Comments on: Green Men, Jolly Green Giants, and Wild Men

By: dogu4

dogu4 — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 20:33:03 +0000

Have we mentioned the notion of Beowolf’s experiences with Grendel being a legendary encounter? One of my favorites.

By: Loren Coleman

Loren Coleman — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 16:57:32 +0000

Yes, Aaron, this is detailed at my blog, “Santa = Wildman”.

Back to the Jolly Green Giant here, not that jolly round red and white guy. Another holiday. Another time.

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 16:45:09 +0000

This is fascinating. I had no idea that the Jolly Green Giant had any relation whatsoever to anything cryptozoological in nature. Very cool information here!

By: Aaronious

Aaronious — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 15:18:49 +0000

“Santa Claus, Last of the Wild Men: The Origins and Evolution of Saint Nicholas, Spanning 50,000 Years” by Phyllis Siefker is an excellent book. It delves into the cultural transmogrification of Santa from the Wild Man into the Coke poster child He is today. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. No isbn, sorry.

By: Ceroill

Ceroill — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 15:15:21 +0000

Hmm. This brings to my mind the question of whether the Mountain Men and early explorers of the North American continent might have had encounters with unrecognized creatures.

By: busterggi

busterggi — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 14:16:29 +0000

I had the good fortune to grow up back in the ’50’s & ’60’s when the Jolly Green Giant was in the peak of his television career and have the jingle and laugh permanently etched in my memory.

At the time I didn’t know about the Green Man legends nor did I associate the JGG with sasquatch & the yeti (though of course he did contrast nicely with the Hulk who was merely a sprout at the time).

I think it was Shakley’s book that made the connection for me and I recommend it highly to anyone interested in the legends of wildmen either cryptozoologically or other reasons. I don’t neccessarilly agree with all of her concluusions but she does make a good case for them.

However, I still do not believe that leprechans exist. Surely by now competition with goblins has driven them to extinction.

By: kittenz

kittenz — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 12:52:20 +0000

My grandmother was born in 1914. She speaks of “wildmen” who lived back in the hills when she was a girl. Her father, who was born in 1853, and who was a child of one of the first families thet settled this region, would not let the young children, or girls of any age, go into the woods alone because wildmen were thought to snatch children from time to time. It’s a local legend, of course, but there is usually a basis for such legends.