The Green Man Violin

The violin that I have had the pleasure of embellishing has been altered to carry the image of an ancient, pagan character known as the “Green Man”.

The Green Man represents the vitality of nature, seasonal rebirth and the spirit of individual trees. His image, often a sculpted foliate head, can be found in many European churches, abbeys and cathedrals dating back to the 11th century, one of many examples of pagan nature mysticism absorbed into Christianity.

The Green Man represents the wild, uncontrolled spirit of the forest but he also provides the wood that makes the violin. Energy stored in the tree provides the physical source of the sound that the violinist sets free in the notes of all kinds of glorious music composed  since the Green Man came out of the woods. Art comes from nature as well as other art and the Green Man is a potent symbol of its mysterious sources.

Randall Berndt