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With a few exceptions, the very numerous examples of Green Man carvings are benign, vigorous, cheerful and even noble (see Anderson 1990). Exceptions noted by Anderson include those on the west front at Chartres and Lincoln, where the human figures trapped by writhing vegetation suggest an analogy with the dangers of human sexuality.
Little attention appears to have been paid, however, to some carvings in Cumbria where the Green Man is portrayed as a figure of unmitigated evil. Sculpture of any sort is relatively sparse in Cumbrian churches, and Green Man carvings are few. There are examples at Crosby Garret, Cartmel and Gosforth, and an interesting set on the capitals of pillars in the nave of Carlisle Cathedral which Thirlie Grundy has interpreted as tree gods breathing life into the foliage issuing from their mouths (Grundy 1998).
There is, however, another example in the Treasury of Carlisle Cathedral where a former roof boss, dated to the early-fifteenth century, is displayed. It depicts a malevolentlooking Green Man with...