Blurs

In the 12th century, something extraordinary was supposedly discovered in the English village of Woolpit, Suffolk. According to medieval accounts, two children appeared near the village. They looked human — but their skin was described as green. They spoke an unknown language, refused ordinary food and initially seemed unable to communicate with the people who found them. One child eventually died. The other survived and learned to speak English. She then reportedly gave an astonishing explanation of where they had come from. The story became known as the Green Children of Woolpit. But was it a supernatural encounter, a distorted historical event, or something much more ordinary? The story The earliest surviving accounts come from two medieval writers. William of Newburgh, writing in the late 12th century, described the children in his Historia rerum Anglicarum. Another account was written by Ralph of Coggeshall, a monk and chronicler. Their versions differ in some details, but the cen...