Representing Beasts in Early Medieval England and Scandinavia

MICHAEL BINTLEY is Associate Professor in Medieval English Literature at the University of Southampton. He is author of Trees in the Religions of Early Medieval England (2015), and Settlements and Strongholds in Early Medieval England: Texts, Landscapes, and Material Culture (2020), and co-author of Landscapes and Environments of the Middle Ages (2023). LÁSZLÓ SÁNDOR CHARDONNENS is senior lecturer of English Philology at Radboud University. MICHAEL BINTLEY is Associate Professor in Medieval English Literature at the University of Southampton. He is author of Trees in the Religions of Early Medieval England (2015), and Settlements and Strongholds in Early Medieval England: Texts, Landscapes, and Material Culture (2020), and co-author of Landscapes and Environments of the Middle Ages (2023). RICHARD NORTH teaches Old and Middle English in UCL, where he has also taught Old Norse. He has published widely on all three literatures, but with a focus on Beowulf, particularly in The Origins of Beowulf: From Vergil to Wiglaf (Oxford, 2006).

• Between Myth and Reality: Hunter and Prey in Early Anglo-Saxon Art - Noël Adams'(Swinger of) the Serpent of Wounds': Swords and Snakes in the Viking Mind - Sue BrunningWreoþenhilt ond wyrmfah: Confronting Serpents in Beowulf and Beyond - Victoria SymonsThe Ravens on the Lejre Throne: Avian Identifiers, Odin at Home, Farm Ravens - Marijane OsbornBeowulf's Blithe-Hearted Raven - Eric LaceyDo Anglo-Saxons Dream of Exotic Sheep? - László Sándor ChardonnensYou Sexy Beast: The Pig in a Villa in Vandalic North Africa and Boar-Cults in Old Germanic Heathendom - Richard North'For the Sake of Bravado in the Wilderness': Confronting the Bestial in Anglo-Saxon Warfare - Thomas J.T. WilliamsWhere the Wild Things Are in Old English Poetry - Michael D.J. BintleyEntomological Etymologies: Creepy-Crawlies in English Place-Names - John BakerBeasts, Birds and Other Creatures in Pre-Conquest Charters and Place-Names in England - Della Hooke

An engaging and thought-provoking overview of various types of evidence that shed light on both medieval perceptions of beasts and the often blurred boundaries between them and humans....The varieties of beasts and diverse source materials considered here make this volume valuable not only to those interested in natural history, but also for those interested in medieval allegories for, and expressions of, identity, warfare and the supernatural.