The Green Man
The Green Man is a woodland or vegetation spirit of ancient European origins, whose pagan image of a grotesque severed head with emergent foliage from mouth, beard, and hairline decorate Christian churches from as early as the sixth century. As the Wild Man of the Woods he is the guardian and spirit of the ancient woodlands, and the mysterious Green man may be malevolent, tricksy and unpredictable. In the folk legends and literature of England and Scotland he becomes Robin Hood and the Green Knight. The Green Man is a potent symbol of renewed fertility. He plays a prominent role in the festivities of May Day in the guise of the Garland, or King of the May (each of these is a person dressed in floral cages representing the spirit), or as Jack-in-the-Green.
The Green Knight
In the legendary tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, the Green Knight is a supernatural fairy knight whose skin, clothes, armor and weapons are green. As an immortal soldier, the Green Knight may lose his head, but he always retrieves it and carries on fighting. He is the symbol of vegetation rebirth, like Jack-in-the-Green. In one tale, Sir Gawain, one of Arthur's favorite knights, is entrapped by the wiles of the Green Knight's wife. during the Christmas jousts, the Green Knight (in disguise, calling himself the Knight of the Green Chapel) challenges Sir Gawain, who severs the fairy knight's head. Picking up his head, the Green Knight demands satisfaction one year hence at his own castle. Sir Gawain keeps the appointment, meeting the knight and his lady. In his return joust with the fairy knight, Sir Gawain retains his life only because he has refused further advances from his hostess, who is none other than Morgan le Fay.
--- Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns and Goblins --- by Carol Rose
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