Woolpit Children (Donald Trump)

[DuckforcoveR]

Now that you've clicked, this isn't about Donald Trump. I just figured (looking at the recent history section) that this would get the most views if I named it that  Let's try this again...

THE GREEN CHILDREN OF WOOLPIT


Desperate for a story that didn't involve "crooks and buffoons" I stumbled across something I had never heard of. A story of the mysterious appearance of a boy and girl in the village of Woolpit (depending on the version you may have read - will explain later) in the 12th century. 

In the kingdom of Suffolk under the reign of king Stephen in England, two children were discovered in the village of Woolpit by farmers reaping their summer harvests who were unlike the ordinary children they’d met before and didn’t seem of their world or kind with green hue to their skins and clothes of an unknown material speaking an undecipherable language. They only ate pitch of the bean pod and the boy(younger of the two twins) died later of sickness. The girl survived to tell the story of how they were underground inhabitants of earth where everyone was green and the sun never came up. They were lost in a tunnel grazing their fathers cattle when they heard the bells of woolpit church ring which they followed. Their story bears its testimony in the books that were written thereafter and in artifice’s stored in the London museum.

Unsolved Mysteries

On the surface it seems like a fantastic tale straight out of the middle ages, something truly unique to the time and an exciting chapter in the "hollow earth" theory. As the story continues it seems there is no lack of imagination when it comes to explaining this bizarre tale. 

Modern researchers offer up numerous theories about the Green Children of Woolpit. The first, of course, is that it was an English folk tale about “otherworld” inhabitants, such as fairies or spirits. It certainly would not be the only ancient story from the English Isles that described strange beings entering the human realm through a woodland portal.

Another theory suggests the fanciful tale is an exaggerated version of a true event of lost or kidnapped children. An even more obscure explanation involves extra terrestrials.

Scottish astronomer Duncan Lunan theorized that the green children arrived from a faraway planet during a “matter transmitter” malfunction. As for their signature green tint? It came from the edible plants of their home planet, which represented their entire diet. Lunan even claimed he could trace the descendants of the Green Children of Woolpit to the present.

yes...matter transmitter
Matter transmitter malfunction?! I like that one

But a more scientific explanation began to ... materialize (see what I did there?)

A number of ideas have been put forward to explain the strange colour of the children. The people of Woolpit believed that the children's guardian, a Norfolk Earl, tried to poison the children with arsenic. He then left them to die in Thetford Forest on the Norfolk-Suffolk border. He would then be able to take control of their lands and money. Arsenic poisoning can make the skin a green colour. However the children were later found, still alive but very confused and ill. 

Or this one:

Another explanation, suggested by Paul Harris in 1998, is that they could have been children whose parents had been killed in a period of local fighting. In Eastern England there had been a lot of Flemish people coming in (immigration) during the 12th Century, but after Henry II became king, these immigrants were persecuted. In 1173, many were killed near Bury St Edmunds. He suggests the children may have been from the nearby village of Fornham St. Martin, which was separated from Woolpit by the River Lark. 

If the children had fled into Thetford Forest, it would be so shady, that it would have seemed like twilight to the young, scared children. At last, as they followed the sound of the church bells of nearby Bury St. Edmunds, they may have wandered into one of the many underground mine passages around Thetford, that finally led them to Woolpit. Confused, frightened and dressed in strange Flemish clothes, they would have seemed a very odd sight to the Woolpit villagers. 

The colour of the Green Children could be explained by "green sickness", the name once given to anaemia, caused by a poor diet. Once they had been given proper food, their colour returned to normal. 

Explanations?

And as to the origins of the story itself, the above article seems to even cast doubt on where it happened in the first place.

Chroniclers (news writers of the time) have stated that the events took place within the reign of King Stephen (1135-54) or King Henry II (1154-1189); it depends on which version of the story you read. There are two versions, one in Suffolk and one in Norfolk, only a few miles apart.

But all of the explanations aside, it's still a neat story. I think the scientific explanations are just as fascinating and scary as the otherworldly ones. This story has everything that I like and I personally believe the girl who survived went on to continue her alien directive of introducing her alien DNA into mankind’s pool.

[Mystic Wanderer]

Sorry to ask you to edit, but I can't read the dark print on my dark screen...  Oh wait.  I can switch to light screen. Duh!    

Looks like an interesting story, but I'll have to come back to it.  I have to get ready for a road trip now.

ETA:  Yes, I remember reading about the little green kids.  It is a mystery, and a great story, if true.  

[DuckforcoveR]

No, you are right. I didn't preview well enough and it's pretty rough. I'll change it because most don't use the light format anyways. Thanks for the heads up @"Mystic Wanderer"