Naked Before God: Uncovering the Body in Anglo-Saxon England (Medieval European Studies III Series)

by BENJAMIN C. WITHERS, JONATHAN WILCOX

Overview

The legacy of Adam and Eve brought about the connection between the idea of shame and embarrassment and nakedness, although it could also be associated with freedom of expression, defiance and triumph. These ten essays explore concepts and instances of the naked form in Anglo-Saxon literature and culture, examining prose, poetry, legal and penitential texts, sculpture and other imagery. The wide-ranging scope of the book, and the different views expressed, reflect the lack of coherent ideology in the representation of the naked body of the period. From beautiful girls to mutilated criminals, from body tariffs in early Anglo-Saxon law to heroic body parts in epic literature, from the Bayeux Tapestry to nudity in manuscript illuminations, the book covers much ground.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780937058688
Publisher:	West Virginia University Press
Publication date:	07/28/2003
Series:	WV MEDIEVEAL EUROPEAN STUDIES Series , #3
Edition description:	1
Pages:	315
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Benjamin Withers of Indiana University at South Bend and Jonathan Wilcox of University of Iowa have assembled one of the most talented groups of young scholars in the field of early medieval studies and asked them to present and explore the evidence for how the human form was regarded by the English before the Norman Conquest.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations Acknowledgments Forward: Uncovering the Body in Anglo-Saxon England
  Benjamin C. Withers, Indiana University South Bend Introduction: Medieval Bodies Then and Now: Negotiating Problems of Ambivalence and Paradox
  Suzanne Lewis, Stanford University The Wanton Hand: Reading and Reaching Into Grammars and Bodies in Old English Riddle 12
  Sarah L. Higley, University of Rochester The Key to the Body: Unlocking Riddles 42-46
  Mercedes Salvador, Universidad de Sevilla The Body as Text in Early Anglo-Saxon Law
  Mary P. Richards, University of Delaware The Sacrificial Synecdoche of Hands, Heads, and Arms in Anglo-Saxon Heroic Story
  John M. Hill, United States Naval Academy Nudity on the Margins: The Bayeux Tapestry and Its Relationship to Marginal Architectural Sculpture
  Karen Rose Mathews, University of Washington The Donestre and the Person of Both Sexes
  Susan M. Kim, Illinois State University Exiles from the Kingdom: The Naked and the Damned in Anglo-Saxon Art
  Catherine E. Karkov, Miami University, Ohio Breasts and Babies: The Maternal Body of Eve in the Junius 11 Genesis
  Mary Dockray-Miller, Lesley University Penitential Nakedness and the Junius 11 Genesis
  Janet S. Ericksen, University of Minnesota—Morris Naked in Old English: The Embarrassed and the Shamed
  Jonathan Wilcox, University of Iowa Index

Editorial Reviews

"Naked Before God introduced a refreshing sense of possibilities that are offered by focusing on the multivalence of the body. This is a timely, lively and eclectic collection; the essays complement each other and offer a good variety of perspectives. This is an attractive volume by virtue of the range of—and emphasis on—illustration, and because it provides the reader with some real and provocative choices of interpretations of key texts and images of the period." Clare Lees, King’s College, University of London

From the Publisher