Medievalists.net » Folk Studies http://www.medievalists.net Where the Middle Ages Begin Sun, 06 Dec 2015 19:35:15 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.9.9 From the Middle Ages to Modernity: The Intersecting Supernatural Worlds of Melusine and Today’s Popular Culture http://www.medievalists.net/2015/11/28/from-the-middle-ages-to-modernity-the-intersecting-supernatural-worlds-of-melusine-and-todays-popular-culture/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/11/28/from-the-middle-ages-to-modernity-the-intersecting-supernatural-worlds-of-melusine-and-todays-popular-culture/#comments Sat, 28 Nov 2015 21:09:53 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=62849 This work contains many elements common to supernatural tales of its time-shape-shifting, magic fountains and marriages between humans and fairies - yet it is also surprisingly relevant to our own age, whose popular culture is saturated with modem myths and vampire love-stories.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/11/28/from-the-middle-ages-to-modernity-the-intersecting-supernatural-worlds-of-melusine-and-todays-popular-culture/feed/ 0 Deviants, Donestre, and Debauchees: Here be Monsters http://www.medievalists.net/2015/11/25/deviants-donestre-and-debauchees-here-be-monsters/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/11/25/deviants-donestre-and-debauchees-here-be-monsters/#comments Wed, 25 Nov 2015 14:40:53 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=62764 The donestre, a mediaeval race of lion-headed polyglots with a taste for human flesh, demonstrate an ancient form of monstrous transgression by their corporeal violation of both social and natural law.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/11/25/deviants-donestre-and-debauchees-here-be-monsters/feed/ 0 Sacrificial Magic and the Twofold Division of the Irish Ritual Year http://www.medievalists.net/2015/10/31/sacrificial-magic-and-the-twofold-division-of-the-irish-ritual-year/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/10/31/sacrificial-magic-and-the-twofold-division-of-the-irish-ritual-year/#comments Sun, 01 Nov 2015 00:15:18 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=62173 The historical development of St. Martin’s Day in Ireland, and its relationship with the more ancient festival of Samhain is examined, revealing circumstances that saw much of the ritual nature of Samhain being adopted within a Christian context in the medieval period.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/10/31/sacrificial-magic-and-the-twofold-division-of-the-irish-ritual-year/feed/ 0 Medieval Monsters and the Anxiety towards the Alien http://www.medievalists.net/2015/10/31/medieval-monsters-and-the-anxiety-towards-the-alien/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/10/31/medieval-monsters-and-the-anxiety-towards-the-alien/#comments Sat, 31 Oct 2015 22:52:27 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=62167 Similar to many monsters or aliens in our current science fiction culture, some medieval monsters could be dangerous and life threatening.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/10/31/medieval-monsters-and-the-anxiety-towards-the-alien/feed/ 0 The Mythical Ghoul in Arabic Culture http://www.medievalists.net/2015/10/30/the-mythical-ghoul-in-arabic-culture/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/10/30/the-mythical-ghoul-in-arabic-culture/#comments Sat, 31 Oct 2015 03:57:14 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=62162 Though the ghoul has origins as old as the Mesopotamian civilization, Arabs were largely responsible for popularizing it. Because Islam incorporated this being in its doctrine, the ghoul remained a source of fear and mystery in the Arab culture.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/10/30/the-mythical-ghoul-in-arabic-culture/feed/ 0 ‘One Thing I Know’: Werewolves Are a Thing http://www.medievalists.net/2015/10/30/one-thing-i-know-werewolves-are-a-thing/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/10/30/one-thing-i-know-werewolves-are-a-thing/#comments Sat, 31 Oct 2015 03:35:49 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=62153 In his Otia Imperialia, Gervase of Tilbury tells of many strange creatures he knows all about. One of these creatures is the werewolf.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/10/30/one-thing-i-know-werewolves-are-a-thing/feed/ 0 Necromancy from Antiquity to Medieval and Modern Times http://www.medievalists.net/2015/10/28/necromancy-from-antiquity-to-medieval-and-modern-times/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/10/28/necromancy-from-antiquity-to-medieval-and-modern-times/#comments Wed, 28 Oct 2015 19:50:31 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=62102 In the Old Norse saga there is peculiar technique of divination called utiseta that is practised on burial mounds.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/10/28/necromancy-from-antiquity-to-medieval-and-modern-times/feed/ 0 ‘Hann lá eigi kyrr’: Revenants and a Haunted Past in the Sagas of Icelanders http://www.medievalists.net/2015/10/28/hann-la-eigi-kyrr-revenants-and-a-haunted-past-in-the-sagas-of-icelanders/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/10/28/hann-la-eigi-kyrr-revenants-and-a-haunted-past-in-the-sagas-of-icelanders/#comments Wed, 28 Oct 2015 18:13:49 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=62090 From Antiquity to the present day, the idea of the dead returning to interact with the living has greatly influenced human imagination, and this has been reflected in literature — the product of that imagination.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/10/28/hann-la-eigi-kyrr-revenants-and-a-haunted-past-in-the-sagas-of-icelanders/feed/ 0 Doors to the dead: The power of doorways and thresholds in Viking Age Scandinavia http://www.medievalists.net/2015/10/05/doors-to-the-dead-the-power-of-doorways-and-thresholds-in-viking-age-scandinavia/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/10/05/doors-to-the-dead-the-power-of-doorways-and-thresholds-in-viking-age-scandinavia/#comments Mon, 05 Oct 2015 16:24:47 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=61564 It is argued that Viking Age people built ‘doors to the dead’ of various types, such as freestanding portals, causewayed ring-ditches or thresholds to grave mounds; or on occasion even buried their dead in the doorway.

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]]> http://www.medievalists.net/2015/10/05/doors-to-the-dead-the-power-of-doorways-and-thresholds-in-viking-age-scandinavia/feed/ 0 Curse or Blessing: What’s in the Magic Bowl? http://www.medievalists.net/2015/09/19/curse-or-blessing-whats-in-the-magic-bowl/ http://www.medievalists.net/2015/09/19/curse-or-blessing-whats-in-the-magic-bowl/#comments Sat, 19 Sep 2015 22:00:04 +0000 http://www.medievalists.net/?p=61152 I intend to look at magic bowls in order to see how and for what purpose they were used, and to get a glimpse at the way they worked and what hidden treasures can be found within them.

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