…That is, “The Other Side of the Pond”! By this I am specifically referencing reports of hairy wild men reported in places other than here in the United States, specifically Europe and Russia. My interest in this subject, from a folkloric perspective, stemmed from recently coming across the term “Woose”, which refers to a particular breed of Bigfoot-like creature common to C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia series. The term “Woose” actually is a derivative of an Old English term, Woodwose, which was used to describe wild men seen in throughout Europe during the middle ages.

ABOVE: A battle with a Woodwose depicted in the Medieval ink drawing “The Fight in the Forest”.

Popular imagery associated with the “Wildman of the Woods” as a mythological figure was prevalent in the artwork and literature of medieval Europe, especially in the art of painters and engravers like Martin Schongauer and Albrecht Dürer. Images of these “Woodwoses”, sometimes also called the “Green Man”, “Jack-of-the-Wood”, “Pilosus”, or simply the “Hairy All Over”, appear in such places as the Canterbury Cathedral, as well as heraldic coats-of-arms, especially in Germany during the 16th century. These man-beasts typically would be depicted armed with a club, and were described as “a link between civilized humans and the dangerous elf-like spirits of natural woodland.” Such legends have modern counterparts, especially those which involve subterranean legions of man-beasts said to live beneath the rolling hills and fields of the Cannock Chase, a protected woodland covering a good bit of the British countryside today.

England and Germany aren’t the only places where mythology of wild-men exists, however. From Russia with love, the Center for Fortean Zoology has just published a new book dealing with wild men seen throughout the cold red country of flavorless (yet wonderful) grain spirits, in its  “Expedition Report 2008: Russia.” The book deals with the Center’s recent expedition to Russia in search of the hairy wild-man known as the Almasty. Nick Refern tells us more over at his blog, There’s Something in the Woods: “As regular readers of this blog will know, the expedition was a highly ambitous one, which saw the Richard Freeman-led team tackling the harsh Caucasus Mountains as they sought out their monstrous quarry.  With an introduction from Jon Downes, a foreword written by Dr. Karl Shuker, and individual chapters penned by each of the team-members (who provide their own unique perspectives, thoughts, memories and opinions on the trip), the book is an absolute treasure-trove of data.” The book can be purchased at Amazon.com by clicking here.

Much like Nick presumes readers of his blog would be familiar with the expedition this new book deals with, I might take for granted that many Gralien Report readers already know of the various different verisons of “wild men” said to be living abroad. Though at times throughout my life I have expressed more of an interest (or perhaps even hope of belief) in the existence of cryptozoological mysteries like Bigfoot, as one gets older those beliefs, the “romantic” views as described by anthropologist Jane Goodall, tend to diminish. Regardless, I find the cultural implications regarding reports of wild men the world over to be nothing short of fascinating; thus, from time to time it is good keep the various varieties of strange protohumans, from the vegetal Green Man and Woodwoses, to the shy and reclusive Almasty, circulating in the minds and imaginations of the interested.