Slow Looking at Object
The primary object is written on yellowed parchment. The text is gothic script and the language used is Latin. The letter at the beginning of each sentence is coloured and larger than the other text. One letter is green and the other is red. Below the text is a drawing of two blue wolves and a priest dressed in a brown and green robe. The wolves are the Werewolves of Orrisory. The priest is performing communion for the wolf lying in a den. The other wolf is standing upright with an Irish book-satchel around his neck. Parts of the drawing appear to be faded. The primary object is folio 18 from a manuscript of Gerald of Wales’ Topographica Hibernica. The book is in codex form. This object was created in England between 1196 and 1223. Topographica Hibernica is based on Gerald’s travels to Ireland to colonize it on behalf of England(Knight 55). The purpose of this text is to show English readers the otherness of Ireland to justify the colonization(Knight 55). This artifact provides a better understanding of how medieval England viewed werewolves. The line between monster and human is ambiguous. In the image, werewolves are depicted as having monster and human traits. Although they look like wolves, they are pious and intelligent. They are even able to take part in communion, a ritual reserved for humans.
The first of the two other objects is a woodcut print that depicts a werewolf carrying off a baby in its mouth. The werewolf is surrounded by body parts and two women and two children are in the background. This print is on paper. This object was made by Lucas Cranach the Elder between 1510 and 1515. Unlike the primary object and the “Lais of Marie de France”, Lucas Cranach the Elder is German. This is a different portrayal of the werewolf. Instead of the humans trapped in wolves seen in “Bisclavret” and Topographica Hibernica, this werewolf appears to be a wolf trapped in a man’s body. This werewolf is more in line with Sekandar’s dragon, where it is simply an enemy to humanity. This artifact highlights the difference in how werewolves were perceived in medieval England and Germany.
The second object is a parchment codex titled Bestiary. The work was written in England between 1225 and 1250. The upper part of the image depicts three wolves. In the lower half, a man has removed his clothes and is banging two rocks together. According to tradition, this man has been seen by the wolves and has lost his voice. Removing his clothes and banging the rocks together will protect him. It seems that in medieval England, supernatural attributes were associated with wolves. This explains why the king in “Bisclavret” and the priest in Topographica Hibernica are afraid of the werewolves. Wolves were not just wild animals, but evil monsters that preyed on humans. Marie de France and Gerald of Wales choose to trap humans in wolves to shock the reader and to draw further attention to the theme of what makes something human.