Darkness, depression, and descent in Anglo-Saxon England / edited by Ruth Wehlau.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Wehlau, Ruth, editor.

Series:

Richard Rawlinson Center Series for Anglo-Saxon Studies

Richard Rawlinson Center series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English literature--Old English, ca. 450-1100--History and criticism.

English literature.

Light and darkness in literature.

English literature--Old English.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

vi, 300 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Kalamazoo : Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University, [2019]

Summary:

This collection of essays examines the motifs of darkness, depression, and descent in both literal and figurative manifestations within a variety of Anglo-Saxon texts, including the Old English Consolation of Philosophy, Beowulf, Guthlac, The Junius Manuscript, The Wonders of the East, and The Battle of Maldon. Essays deal with such topics as cosmic emptiness, descent into the grave, and recurrent grief. In their analyses, the essays reveal the breadth of this imagery in Anglo-Saxon literature as it is used to describe thought and emotion, as well as the limits to knowledge and perception. The volume investigates the intersection between the burgeoning interest in trauma studies and darkness and the representation of the mind or of emotional experience within Anglo-Saxon literature.

Contents:

Preface

Introduction: darkness in the universe, darkness in the mind in Anglo-Saxon literature / Ruth Wehlau and Fabienne L. Michelet. Part 1 Darkness : Sweart as sin: color connotation and morality in Anglo-Saxon England / Amy W. Clark

"The night is dark and full of terrors": darkness, terror, and perception in Anglo-Saxon England / Gwendolyne Knight

The sinister sound of shadows in the Old English poetics of the dark / Filip Missuno

Into the darkness first: neoplatonism and neurosis in Old English wisdom poetry / Rafał Borysławski

Signs, interpretation, and exclusion in "Beowulf" / Matthew Scribner. Part 2 Depression : Beowulf's dark thoughts: Heremod, Hrethel, and Exempla of the mind / Ruth Wehlau

The fourth fate of men: Heremod's darkened mind / James H. Morey

Eating people and feeling sorry: cannibalism, contrition, and the didactic donestre in the Old English "Wonders of the East" and Latin "Mirabilia" / Matthew Roby. Part 3 Descent : Darkness and light in Oxford, Bodlein Library, MS Junius 11 / Carl Kears

Darkness edible: soul, body, and worms in early medieval English devotional literature / Haruko Momma

"Stand firm": the descent to hell in Felix's "Life of Saint Guthlac" / Daniel Anlezark

The heart of darkness: descent, landscape,a nd mental projection in "Christ and Satan" and "The Wife's Lament" / Francisco J. Rozano-García. Notes on contributors.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

1580443672

9781580443678

OCLC:

1089003422