The Green Man: Myth and Reality
By Imogen Corrigan
Unveiling the folklore and history of the foliate head, or green man, in ecclesiastical architecture.
I was really excited when this dropped through my letterbox as I have always been fascinated with the image of the Green Man but have never really explored it in depth before. I also have a love for architecture and symbolism in churches and cathedrals so when I found out that this was exploring both these themes I asked for a review copy and was delighted to receive one from Amberley Publishing. The book did not disappoint me…!
The Green Man is an easy to digest, well written book of a very accessible 96 pages. In it the author introduces the reader to the different types of Green men (and women!), their contexts and their origins in both folklore and Christian tradition. It is delightfully filled with descriptions of pagan folklore, fertility rites, labyrinths, dragons, monsters and religious symbolism of foliate heads (as they are also called). There are some fabulous images throughout which help the reader to understand the clear and vivid descriptions, whilst also directing you to examples and where to find them.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this compact, yet intriguing book and it has encouraged me to research the subject further – in fact the only thing I could ask for that it didn’t include was a bibliography for further reading.
If you are interested in Green heads, love religious architecture and symbolism, enjoy finding out about folklore or just want to read about a new subject from a compact, enjoyable and informative book, then this is for you! I recommend this whole heartedly and - I promise - you will learn a lot and enjoy doing it!
