Allegory, myth, and superstition
Abstract This chapter explores the treatment of animals, plants, and intermediate beings in Medieval allegorical tales, myths, and superstition. Transgression of the animal-plant boundary was a staple of this literature. Libavius, Liceti, Kaempfer, Cardano, Scaliger, Duret, and Vaughan debated wheth...
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| Format: | Book Part |
| Language: | English |
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Oxford University PressNew York
2023
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197643037.003.0010 https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/58580304/oso-9780197643037-chapter-10.pdf |
| Summary: | Abstract This chapter explores the treatment of animals, plants, and intermediate beings in Medieval allegorical tales, myths, and superstition. Transgression of the animal-plant boundary was a staple of this literature. Libavius, Liceti, Kaempfer, Cardano, Scaliger, Duret, and Vaughan debated whether the “vegetable lamb” or borametz might be a zoophyte. The barnacle-goose (or barnacle-goose-tree) is said to have drawn the attention of Pope Innocent III. Paré and Duret catalogued all manner of transformations, including between kingdoms of nature. Such stories persisted: transgressive beings turn up in the first edition of Linnæus’s Systema naturæ (1735). |
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