The worm and the corpse: Carolingian visions of Gehenna’s undead cemetery

Abstract

ABSTRACT This essay investigates Carolingian religious horror in the form of theological speculations about Gehenna as an undead cemetery for reprobates, whose living corpses suffered from hellfire and spontaneously generating worms. After illustrating that such horror was a spiritual way of seeing sin’s corrupting powers, the examination turns to the role baptism played in curing souls and bodies of sin’s rotten wounds. The study then surveys the range of eighth- and ninth-century theologians’ interpretations of Gehenna’s uncanny worms, including their creative reception of earlier, Patristic thought in their doctrine. Finally, the essay considers the role of Gehenna’s worms in the ninth-century predestination controversy, in which intellectuals disputed about the corporeal and spiritual nature of such horrors. Overall, this study reveals how Carolingian religious horror was crafted to correct Christians by revealing sin’s strange powers not only to corrupt the wicked, but also to punish them forever in hell.