Marvels, Monsters, and Miracles: Studies in the Medieval and Early Modern Imaginations

by Timothy S. Jones

The 14 papers of this collection were first delivered at sessions held in honor of John Block Friedman (emeritus, English, U. of Illinois) at the 1996 International Congress of Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The contributors, five of whom studied under Friedman, are mainly English professors in American universities. Among the topics are identity in the Gesta Herewardi, the double in The Franklin's Tale, a nude cyclops in a 16th-century costume book, and depictions of the insane in the 13th century. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Art History

332 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of essays, probably written independently and submitted when the editors issued a call for contributions, this is basically like a collection of papers from an academic conference. Each essay takes a deep dive into a particular topic, some only very loosely related to the title. For example, there is one essay about the depiction of the mentally ill in 13th century art (loose connection: some similiarities between that and depiction of woodwoses/wildmen); another essay looks at a particular trope in hagiography (a miracle involving increasing the length of wooden beams when building churches and abbeys); a third essay, inevitably, looks at one of tales in Chaucer. Definitely for specialists.

[Ty]

I finished reading this while watching The Munsters, because I'm just that frigging rad, yo.