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Essays on the depiction of animals, birds and insects in early
medieval material culture, from texts to carvings to the landscape
itself. For people in the early Middle Ages, the earth, air, water
and ether teemed with other beings. Some of these were sentient
creatures that swam, flew, slithered or stalked through the same
environments inhabited by their human contemporaries. Others were
objects that a modern beholder would be unlikely to think of as
living things, but could yet be considered to possess a vitality
that rendered them potent. Still others were things half glimpsed
on a dark night or seen only in the mind's eye; strange beasts that
haunted dreams and visions or inhabited exotic lands beyond the
compass of everyday knowledge. This book discusses the various ways
in which the early English and Scandinavians thought about and
represented these other inhabitants of their world, and considers
the multi-faceted nature of the relationship between people and
beasts. Drawing on the evidence of material culture, art, language,
literature, place-names and landscapes, the studies presented here
reveal a world where the boundaries between humans, animals,
monsters and objects were blurred and often permeable, and where to
represent the bestial could be to holda mirror to the self. MICHAEL
D.J. BINTLEY is Lecturer in Early Medieval Literature and Culture
at Birkbeck, University of London; THOMAS WILLIAMS is a former
curator of Early Medieval Coins at the British Museum.
Contributors: Noël Adams, John Baker, Michael D. J. Bintley, Sue
Brunning, László Sándor Chardonnens, Della Hooke, Eric Lacey,
Richard North, Marijane Osborn, Victoria Symons, Thomas J. Williams
Fresh examinations of the role of medicinal plants in medieval
thought and practice and how they contributed to broader ideas
concerning the body, religion and identity. The important and
ever-shifting role of medicinal plants in medieval science, art,
culture, and thought, both in the Latin Western medical tradition
and in Byzantine and medieval Arabic medicine, is the focus of this
new collection. Following a general introduction and a background
chapter on Late Antique and medieval theories of wellness and
therapy, in-depth essays treat such wide-ranging topics as medicine
and astrology, charms and magical remedies, herbal glossaries,
illuminated medical manuscripts, women's reproductive medicine,
dietary cooking, gardens in social and political context, and
recreated medieval gardens. They make a significant contribution to
our understanding ofthe place of medicinal plants in medieval
thought and practice, and thus lead to a greater appreciation of
how medieval theories and therapies from diverse places developed
in continuously evolving and cross-pollinating strands,and, in
turn, how they contributed to broader ideas concerning the body,
religion, identity, and the human relationship with the natural
world. Contributors: MARIA AMALIA D'ARONCO, PETER DENDLE,
EXPIRACION GARCIA SANCHEZ, PETER MURRAY JONES, GEORGE R. KEISER,
DEIRDRE LARKIN, MARIJANE OSBORN, PHILIP G. RUSCHE, TERENCE SCULLY,
ALAIN TOUWAIDE, LINDA EHRSAM VOIGTS
Essays on the depiction of animals, birds and insects in early
medieval material culture, from texts to carvings to the landscape
itself. For people in the early Middle Ages, the earth, air, water
and ether teemed with other beings. Some of these were sentient
creatures that swam, flew, slithered or stalked through the same
environments inhabited by their human contemporaries. Others were
objects that a modern beholder would be unlikely to think of as
living things, but could yet be considered to possess a vitality
that rendered them potent. Still others were things half glimpsed
on a dark night or seen only in the mind's eye; strange beasts that
haunted dreams and visions or inhabited exotic lands beyond the
compass of everyday knowledge. This book discusses the various ways
in which the early English and Scandinavians thought about and
represented these other inhabitants of their world, and considers
the multi-faceted nature of the relationship between people and
beasts. Drawing on the evidence of material culture, art, language,
literature, place-names and landscapes, the studies presented here
reveal a world where the boundaries between humans, animals,
monsters and objects were blurred and often permeable, and where to
represent the bestial could be to holda mirror to the self. Michael
D.J. Bintley is Senior Lecturer in Medieval Literature at
Canterbury Christ Church University; Thomas J.T. Williams is a
doctoral researcher at UCL's Institute of Archaeology.
Contributors: Noel Adams, John Baker, Michael D. J. Bintley, Sue
Brunning, Laszlo Sandor Chardonnens, Della Hooke, Eric Lacey,
Richard North, Marijane Osborn, Victoria Symons, Thomas J. Williams
These new modern-English versions of medieval romances with magical
themes bring the stories to life for modern readers. This book
translates in modern English nine lively medieval verse romances,
in a form that both reflects the original and makes them inviting
to a modern audience. All nine tales contain elements of magic:
shapeshifters, powerful fairies, trees that are portals to another
world, magical armor, clothing, and animals. The romances address
sexuality, agency, and identity-formation in unexpected ways. Part
I begins with two versions of the story of a 'Loathly Lady' or
shapeshifting hag that transforms into a beautiful woman: John
Gower's ""Tale of Florent"" and Geoffrey Chaucer's ""Wife of Bath's
Tale"". Three tales of fairy abductions follow: ""Thomas of
Erceldoune"", ""The Ballad of Tam Lin"", and ""Sir Orfeo"". The
final story in this group is Sir Launfal, about a destitute knight
adopted by a fairy mistress. Part II contains four romances:
""Chaucer's parodic Sir Thopas"", in which the knight seeks a fairy
mistress and arms to fight her guardian; ""Sir Gowther"", a tale
that begins with a demonic birth and fairy abduction; ""Emare"", a
Castaway Queen romance about a lady clothed in a magical love-cloth
made by a Saracen princess; and, ""Floris and Blancheflour"", in
which the girl Blancheflour is sold into Saracen slavery and her
beloved Floris goes to rescue her.
Beowulf, the primary epic of the English language, is a powerful
heroic poem eloquently expressive of the Anglo-Saxon culture that
produced it. In this beautiful book a designer, a poet, and a
specialist in Anglo-Saxon literature recreate Beowulf for a modern
audience. Interweaving evocative images, a new interpretation in
verse, and a running commentary that helps clarify the action and
setting of the poem as well as the imagery, the book brings new
life to this ancient masterpiece. Randolph Swearer's oblique and
allusive images create an archaic, mysterious atmosphere by
depicting in forms and shadows the world of Germanic
antiquity-Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon art, artifacts, and scenery.
At the same time, Raymond Oliver gives Beowulf a world in which to
live, filling in the cultural gaps not with a thick matrix of
footnotes but with poetry itself. Unlike many translations of
Beowulf in existence, Oliver's retelling of the epic uses modern
verse forms for poetic effect and includes a wealth of historically
authentic descriptions, characterizations, and explanations
necessary for modern readers. Marijane Osborn completes the process
of restoring context to the poem by supplying a commentary to
clarify the historical and geographical dimensions of the story as
well as the imagery that accompanies it. All three work together to
bring a likeness of an old and elusive tale to today's reader. "The
book's design and the commentary on it provide a unique visual
complement to Oliver's poem... A strange and moving story,
compellingly told and seriously interesting to any serious reader
of books."-Fred C. Robinson, from the Introduction
The 14 essays in this volume explore Stephenie Meyer's wildly
popular Twilight series in the contexts of literature, religion,
fairy tales, film, and the gothic. Several contributors examine
Meyer's emphasis on abstinence, considering how, why, and if the
author's Mormon faith has influenced the series' worldview. Others
look at fan involvement in the Twilight world, focusing on how the
series' avid following has led to an economic transformation in
Forks, Washington, the real town where the fictional series is set.
Other topics include Meyer's use of Quileute shape-shifting
legends; Twilight's literary heritage and its frequent references
to classic works of literature; and the series's controversial
depictions of feminity.
An exhilarating journey across a distant literary landscape, this
book takes us to those places described, evoked, or invented in
"Beowulf" and the sagas of Iceland. Chronicling their own travels
in Scandinavia, charting the geography of medieval history and
fiction, the authors negotiate the complex territory where past and
present meet. In this encounter, medieval and modern viewpoints
converge, forming a new way into the northern world of medieval
literature. The authors use a variety of approaches, borrow from
different disciplines, and employ an array of styles to discover
and "reinvent" the landscape of these texts. In scholarly
appraisals and personal encounters, in maps and photographs, we
accompany them on a voyage along Beowulf's route and follow them
along the road to Drangey. Here and at many other legendary sites,
we see how the past is made up of divergent stories told in the
present, and how our own histories and desires influence the shape
and purpose of those stories. This book should appeal to
medievalists, historians, cultural geographers, critical theorists,
and those who like to travel, whether in literature or their own
good time.
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