Did Augustine believe in Monsters?
The sermon that makes this outrageous claim is a fake. It is one of hundreds, if not thousands of sermons that circulated in the Middle Ages using Augustine’s illustrious name as a way to guarantee a wide readership and make a bid for literary immortality.
How to become an EVIL wizard – medieval magic from Picatrix
Could you learn magic and become a powerful and evil wizard? In the Middle Ages you could, if you had a copy of Picatrix.
The Dead Man’s Prophecy and a Roundtrip to Hell: The Early Adventures of Hadingus
What can be more glorious, more tempting than the conquest of death?
Magic and the Warding-off of Barbarians in Constantinople, 9th – 12th Centuries
What remains to be seen is how the populace of the middle-Byzantine Constantinople tried to ward off “barbarians” by resorting to the “magical properties” of bewitched statues.
Horror in the Medieval North: The Troll
In the Middle Ages, trolls were not really thought of a race or a species; that was a later development influenced by scientific taxonomy.
The Sad Story of the Queen of the Elves: An Icelandic Folktale
Once upon a time, in a mountainous region somewhere in Iceland, something strange took place that was at the same time puzzling and frightening: every year
Fairies and the Fairy World in Middle English Literature: the Orpheus Tradition from the Classical Era to the Middle Ages
I decided I wanted to know more about those “medieval fairies”: were there other Middle English poems where I could find them?
5 Magic Spells from Medieval Iceland
Here are five spells from the Galdrabók, which range from helpful to cruel!
A Guide to Medieval Guernsey
The island is in fact loaded with medieval things, which I’ve decided to share with you here.
The Medieval Ritual Landscape: Archaeology and Folk Religion
This lecture explores the value of archaeology in reconstructing lived religion as it was practised and experienced by medieval people.
Identifying the Ogre: The Legendary Saga Giants
The legendary saga giants are for the most part terrible and ugly. Some are also of incredible size, although no sources agree on how huge giants are.
Well-Pissers and Water Goblins: What the Monsters of Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka Mean
A creature who seems to desecrate wells, a mountain in the shape of a man that rises out the sea, and a spiteful, laughing aquatic goblin: thus runs the cast of monsters found in the saga Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka.
Medieval Magical Spells against Theft
You can find dozens of examples of spells and charms from medieval manuscripts to help prevent you from being a victim of theft, or to catch a thief.
The Green Children of Woolpit: Going past the skin-deep explanations of a medieval legend
The children have consistently been rejected as a freakish contortion of medieval superstition and generous imagination.
Axlar-Björn: The Only Serial Killer of Iceland
Axlar-Björn, or Björn of the farm Öxl, was executed in 1596 for having murdered at least 18 people.
Sko-Ella: The Woman Worse than the Devil
What is it that you truly desire? How far are you prepared to go to get it? Would you, say, treasure it even more than your immortal soul?
Your Birthstone According to the Middle Ages
Birthstones and their superpowers according to the Middle Ages
The Goat and the Cathedral – Archaeology of Folk Religion in Medieval Turku
This paper introduces three cases of material signs of folk religion that archaeologists have discovered in the medieval soil layers of Turku
Murderous Mermaid: Why Siren Is More Medieval Than You Think
In medieval bestiaries, the Sirens are portrayed as deadly seducers who use their seductive songs to lure the sailors to sleep, and then attack them with sharp teeth and tear open their flesh.
Seven Wonders of the Medieval Far North
Konungs skuggsjá explains the wonders of the strange waters around Greenland, a far corner of the medieval world.
The Challenge of Folklore to Medieval Studies
When folklore began to emerge as a valid expression of a people during the early stages of national romanticism, it did so alongside texts and artifacts from the Middle Ages; it was only as folklore began to develop its own methodology during the nineteenth century that the fields were distinguished.
The Legend of the White Snake: A Chinese Mélusine Story
A husband ‘accidentally’ glimpses into his wife’s bedchamber only to discover that the lady whom he believed to be fair, noble, and undoubtedly human – is in fact a (partial) snake.
How to Kill a Medieval Zombie
By Danièle Cybulskie I’ve often said that people in the Middle Ages shared the same hopes and fears that we do. Believe it…
What Medieval Ghosts can tell us about the Afterlife
People in the Middle Ages told tales of seeing and talking with ghosts. While these encounters could be quite scary, it was also an opportunity from them to learn about the afterlife.
