The Green Children of Woolpit

In 12th-century Suffolk, England, two children with green-tinged skin emerged from a wolf pit. They spoke an unknown language, wore strange clothes, and would only eat raw beans. The boy soon died, but the girl survived, learned English, and eventually lost her green color. She claimed they came from an underground land where the sun never shone. Medieval chroniclers recorded the event as factual. Modern explanations include arsenic poisoning (which can tint skin green), Flemish orphans speaking a foreign language, or sufferers of chlorosis (a form of anemia causing greenish skin). Some historians suggest they were children of persecuted Flemish immigrants killed by King Stephen's forces, who hid in the Thetford Forest and emerged disoriented and malnourished. The green tint could result from copper deficiency or plant-based diet. The girl eventually married and lived a normal life. Whether medieval folklore, misunderstood immigrants, or something stranger, the Green Children remain an enduring medieval mystery.