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Darrera modificació: 2025-09-19
Bases de dades: Sciència.cat
Arsdall, Anne van, "The Bewitching of Old English Medical Texts", dins: Oberhelman, Steven M. (ed.), Manuscripts, Plants, Remedies in the Mediterranean Traditions: Studies across Disciplines for Alain Touwaide, Berlín, De Gruyter (Medical Traditions, 6.1), 2025, vol. 1 (Manuscripts: 'Codices', Texts, Science and Medicine), pp. 181-196.
- Resum
- The topic of this paper developed during an ongoing study of early medieval medical remedies in which the author, a medievalist, is collaborating with Frances Watkins, PhD, a practicing medical herbalist and scholar. We are currently focusing on remedies in Old English, for wounds in particular, using Cockayne's editions, digital versions of the original manuscripts, and the author's knowledge of the languages involved. Using our complementary skills, we are decoding these technical texts, which have both explicit (written) and tacit (unwritten) components. In our review of the literature, it became apparent that studies such as ours are few, and that many existing interpretations of these medical texts have little to do with medicine or healing. Instead, the actual medical content is bypassed in favor of aspects considered today to be superstitions in one form or another, especially as charms. Similarly, how the early Christian rituals often found in them figure into healing is downplayed or ignored in favor of finding pagan residuals. Several Old English medical texts whose interpretations evidence such bewitching are evaluated here suggesting an alternative way of reading them and, by association, may others.
- Matèries
- Bruixeria
Fonts
Manuscrits
Medicina - Farmacologia
Anglès
- URL
- https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110778830-010
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