2017BALLCEPhD.pdf (43.89 MB)
Download file‘A creeping thing’: the motif of the serpent in Anglo-Saxon England
thesis
posted on 2018-01-02, 16:17 authored by Charlotte Elizabeth BallThe image of the serpent is pervasive in the art and literature of Anglo-Saxon England.
In Old English medical literature the serpent is by far the most frequently represented
animal, often as an adversary of humans and human health. In poetry, too, the serpent
appears often; although it is primarily about the exploits of its outlandish hero, Beowulf
is littered with serpentine adversaries, including the dragon of the poem’s conclusive
battle. In scriptural poetry, the Anglo-Saxon understanding of the biblical serpent is
illuminated and elaborated upon, and in exegesis the serpent plays a key symbolic role
as tempter, diabolical agent and heretic. Anglo-Saxon visual art is populated by a
multitude of serpentine creatures, ranging from the snake-like zoomorphic interlace to
the winged dragons of the Sutton Hoo helmet. It is generally agreed upon that the
image of the serpent is symbolically charged, and there has been scholarly speculation
on how the image of the serpent operated symbolically in each of these contexts.
However, there has been no single study of the image across genres and across media.
This thesis aims to survey and interpret the symbolic role of the serpent in a number of
different, clearly defined contexts and look for common associations and continuities
between them. In finding these continuities, it will propose a underlying, fundamental
symbolic meaning for the image of the serpent in Anglo-Saxon England. It will argue
that this fundamental meaning is death; the transience of mortal life, physical decay
and transition.
History
Supervisor(s)
Story, Joanna; Jones, RichardDate of award
2017-12-11Author affiliation
School of Historical StudiesAwarding institution
University of LeicesterQualification level
- Doctoral
Qualification name
- PhD