It was the last thing the farmer expected to find on his way to the fields that morning.

The air was cold, the leaves were damp, and his body was unhappy with his decision to

start work so early. But he forgot all of that, the moment he saw the wolf pit.

Inside the dark hole in the ground that had been dug to capture wolves was something else

entirely. Two, in fact, two, and a girl. They were both shivering, perhaps due to the

cold, but maybe also a bit out of fear. The farmer had never seen them before, or their

clothes, or even heard their language, but the strangest thing about them was their skin.

That's because it was green. Not faintly green, or green in a certain light. These children,

according to the tale, were bright green, like clover on a hot summer day. But somehow,

despite the bizarre nature of the situation, the farmer decided to help so he rescued the

children and brought them home. He offered them food, but they refused everything until

finally they were given raw beans, which they apparently ate with the light.

The story passed down to us over the years by the 12th century historian William of Newberg

goes on to tell us how the children were brought into the care of a local lord. Both of them

eventually lost their greenish hue, but sadly the boy died shortly after being baptized.

The girl, however, grew up. She learned to speak English and eventually married into

the village community. Later in life, she was said to have explained that she and her

brother had come to England from a place called St. Martin's Land. But over time, the locals

began to say that they'd fallen from the sky. How else could two strange children appear

at the bottom of a filthy wolf pit? Naturally, they had to be visitors from another world.

Others, though, have suggested that the story might be the leftover bits from a darker

tale. That the children might not have really been green at all, but they were certainly

...