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Representing Beasts in Early Medieval England and Scandinavia
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Edited by:
Michael Bintley
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With contributions by:
Della Hooke
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2015
About this book
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: 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
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: 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
Author / Editor information
Contributor: Michael D.J. Bintley
MICHAEL BINTLEY is Associate Professor in Medieval English Literature at the University of Southampton. He is author of Trees in the Religions of Early Medieval England (2015), and Settlements and Strongholds in Early Medieval England: Texts, Landscapes, and Material Culture (2020), and co-author of Landscapes and Environments of the Middle Ages (2023).
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Contributor: László Sándor Chardonnens
LÁSZLÓ SÁNDOR CHARDONNENS is senior lecturer of English Philology at Radboud University.
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Contributor: Michael D.J. Bintley
MICHAEL BINTLEY is Associate Professor in Medieval English Literature at the University of Southampton. He is author of Trees in the Religions of Early Medieval England (2015), and Settlements and Strongholds in Early Medieval England: Texts, Landscapes, and Material Culture (2020), and co-author of Landscapes and Environments of the Middle Ages (2023).
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Michael D. J. Bintley and Thomas J. T. Williams Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed |
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Noël Adams Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed |
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Sue Brunning Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed |
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Victoria Symons Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed |
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Marijane Osborn Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed |
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Eric Lacey Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed |
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László Sándor Chardonnens Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed |
131 |
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Richard North Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed |
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Thomas J. T. Williams Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed |
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Michael D. J. Bintley Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed |
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John Baker Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed |
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Della Hooke Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed |
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Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
February 21, 2024
eBook ISBN:
9781782044925
Original publisher:
Boydell Press
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook ISBN:
9781782044925
Keywords for this book
Beasts; Animals; Birds; Insects; Early medieval culture; Material culture; Texts; Carvings; Landscape; Intellectual relationship; Human-animal interaction; Symbolism; Cultural interpretation; Historical context; Mythology; Early Medieval; England; Scandinavia; Depiction; Material Culture
Audience(s) for this book
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
