The Green Man

The Green Man (Also known as or equated to:  Khizr, Hizir, Kwadja Khadir, Mondamin, The Green Knight, al-Khidr, Qeezr, Qhezr, Sorush, Saint George, The King of the Sea, even equated to John The Baptist by some)

Facts about The Green Man:

There are no facts about The Green Man.  However, there are many that believe in The Green Man's existence.  The countless unverifiable stories about this man and his gifts hint at a reality.  I'm not trying to convince you to believe in The Green Man, but I have stood face to face with a man who claims Khizr* saved his life.  He was a fishermen and still is as far as I know.  He and his small crew suddenly got stuck out at sea in a life-threatening storm situation.  They asked Khizr for help and Khizr heard them.  He says that Khizr saved them from a tragedy at sea and he has stuck to his story. As a result of this experience, his fishing village built a shrine for Khizr so that he'd have a place to sit and rest if he passed through.  I had asked questions about the shrine when I visited his village and that's how I was introduced to The Green Man.  However, I already knew who The Green Man was and so do you.
(*translates to 'The Green One')

Where There Are Gargoyles:

Where there are gargoyles, you will likely find The Green Man if you look hard enough.  It's common practice for artists to depict The Green Man when they're crafting decorations for the outside of a church. The Green Man is that character that has leaves growing out of his mouth and he's usually looking fierce because he's there to protect the building.  Frequently, you'll find him in someone's garden watching over the greenery.  Switching gears, there's this element to nature that's virtually unending with the reseeding and regeneration.  So the Green Man takes on this characteristic by getting his long regenerating life the same way nature seems to do effortlessly.  But that's just one version of him that you might know without noticing.

The Green Knight:

The Green Knight is typically depicted in stories as the protector of the fountain of youth or the water of life.  Quite a few stories in the western world are derivative works of 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' or 'Perceval, the Story of the Grail'.  Gawain and Perceval are both knights and characters from King Arthur's reign.  My favorite adaptation of these two stories fits seamlessly in the script for 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'.  The whole story revolves around this search for the Holy Grail and when they finally find it, a knight with unnatural long life greets them there.  He wasn't green, however the knight he was derived from in the Gawain story was.  He also shares characteristics with that same man that's been gifted with ultra long life by a small pool of special water:  Khizr.

Mondamin The Maize God:

Mondamin is the name of the Native American version of The Green Man.  He's attributed with green leaves wrapping around his body, he's a young man, and has yellow hair like the stringy yellow tops of an ear of corn.  The legend that I'm aware of, is the Mondamin found in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem, The Song of Hiawatha.  Mondamin and Hiawatha physically wrestle over the issue of starvation during freezing winters.  In the end, Hiawatha wins the wrestling match and buries the maize god.  This sacrifice yields corn for the tribes to eat all through the winter, winter after winter.  It's a typical Green Man story, a helpful sage full of age earned wisdom, yet has the gift of a long life through rebirth.  (Side note:  If you ever find yourself in the position to read 'The Song of Hiawatha', I suggest reading it to a simple continuous drum beat (simple 4/4 quarter notes):  bah-boom-bah-boom-bah-boom-bah-boom.  Hard syllables follow the soft syllables like this:  IN the SONG of HIaWATHa... )

Khadir and Iskandar (Alexander the Great):

Alexander the Great is often paired with Khadir as his vizier.  A vizier is essentially the highest ranking individual other than the ruler who appoints them.  In other words, Khadir is thought of as Alexander's right hand man.  The legend is that Alexander and Khadir went into the Hindu Kush mountains in search of the Water of Life, or you might know it as the Fountain of Youth.  Together, Khadir and Alexander crushed the opposition and blazed an empire that was unrivaled in value at the time.  But that all unraveled when the two went in search of the water of life.  Inside the pitch black mountain passages, Khadir tried to guide Alexander to the fountain, but Alexander became stubborn so they both went their own way after the dispute.  Khadir found the water of life and Alexander continued his quest for more land into India and the Hindu Kush mountains.  Alexander lost the power he had because his warrior friend, Khadir the he derived his conquering powers from, was gone.  Alexander was crushed by the armies he faced in the Hindu Kush.

Khizr The King of the Sea:    

I find this version light-hearted, but who knows.. it could be true.  Khizr, the King of the Sea rides around the world on the backs of two fish when he's not guarding the water of life.  Often, he's depicted with two fish, including a painting displayed at the Smithsonian.   In this painting, he sits with the prophet Elijah and they appear to share a meal of two fish.

The Story of Moses and Hazrat Khizr:

Moses was widely believed to be the wisest on Earth, but he learns of a man with vast knowledge that well exceed his own.  The man's name is Hazrat Khizr.  Moses goes to visit Khizr and asks him to teach the lessons of the wisdom that God's given to him.  However, Khizr replies and tells Moses, "You will not have the patience to understand my wisdom."

Moses pleads with him, "Please take me with you.  If God wills it, I will have the patience I need."

Khizr tells him, "If you follow me, you will not speak until I explain my wisdom to you."

Moses agrees and they travel together.  They travel until they come upon a ship and right away, Khizr sinks it without a hesitation.  Moses says to Khizr, "You might kill the passengers by sinking this ship.  You've done something awful."

Khizr tells him, "Do not question my wisdom, merely learn from it with pursed lips."

Moses apologizes to Khizr and tells him he will not break his silence again.  So they continue to travel until they meet a young boy and Khizr immediately kills the boy, not questions asked.  Moses is shocked and says, "What have you done?"

Khizr once again tells him not to speak until he teaches the wisdom to him.  Moses must apologize again in order to stay with Khizr.  They continue to travel again, but Khizr warns Moses, "If you interrupt me one more time, I will have to leave you."

Moses agrees.  They pair reaches a village and they're so tired and cold but have nothing to remedy their situation.  They walk about and ask everyone in town for food or firewood, but no one will offer any hospitality.  So, the pair finds shelter on the outskirts of town amongst a collapsed building. Khizr begins to repair the building and Moses helps him.  After they're finished, Moses wants to know why they didn't charge the town fees for their labor.  Khizr tells Moses, "That was your final warning.  We'll have to part ways now, but first I will explain these acts so that you may at least learn something of wisdom.

"The ship belonged to poor fishermen and the king had commandeered it for his war.  The owners of the ship would have been forced to fight and die.  Now the poor fishermen can continue living instead of facing death.  As for the boy, his parents were good God fearing people and their son was disobedient and would go on to do heinous things to good people.  His parents did not deserve such a disgrace, so I took the boy away.  God will give them the right child soon.  And for the collapsed building.  Two orphaned boys currently own the property and their inheritance was buried beneath the stones we've erected.   So now they can recoup what they deserve.  If the building had not collapsed, you saw how those people are, they would have stolen it.  We have given this wealth to these two deserving orphans and now they're old enough to keep it safe."

Then he said, "I can clearly see that you have no patience for wisdom, so I will go."

The Green Man as a character in The Pod:

The Green Man seems to be a facet found in almost every culture, and this is why Narwhal and The Pod are seeking him.  He's a man with a story in almost every culture.  If you add all his stories up, he's an older and wiser man than any who has ever lived.  He's not a challenger of the wise people found within the many religions and cultures that we have, but he helps guard wisdom and uses it to help good people.  He's a warrior, a guide, a sage, and he helps small people reach the greatest of heights.  Narwhal hopes Khizr will unite all the diverse whales with one purpose, receiving the great wisdoms that come with long life.

 

I Green Manned Myself!