliage and forest creatures surround him.

However, with the rise of Catholicism, the old spirit symbols were repudiated or repurposed.  The horned man, often with cloven feet, became one of the images of the Devil, as did the serpent. These two images are interesting examples.  On one side is a particularly nasty-looking Cernunnos and on the other a handsome, recently-fallen Lucifer with budding horns and giant bat wings.  The statue, by Guillaume Geefs, is called “La genie du mal,” the Genius of Evil.  In Lucifer’s hand is the stripped off crown, the symbol of power.  Contrast it with the silver torc.

The stag, on the other hand, was appropriated as a messenger of God.

The story of Saint Hubert best illustrates the change. 

Hubert, born in 656 near the border of present day France and Spain, grew up in an aristocratic family and enjoyed stag hunting on horseback.  One Good Friday, when presumably he should have been in church instead of hunting, he had a vision of a great stag with a cross or perhaps a crucifix (depending on the version you read) between its antlers.  Startled, Hubert dismounted and knelt before the stag who advised him to lead a holy life and to practice ethical hunting: shoot for a clean kill, avoid causing excessive pain, never shoot a female with young by her side, and so on.  Deeply moved, Hubert followed the advice given to him by the stag in his vision.

This story became very popular in Medieval Germany and Austria.  To this day, in many areas, Saint Hubert is considered the patron saint of hunters and the originator of the principles of ethical hunting.  You can find his image on medals, like the one pictured, and church carvings, coats of arms and stained glass windows.  The stag in Hubert’s vision appears on every bottle of Jägermeister.  The brand name translates from the German as “Master of the Hunt.”

It’s interesting to see the change.  The deer/man spirit of the forest has been made into a sinister being, but the deer is elevated, and with it, the human is elevated, for he is now the master of the forest.

The Green Man in the Medieval Church

It’s not surprising, then, that the Green Man, the carry-over from the old forest spirit, does not fare well in Medieval church art.  He is reduced to a face being devoured by the forest, usually by the oak tree, the sacred tree of the Druids. 

In her lavishly illustrated book The Green Man,  Kathleen Basford limits the definition of the Green Man to the carved heads found in European Catholic Churches from the 13^th and 14^th centuries.  In the photos, you find twisted faces overwhelmed by branches that grow out of their mouth, sometimes eyes, cheeks, and hair.  In carvings on corbels and archways, the leaves often take up much more space than the face, as in the photos shown, so the human is overtaken by the forest.

Basford calls the figures demons, claiming they function, like gargoyles, as fascinating “deformities” that provide moral lessons.  Specifically, wildness is dark, dangerous, and chaotic. The Church provides light and order.

This picture shows the relationship clearly.  Mary, the Blessed Mother, holding young Jesus, stands on the Green Man’s head in the same way as she stands on the Serpent/Devil in other images.  The Green Man belongs to the lower world of dark spirits that has been replaced by the new order.

At least that was the Church’s view in the 13^th and 14^th centuries.

And indeed, it was a common view in Medieval art.  But it’s hardly the only way to see the Green Man today.

The Green Man All Around

In his book Walking with the Green Man: Father of the Forest, Spirit of Nature, Dr. Bob Curran takes the opposite view from Kathleen Basford.  He skips over the Green Man figures in Medieval churches and instead looks to other mythologies, where he finds the Green Man everywhere.  The Green Man, to him, is every forest spirit from the Roman satyr and the Islamic djinn to the Nigerian Iroko to the Duk-Duk of the South Pacific to the Forest Spirit in Miyazaki’s “Princess Mononoke”– a world-wide party of forest spirits spanning centuries.  The Green Man image of the face surrounded by foliage is simply the most familiar version.

Changing Views

Today, when many people have come to see the wilderness as beautiful, complicated, and life-giving rather than threatening, the Green Man has reemerged from the darkness.  He still has the headful of oak-leaves or other greenery, but he’s no longer seen as evil or damned.  Rather, he’s untamed.  He represents the power of wild masculine nature.

The Green Man and his many brothers

These days, Green Man festivals in the British Isles and North America feature people painting themselves green and donning garlands of leaves and flowers.  There’s drinking, singing, some games, some dancing, and a lot of celebrating.

Many British pubs are named  The Green Man, as are several breweries.  Again, the association is drinking and good times without too many rules.  Curiously, some pub signs use an image of Robin Hood as the Green Man.  It seems a bit of a stretch to me, from Cernunnos to the likeable 13^th century rogue who stole from the rich and gave to the poor, according to his legend, but I suppose he did dress in green and live in the forest.

A more interesting counterpart is Leshy, a Russian folk hero who bears a striking resemblance to Cernunnos.  He is an antlered giant who combines deer and human features.  He lives in the forest, unbothered by the rules of civilization.  In the dark fantasy computer game named after him, Leshy fights modern humans who are set on destroying the forest.   

Curran sees the Green Man in popular culture figures like the Incredible Hulk, the Jolly Green Giant, Swamp Thing, even Johnny Appleseed.  For some reason, though, he misses characters like Groot and Baby Groot from “Guardians of the Galaxy” and the Ents from “Lord of the Rings,” as well as the Weirwood Trees in “A Game of Thrones.” 

Whether they’re all representatives of the Green Man or simply distant relatives is up to you to decide.  But it’s encouraging to see all of these versions thriving today.

Update September 2022, if you’re watching the Rings of Power prequel to the Lord of the Rings saga, notice the Green Man on the elves chest. https://www.gq.com/story/lord-of-the-rings-rings-of-power-trailer. It’s an interesting addition.

Sources and interesting reading:

Basford, Kathleen.  The Green Man.  Cambridge: D. S.  Brewer, 1978.  An excellent survey of Green Man sculptures in Medieval churches

Celtic Tree of Life, Oak Tree Spirit, https://www.walmart.com/ip/Celtic-Tree-Of-Life-Oak-Tree-Spirit-Ent-Greenman-God-Wall-Decor-Plaque-12-D/828487944

Cernunnos by Valerie Herron  for MysticMedia https://www.etsy.com/listing/234816711/cernunnos

“Cernunnos: Celtic Deity,” Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cernunnos

Cernunnos silver By Nationalmuseet, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47377960

Curran, Dr. Bob, Walking with the Green Man: Father of the Forest, Spirit of Nature.  Newburyport, Massachusetts, 2007  An interesting book that makes connections between the Green Man and many other cultural figures from Osiris to the Incredible Hulk.

“English Pubs,” Knoji, 11 April 2011, source of photo of Green Man pub sign, https://knoji.com/article/english-pubs/

The ‘Green Man’ mosaic, a Byzantine mosaic from the Great Palace Mosaic Museum featuring a man with acanthus leaf foliage for a beard, Istanbul, Turkey, c. 6th century AD. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Green_Man_mosaic.jpg

Green Man plaque, Green Man Winter Solstice, sold by World Menagerie https://www.wayfair.com

Green Man plaque from Bungalow Rose https://www.wayfair.com/World-Menagerie–Celtic-Winter-Solstice-Greenman-Wall-D%C3%A9cor-X113059833-L6851/

“Green Man,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Man

“History of the Green Man,” The Enigma of the Green Man, https://www.greenmanenigma.com/history.html

“Hubertus,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubertus

Illustrations:

Cernunnos, God of the Forest by Baphomet_2021 on DeviantArt

            Cernunnos by Valerie Herron for MysticMedia.com

            Cernunnos from Mythology Explained

            Cernunnos by Mathew Spencer

            Leshy by Aneriana on DeviantArt

            Green Man Woold by God Woold on DeviantArt

Iroko illustration, Inside Iliana Ike, https://insideilianaike.com/2021/05/19/iroko-man/

Jay, Nina, “The Mystery of the Green Man – A Guide” Symbol Sage, https://symbolsage.com/history-of-the-green-man/

Latham, Mark, “Pagan Traveler: The Mysterious Origins of the Green Man,” Matador Network, https://matadornetwork.com/bnt/pagan-traveler-the-mysterious-origins-of-the-green-man/

“Le genie du mal” or the Lucifer of Liege, Wikiwand, https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Le_genie_du_mal

“Leshy,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leshy

Leshy illustration “Leshy on Steam”  https://www.google.com/search?q=Leshy+game&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjg34f7jLP4AhVFK0QIHYe1BtcQ_AUoA3oECAIQBQ&biw=1673&bih=924&dpr=1#imgrc=F2bsXa9ilzTCbM

Leshy by Aneriana on Deviant Art

“Tammuz, the Green Man,” Library Mom, 2 May 2013, https://librarymom12.wordpress.com/2013/05/02/tammuz-the-green-man/

“Three Lessons from the Green Man,” Ancient Wisdom Online, 12 January 2014, source of photos of celebrants at Green Man Festivals https://insideilianaike.com/2021/05/19/iroko-man/