The Paper Chase
Even though the story of the Green Children of Woolpit can be found in a large number of books today with just a little effort, the actual number of sources used for the original story can be quickly narrowed down to just a handful of earlier texts... to be precise, three. Most modern versions of the story are derived from Thomas Keightley’s The Fairy Mythology, published in 1850, which gets the story from the two earliest sources existent. These earliest two sources are from around the year 1200, written around sixty years after the time the green children are said to have been found; they are Historia Rerum Anglicarum by William of Newburgh [ca 1136-1198 CE], and Chronicon Aglicanum by Ralph of Coggeshall Abbey [?-ca 1227 CE].
Keightley’s version of the story is largely a translation of Ralph of Coggeshall’s account of the green children which also mentions some details from William of Newburgh’s account... so it is a mix of the earlier two accounts. This version is the most often used because it is both easier to find than the earlier sources, and it is more accessible than the earlier latin accounts; and the fact that most modern authors use Keightley’s version of the story is noteworthy because it contains a mistake... Keightley refers to William of Newburgh as William of Newbridge, an error that is repeated in almost all newer accounts.
I have found translations of the two earliest works, making it possible to compare the two stories together and reach some useful conclusions regarding the original story of the Green Children of Woolpit.