Analysis
A key symbol in Bisclavret is the use of clothing to represent humanity. The artifacts discussed in this project demonstrates that this is a common concept throughout various medieval cultures. During that time period, while creatures were typically depicted naked, human were usually clothed (Benkov 1988). As such, acting as both a physical and symbolic boundary, it was commonly believed that what separated man from creature was clothes (Veen 2021, 54).
In Italy, Pliny the Elder's cautionary tale of wolf and man first emerged in 1st century CE (The Medieval Bestiary n.d.). The story details that a human would become mute if a wolf were to spot them before they see the wolf. The victim must then remove all clothing, trample on them, then find two stones and strike them against one another to break the curse and regain their voice (Ogden 2021, 113). This scene is depicted in the main artifact, titled 'Wolf Cautionary Tale'. Consistant with the times, the wolves are illustrated to not be clothed while the man is clothed. With clothes representing humanity, the instant the man strips off his clothes and conducts the barbaric rite to restore his voice, he is stripping off his civilization and humanity, moving closer to beast than man.
Taking a spin on the narrative, the cynocephali is a dog-headed creature often depicted wearing clothes. This creature has made appearances in various cultures and various time periods: ranging from Ancient Greece (Ogden 2021, 216) to late Antiquity (Ottewill-Soulsby 2021) to Medieval West (1.2). In fact, these creatures were also mentioned in Beowulf: The Wonders of the East mentions half dogs beings, "healfhundingas"(Weinreich 2019). Artifact 2 from the Kiev Psalter of 1397 provides a visual on the cynocephali depicted in the Medeival West. Contrary to Bisclavret, who is naked while he is in creature form, the cynocephali is clothed while in their creature form. In support of the idea that clothing is a main differentiator between human and creature, the cynocephali is occasionally regarded with humanity. For instance, Ratramnus of Corbie, a Corbie monk of the ninth century, is a supporter of classifying cynocephali as human (Ottewill-Soulsby 2021).
Moreover, when considering humanity in the mentality sense rather than physical sense, Bisclavret remains much closer to human than beast. In particular, the Artifact 1 cautionary tale interpretation differs from Bisclavret in that, when naked, the human in cautionary tale retains their human form but loses humanity in mentality- while Bisclavret, when naked, loses humanity in physical form and transforms into a creature but maintains his humanity in mentality (as discussed in the 'Literary Monster' section of this website). Artifact 3 supports this narrative that even creatures, without humanity in physical form, carry humanity. This work is an illustration of the Werewolves of Ossary. Gerald of Tales tells a story of two gentle wolves, husband and wife, who encounters a priest and requests him to perform last rites on the ill wife (Ogden 2021, 90). Here, the wolves have human intelligence, are able to speak and are also very strongly tied to Christian values and beliefs. This depiction of werewolves highlights that beneath the cloak of wolf-fur, the creatures are human. The story demonstrates that Bisclavret was not alone in its portrayal of characters in creature-form remaining more human than beast in mentally.
Through exploration of similar creatures in other cultures and their tales, the narrative of humanity represented through clothing is strengthened. With that said, while such imagery underlines Bisclavret's physical state of humanity, Bisclavret is mentally more human than creature even in creature form.