Green Man

Green Man (plural Green Men)

1. (now historical) A character in British folklore often depicted as a foliate head; any of certain similarly-depicted figures from other cultures, hypothesised to share a common folkloric or mythological root. [From 16th c.]
   • 2006, Gary R. Varner, The Mythic Forest, the Green Man and the Spirit of Nature, Algora Publishing, page 122:

     The widespread vegetation cults attest to the probability that the Green Man, in all of his guises, originated at the beginning of the agricultural age at least 7,000 years BCE. The symbolism inherent in the Green Man is a reflection of the archetypal lore of life-death-rebirth, the endless cycle seen so easily in vegetation.

   • 2006, James Coulter, The Green Man Unmasked, Author House, page vii:

     Invoking Jungian Psychology, William Anderson identified the Green Man as an archetype symbolising our oneness with the earth. None of the ingenious interpretations of the Green Man image which have appeared in recent years have fully addressed the question: why is the foliage-disgorging Green Man so prominently and almost exclusively identified with places of Christian worship?

   • 2007, Gary R. Varner, Gargoyles, Grotesques & Green Men, Lulu, page 55:

     So too do carvings of Green Men appear on and in these magnificent structures.

   • 2009, Peter Bramwell, Pagan Themes in Modern Children's Fiction, Palgrave Macmillan, page 66:

     But while carvings and buildings contain the Green Man in a rigid image, working in the open air he is at one with the greenwood, 'his face dappled by the flickering leaves that caress his face, and sweep out from around his eyebrows' (35).

2. A green spandex bodysuit, often used for green screens.
   • 2007 September 13, Charlie Day & David Hornsby & Glenn Howerton, “The Gang Gets Invincible” (3:56 from the start), in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia‎^[1], season 3, episode 2, spoken by Dennis Reynolds (Glenn Howerton):

     “Hey, what are you guys doing?” “Dude, we're gonna tailgate the tryouts.” “Oh, shit. That's a good idea. Oh, you gonna bust out Green Man, bro?” “No. No Green Man.” “What's Green Man?” “Well, in high school, Charlie was like our school mascot.” “A mascot nobody wanted. He'd get wasted and dress in this green spandex bodysuit.” “Spandex?” “It was really sad.” “That's it.” “You gotta bring the Green Man suit.” “Yeah, no. Done with it.” “The spandex.” “Green Man was good. It got me through some hard times. But I'm done with it. Tell you what. You can wear it if you want, but I'm just gonna be relaxing, okay? This is gonna be about chilling out for me.” “No. This is gonna be exactly like Woodstock.”

   • 2025 August 14, Asha Michelle Wilson, “Anchor Ham Adventure” (11:42 from the start), in The Great North‎^[2], season 5, episode 19, spoken by Gustin Tobin (Paul F. Tompkins):

     “Listen, the weather is in your blood. You should be the Green Man holding the fluffy white fun bags.” “Do you mean clouds?” “If only you could think of a way to get into that Cloud Guy suit.” “Like, if it shrank. Yes. So I need to... invent a shrink ray?” “No. At the station, use the dryer.”

• John Barleycorn
• Jack in the green
• Robin Goodfellow
• woodwose