Green Man of Mercia

This is an off cut from the Offa's Spirit carving recently posted. The reference to Mercia is in the area the wood was harvested and a direct link to the Offa reference. Offa was the King of Mercia. Green Man symbolism would have been very prevalent in Offa's time.

I wanted to create a Green Man wall hanging piece and here it is.

The Green Man is thought to be a Pagan symbolism depicting fertility or natures spirit, however many Green Man carvings are found in churches apparently taken on by Christianity, as with many symbols of pre Christian faiths, to help swing the population towards the new faith.

One Celtic god Viridios has a name meaning "Green Man" in both the Celtic languages and Latin possibly being the origins of the "Green Man"

The features are picked out with a mid Oak Danish Oil which adds shading highlights.

The leaves take longer to carve than the hair on a Woodwose and give the carving a very different look.

The picture below shows you what it looks like hanging on the wall.

The overall length of the piece is 12 1/2" and

the diameter at the carving is 1 1/2"

The face is 3" top to bottom of the leaves carved and 1 1/4" wide

There are some beautiful shapes, lumps and bumps that in themselves are worth admiring;

I hope the carving does them credit.

Your comments as always are welcome.

Regards

Dave