The Boundaries of the Human in Medieval English Literature

by Yamamoto, Dorothy

• ISBN13: 9780198186748
• ISBN10: 0198186746
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-03-30
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This book explores a wide variety of medieval writings (by Chaucer, Gower, the Gawain-poet, and Henryson, among others) to answer the question, In what way did medieval people think about animals? It ranges from birds and foxes, to the Bestiary, heraldry, and hunting, to the enigmatic figure of the Wild Man.

Author Biography

Dorothy Yamamoto is a freelance writer and editor.

Table of Contents

Note on References, Translations, and Abbreviations	xi
Introduction	1	(11)
The Bestiary: Establishing Ground Rules	12	(22)
Birds: The Ornament of the Air	34	(22)
The Fox: Laying Bare Deceit	56	(19)
The Heraldic Image	75	(24)
Bodies in the Hunt	99	(33)
The hunt par force	105	(10)
Dogs and their owners	115	(8)
Hunting and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight	123	(9)
A Reading of the Knight's Tale	132	(12)
The Wild Man 1: Figuring Identity	144	(25)
Is he a man?	153	(8)
Wild bodies	161	(8)
The Wild Man 2: The Uncourtly Other	169	(28)
Wild men and knights	170	(6)
Knights in the wilderness	176	(11)
Valentine and Orson	187	(10)
Women and the Wild	197	(28)
Melusine: shape-shifter	212	(13)
Conclusion	225	(11)
Bibliography	236	(17)
Index	253