the mysterious woodwose

Wild men support coats of arms in the side panels of a portrait
Albrecht Dürer, 1499

illustration by 'The Master of the Playing Cards'

Woodwose or wild men (and women!) appear amongst the art and literature of medieval England. Often seen depicted in churches across Britain, they have become a familiar sight with vegetal growths sprouting from eyes, mouths and ears - frequently hidden in foliage themselves. The term is used in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and figures of wildpeople emerge across European literature and art. In fourteenth century France, the guise of a wildman was adopted as folkloric costume in the court of Charles VI -  "in costumes of linen cloth sewn onto their bodies and soaked in resinous wax or pitch to hold a covering of frazzled hemp, so that they appeared shaggy & hairy from head to foot". In later times the woodwose was adopted as a symbol for mining. The condition of hypertrichosis was also linked to the woodwose, due to the similarties of excess growth of hair, and the character was frequently utilised in heraldry designs.


Woodwose, Ripon Cathedral, North Yorkshire. Photo: Mike Harding

It has been suggested that the woodwose represents the opposite of civilzation - a woodwose dwelling on the edges and fringes of society - almost an outcast, " the place inhabited by hunters, criminals, religious hermits, herdsmen, and others who frequent the margins of human activity" according to Dorothy Yamamoto.


A wild man is described in Konungs skuggsjá
(Speculum Regale or "the King's Mirror")
written in Norway around 1250:

"It once happened in that country (and this seems indeed strange) that a living creature was caught in the forest as to which no one could say definitely whether it was a man or some other animal; for no one could get a word from it or be sure that it understood human speech. It had the human shape, however, in every detail, both as to hands and face and feet; but the entire body was covered with hair as the beasts are, and down the back it had a long coarse mane like that of a horse, which fell to both sides and trailed along the ground when the creature stooped in walking"


German Wild Man stove tile, ca. 1480. Earthenware with lead glaze.


illustration from the Speculum Regale

.:.
suggested further reading:
Nina Lyon - Uprooted: On the Trail of the Green Man
Jeremy Harte - The Green Man
Terri Windling - The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest


"Wild Man" oak wood sculpture, circa 1390-1400
from the collection of the Museum Schnütgen, Cologne