The Green Knight is also the Green Man. He had many names - Green Jack or George, Robin-in-the-Hood, The Green Knight, the Holly King, the Winter King - but all of them referred to a single being the Green Man. The prescence of this figure brought with it both a blessing and a challenge. The blessing was that of the ancient living greeness of the earth, a promise that the iron grip of winter would be loosened and that the land would grow green again. The challenge was to those who sought to assert their own human power over the natural world; 'Work with me not against me' was the message the Green Man gave at this time of year.