Origins of the Green Children of Woolpit

I'm not sure what category this would fall under but after reading this article that briefly mentions the Green Children of Woolpit, I'm inclined to think that these children were closer to an ancient civilization than extraterrestrial in origin. Does anyone else have any theories on the origins of the green children? Perhaps they were simply feral children who had fallen ill.

a reply to: PreHerStoria

All life on earth came from Mars, these children just happen to have a lineage that resists mutation.

The 12th century isn't exactly 'ancient'.

Anyway, I don't think it's anything more than another medieval story...

a reply to: PreHerStoria

Shameless plug of an earlier thread of mine here.

One popular explanation is that the children were from a Flemmish settlement and possibly suffering from hypochromic anemia which can result in sufferers' skin having a green hue. It was historically known as chlorosis (from the Greek "Chloris" meaning "greenish-yellow," "pale green," etc) and as "green sickness."

originally posted by: AdmireTheDistance
The 12th century isn't exactly 'ancient'.

Anyway, I don't think it's anything more than another medieval story...

Depends on if you believe they came from an underground civilization of eternal twilight as they claim

a reply to: theantediluvian

Thanks for the link - I wasn't aware of such a disease! It seems like a likely explanation!

Its a folk story, the numerous sources can all be traced back to one source, William of Newburgh's "Historia rerum Anglicarum", which was basically a religiously motivated text about the unification of England. The green tinge therefore is simply the usual religious way of the time of explaining that the children, being outsiders were rotten and that clearly is why the story explains that the boy became sickly and died and the girl grew up to be an impudent slut.

This was around the time that the church sponsored stories in an attempt to control the population, The invention of tales about goblins and fairies (not the nice ones you're thinking of) were created to keep people away from pagan sites, while at the same time the church was building York Minster (1080), Durham Cathedral (1093), and (New) Salisbury Cathedral (1220). goblins and fairies being denizens of the underworld were usually green skinned. That's why they lose their green colour when they are baptised. Unless you know of a dermatological complaint that can be cured by baptism, then I wouldn't worry too much about trying to solve this mystery which almost certainly never happened anymore than St George happened upon a Dragon in Oxfordshire around the same time when in fact he'd been dead and buried for over 900 years in Palestine. Its religious propoganda