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Originally Posted by davem
In folk tradition green was the colour of the 'fair folk' (fairies/elves) & wearing it without their permission was considered to be a provocative act, & anyone who did so risked their wrath. Conversely, anyone who was granted such permission - like various poets & visionaries was considered to be both specially blessed & more than a little 'suspect'. I suppose they were a kind of traditional version of the 'Elf-Friend'.(ie Thomas the Rhymer, or Thomas of Erceldoune, or True Thomas, a real person, was traditionally given a coat of green cloth by the Fairy Queen, along with the gift of prophecy - 'The tongue that cannot lie' - in return for his service. Thomas is an interesting character, & was associated with both William Wallace & Robert the Bruce. He was responsible for a number of prophecies which later came true - whether he really got that gift from the Fairy Queen is a matter of opinion, though).
http://myths.allinfoabout.com/feature32.html |
All true and good stuff! I should like to add that in a mediaeval context, green was associated with poison, which actually applies more to Lewis than Tolkien (I think someone mentioned THE SILVER CHAIR? )Any Harry Potter fans out there may remember that in CHAMBER OF SECRETS there were references to 'poison green' (and green was the colour of Slytherin House). JKR is a lady who knows a lot about history, myth, etc. and uses cultural references in her fiction. But Tolkien doesn't seem to use any colour as strictly good or evil.