Poetic Frames in Early Medieval Manuscripts: Forms and Functions
Margins and flyleaves in medieval manuscripts had a literary life of their own. Often, they were filled with ever-growing layers of various minuscule texts: e.g., pen trials and scribal notes, recipes and prayers, glosses and poems. The latter are a particularly interesting case: Of course, not every verse was added for a deeper reason. Occasionally, authors (or literary-loving scribes) simply used any free spot they could find. But in many cases, such poetic additions interact with the original content of the manuscript. In the case of an Exlibris or dedication, this happens in an obvious way because they hint at the social and institutional context, at donors, owners, and users. Other examples are more complex though, and poetry serves a hermeneutic frame, instructing the readers about the religious or epistemological meaning of the book they hold in their hands. The aim of the paper is to introduce some examples of poetic frames and explore their forms and functions.
Date: 26 November 2024, 17:00 (Tuesday, 7th week, Michaelmas 2024)
Venue: Radcliffe Humanities, Woodstock Road OX2 6GG
Venue Details: Colin Matthew Room
Speaker: Bernhard Hollick (Postdoctoral Researcher, IAKH – University of Oslo)
Organisers: TORCH Network Poetry in the Medieval World (University of Oxford), Ugo Mondini (University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address: ugo.mondini@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk
Hosts: TORCH Network Poetry in the Medieval World (University of Oxford), Ugo Mondini (University of Oxford)
Part of: Talks on Medieval Poetry
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Members of the University only
Editor: Ugo Mondini