OSR, clerics, and Father Brown

GK Chesterton (1874-1936) wrote fifty-three Father Brown short stories about a familiar figure in old school games - the cleric. One story, The Green Man, teems with green men, and reveals much about Father Brown's wisdom.

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First, an exhibit of green men in The Green Man:

In the story's coastal setting, the Green Man is the name of a 'shabby fisherman's tavern.' 

Another green man is Admiral Sir Michael Craven, postmortem, with a stab wound in his heart:

'He was found,' said the Inspector, 'in that pool by the coast...all covered with green scum and weeds so as to be almost unrecognizable.'

Still another is Father Brown, horror-struck, when he saw Admiral Craven's killer:

I suddenly felt sick and turned green. I dare say; as green as the Green Man.

A green woman is Admiral's Craven's surviving daughter - Olive. 

With the killer unconfined, fearfulness overtook Olive's thinking, and more green men appeared!

The Green Man became a ghost trailing loathsome weeds and walking the countryside under the moon; the sign of the Green Man became a human figure hanging from a gibbet; and the tarn itself became a tavern, a dark subaqueous tavern for dead sailors.

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Amid these green men, is it irony that a Father Brown sorted them out? 

Father Brown's a fictional Roman Catholic priest, a cleric, dedicated to 'the service of a god or goddess.' Brown's response to Admiral Sir Michael Craven's murder reflects a cleric's wisdom. 

He quickly identifies the murderer, but his first action is not confining the killer. To prevent further harm, Father Brown first protects Olive, the Admiral's daughter and heir. Then, he names the killer. 

Moldvay notes, 'Wisdom aids in problem solving when intelligence is not enough.' Some time after the Admiral's death, Olive marries her childhood playmate. Brown's wisdom encompasses both the Admiral's murder and the marriage, 'It is fortunate that tragedy can never kill comedy and that the two can run side by side...'

Thanks for reading.