Product Description

A study of the Green Man through church carvings, folk customs, legends and literature, plus an extensive Gazetteer.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53632 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-31
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

About the Author
Fran and Geoff Doel lecture in Cultural Studies for the Faculty of Humanities, University of Kent. They are the authors of several books on aspects of traditional British culture, including 'Worlds of Arthur' and 'Robin Hood', both published by Tempus.

Customer Reviews

Recommended
This is a very comprehensive survey of the various english cultural personae that can be described as Green Men. It includes a description of the green man faces found almost exclusively in ecclesiastical architecture, and accounts of Green Man-style folk figures such as Jack-in-the-Green and the Burry Man. Coming to this subject with little previous knowledge I found the book to be very informative and easy to read, with a large quantity of illustrations throughout.

When discussing the green man carvings, reference is made to the medieval Golden Legend story of the dead Adam having the seeds of the tree of knowledge planted in his mouth. I felt that this was not explored enough, especially in the context of Christianity adopting existing pagan myths.

Also, the link between these medieval carvings and the folk figures of today seemed tenuous, but the book does not tend to speculate wildly and this is a fair reflection of the elusive nature of the subject matter. The gazetteer of sites at the end of the book is very useful, but not very comprehensive, although the authors do explicitly refer the reader to published field guides which they state are more thorough.

All told this book is practical, thorough and enjoyable - an excellent introduction to the subject of the Green Man.

An excellent Green Man book
A very easy to read book written in an informative but interesting style. The authors certainly know their stuff, and each chapter explores a different English folk history and how it could be linked to the Green Man. They don't make any unsupported statements (unlike Ms. Basford in her book), and give a broad-minded and rounded review of the Green Man, his history and possible meaning. The photos are largely well produced black and white shots of Green Men in England. The Gazetter at the back is not at all comprehensive but does give an introduction to where the more well known Green Men in England can be found. An excellent introduction to the subject and a must for anyone interested in the Green Man.