We end where we began: 12th-century Woolpit, England, where there suddenly appeared two green children who can't have existed but sound like they should have. Whom 17th-century writers like Robert Burton and Francis Godwin, intoxicated by their own era's discovery of alien worlds in the sky, tried … [Read more...]
Sir James George Frazer – “Golden Bough,” John Barleycorn, and a Little Green Man (Part 6 of a series)
If there's anything more gauche and un-with-it these days than quoting Sigmund Freud with approval--which I do with some regularity--it's quoting Sir James George Frazer. Which I am now about to do, in connection with the problem of the "little green men." Nearly everyone has at least heard of … [Read more...]
Green Children, Green Giants, Little Green Men (Part 5 of a series)
"Heard about the Jolly Green Giant He's so big and mean Well, he stands there laughin' with his hands on his hips And then he hits you with a can of beans." --The Kingsmen (1965) OK, now we're getting a little bit ridiculous. Aren't we? This is the problem with doing comparisons, … [Read more...]
The Green Children – “Small, Vulnerable ETs” (Part 3 of a series)
(For Part 2, "Duncan Lunan and the 'Green Children' of Woolpit," click here.) "The power of the story [of the green children] comes in the end from our pity for these ultimate strangers in a strange land, these small, vulnerable ETs." --Diane Purkiss The quote is in medieval historian and … [Read more...]
Duncan Lunan and the “Green Children” of Woolpit (Part 2 of a series)
(For Part 1, "Little Green Men - 'Green Children' of Woolpit," click here.) Duncan Lunan's 2012 book Children From the Sky, on the mystery of the "green children" of Woolpit, is a frustrating read. And that's putting it very mildly. Which is unfortunate, because Lunan is a very bright guy … [Read more...]
