Feeding the dragon: The devouring monster in Anglo-Saxon eschatological imagery

IF 0.1 0 LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS

International Journal of English Studies Pub Date : 2019-09-12 DOI:10.17811/selim.24.2019.53-104

C. Sciacca

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

This essay deals with two intertwined eschatological motifs of the literary and iconographic culture of early medieval England: the devouring devil, especially in the guise of a dragon, and the mouth of hell, fashioned as the jowls of a zoomorphic monster, arguably a distinctively English adaptation of the anthropomorphic mouth of hell of classical descent. The following analysis will outline the intricate, creative interplay of crucial themes of Christian eschatology and demonology, on which theimagery of the demonic devouring dragon and the mouth of hell can be said to ultimately rely. In particular, it will be argued that the coalescence of these two widespread motifs into the distinctively Anglo-Saxon imagery of the zoomorphic mouth of hell may have been triggered by the cosmology and eschatology of two apocrypha especially popular in early medieval England, the Seven Heavens apocryphon and the Gospel of Nicodemus, especially its section on the Descensus ad Inferos. The discussion of relevant textual, manuscript, and iconographic evidence willafford intriguing insights into the shaping of this syncretic blending, as well as hinting at the milieu where such a blending may have been if not initiated, then at least endorsed and popularised.Keywords: Anglo-Saxon eschatology; apocrypha; mouth of hell; source studies; manuscript studies

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喂龙:盎格鲁-撒克逊末世论意象中的吞噬怪物

这篇文章讨论了中世纪早期英国文学和图像文化中两个相互交织的末世论主题:吞噬的魔鬼，尤其是披着龙的伪装;地狱之口，被塑造成兽形怪物的下巴，可以说是典型的英国人对古典血统的拟人化地狱之口的改编。下面的分析将概述基督教末世论和恶魔学的关键主题之间错综复杂的、创造性的相互作用，恶魔吞噬龙和地狱之口的形象可以说是最终依赖于这些主题。特别要指出的是，这两个广泛流传的主题结合成独特的盎格鲁-撒克逊兽形地狱之口的意象可能是由两个伪经的宇宙论和末世论引发的，这两个伪经在中世纪早期的英格兰特别流行，《七天伪经》和《尼哥底母福音》，尤其是其中关于降世与地狱的部分。对相关文本、手稿和图像证据的讨论将为这种融合的形成提供有趣的见解，并暗示这种融合即使没有开始，至少也可能得到认可和普及的环境。关键词:盎格鲁-撒克逊末世论;伪经;地狱之口;源的研究;手稿的研究

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来源期刊

International Journal of English Studies LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS-

CiteScore

1.10

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

30 weeks

期刊介绍： The International Journal of English Studies (IJES) is a double-blind peer review journal which seeks to reflect the newest research in the general field of English Studies: English Language and Linguistics, Applied English Linguistics, Literature in English and Cultural studies of English-speaking countries. We will give preference to keeping the balance amongst the areas and subareas belonging to English Studies whenever possible.