Religion and the Validation of Magic
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Religion and the Validation of Magic: Literary Magic in Middle English Literature Kathryn Walton A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in English York University Toronto, Ontario November 2019 © Kathryn Walton, 2019 Abstract Much scholarship on magic in the literature of medieval England has tried to uncover how literary magic reflects actual cultural practices of magic in medieval society. This dissertation contends that the cultural practice of magic, also known as common magic, differs significantly from literary magic. It establishes that literary magic is a uniquely literary form grounded in and reflective of the culture of reading that produced it. It furthermore shows that while conflict with Christian doctrine fosters the decline of common magic in society, the harmonious relationship that literary magic shares with Christianity ensures its survival. To uncover the distinct nature of literary magic and its inherently Christian structures, this dissertation analyzes four components of medieval reading culture in four Middle English manuscripts ranging in date from the early fourteenth century to the mid-fifteenth century. The first chapter addresses the poetic structures that compose literary magic in National Library of Scotland, Advocates 19. 2. 1, the Auchinleck manuscript. The second chapter analyzes the representational relationship between sacred and secular supernatural characters also in the Auchinleck manuscript to show how magic is brought within a Christian ethos in the medieval reading experience. The third chapter considers how reading allegorically shapes the medieval reader’s encounter with literary magic in two manuscript from the turn of the fifteenth century: British Library, Cotton Nero A. x and Lincoln’s Inn Library, MS Hale 150. The final chapter looks at how the materiality of the British Library, Cotton Caligula A. ii changes and reflects the magic depicted within. Throughout, this dissertation reveals how fundamentally the supernatural is intertwined with medieval thought. It also suggests that magic had and continues to have such prominent appeal in literary and popular culture because of its representational establishment in the reading culture of medieval England. i Acknowledgements This dissertation could not have been completed without the constant support of my supervisor Dr. Deanne Williams and my committee members Dr. James Carley and Dr. Ann Hutchison. Each was extraordinarily generous with his or her time and support, and I am eternally grateful. Thanks also to York University, the Saint George’s Society of Toronto, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for their support. Thanks finally to my husband Joel and my family for their love and encouragement throughout this entire process. iii Table of Contents Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………………….. ii Acknowledgements ………………………………...…………………………………………… iii Table of Contents …………………………………..……………………………………….…… iv Introduction: Defining Literary Magic…………………………………………..……………….. 1 Chapter 1: The Poetics of the Marvellous ………………………………………….…………… 29 Chapter 2: Magical Characters in the Auchinleck Manuscript …………………..………..…….. 88 Chapter 3: Allegory and the Supernatural ………………………………………..……………. 152 Chapter 4: The Magic of the Manuscript ………………………………………..…………..…. 215 Conclusion: Literary Magic Looking Forward ………………………………….…………….. 272 Works Cited ……………………………………………………….…….…………………….. 280 iv Introduction: Defining Literary Magic Magic has always woven its way deep within the threads of literary history. It knits itself through Greco-Roman myths of flying horses and women changed to trees, through Anglo-Saxon epics of fearsome monsters defeated by marvellous swords, through Renaissance plays featuring outcast magicians beguiling hapless heroes, through Gothic yarns of ghostly castles, through Victorian tales of fairies and sprites, and through contemporary stories of dragons, boy wizards, and cranky magical scholars. Today magic is more popular than ever. A cursory walk into any bookstore will introduce the casual browser to a plethora of books featuring its wonders. In the adult fiction section, the browser will find fantastical worlds peopled with magic and wonder, historical novels illuminating the lives of finicky magicians, or the subtle wonders of magic realism. The children’s section might well overwhelm the browser with the sheer number of books featuring magic – from C.S. Lewis’s Narnia series, to the enormously popular Harry Potter series, to the many magical works they have both inspired. Even the television is crowded 1 with shows that place magic in a prominent position, retelling the life of Merlin in televised form, for example, or reimagining classical fairy tales in contemporary America. Magic is, and always has been, ingrained in the very fibers of western literary culture. The same is not true of actual magic – of magic practiced in real life by real people – which I refer to throughout this dissertation as common magic. Common magic is a set of folk practices and beliefs through which individuals seek supernatural aid in their interactions with the everyday world. In the medieval and early modern periods, common magic was a part of many people’s lives. With a diverse set of practices that drew on both religion and science, medieval and early modern people tried to understand or materially influence their world through evoking supernatural forces. Magical practices included divination, healing, charms to avoid or inflict harm, and the use of talismans. Most of the practices must have been ineffectual (at least in a contemporary, practical sense) 1 and have little in common with the kind of magic the browser in the contemporary bookstore would find. Common magic in the Middle Ages was not about witches flying around on broomsticks, magicians turning people into toads, or objects enacting fundamental transformations on individuals. Instead it was a set of everyday practices and beliefs, rooted in superstition, that allowed people to understand, navigate, and attempt to influence the natural world in frequently mundane ways. Unlike literary magic, common magic has largely faded from society. Today, common magic does not hold a prominent position in most people’s lives. Science has developed to the degree that much of what was once considered supernatural is explicable in terms of the natural world, and magic practiced by real individuals persists mostly as a form of popular entertainment 1 Keith Thomas’s Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century England shows the important role that common magic played in the lives of medieval and early modern individuals. He establishes that such superstitious practices and belief in their efficacy allowed people some degree of understanding and control over inexplicable and uncontrollable phenomena. 2 or within religious subcultures. Live shows like Champions of Magic entertain contemporary audiences with a variety of “magical” illusions and spectacles designed to trick the eye into believing something supernatural has happened; contemporary religions such as Wicca use “magic” to structure some of their ideologies and practices.2 These, however, are outliers, and common magic holds none of the dominant cultural clout and prevalence that it once did. So, while magic in the literary world has done nothing but flourish, common magic in the real world has faded into the shadows. This dissertation seeks to make plain why it is that magic has remained so prominent in literature even though it has faded from common practice in society. The persistence of one and disappearance of the other can be partially attributed to the fact that literary magic is so much more exciting than common magic; it is far more enthralling to read of Dumbledore raising a tempest than to follow the flight of birds to determine when the next rain might fall – especially since scientific knowledge has given individuals a better means of determining this. There is, however, more to the decline of common magic and the rise of literary magic than simple popular appeal. The decline of one and the rise of the other are both rooted in their relationships with Christianity. The decline of common magic was instigated by the rise and development of Christianity. Since the foundation of Christianity, common magic has been demeaned and often viciously persecuted. The Bible itself insists “thou shall not suffer a witch to live” (The Holy Bible, Exod. 22.18), and that “a man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely 2 A basic overview of the nature of the illusions and spectacles featured in Champions of Magic can be found on their website, championsofmagic.co.uk, while the role magic plays in Wicca can be found in any resource on the subject. See for example Cassandra Eason, A Little Bit of Wicca: An Introduction to Witchcraft, Tony Bell, Wicca Teachings: An Introduction and Practical Guide, or Taryn Price, Wicca: 10 Wicca Magic Rituals for Beginners: An Introduction to Learning Wicca Magic and Wicca Witchcraft. 3 be put to death” (Lev. 20.27); the same fate awaits the “dreamers of dreams” and prophets who give “a sign or a wonder” (Deut. 13.1-5). Wolfgang Behringer in Witches and Witch-Hunts notes that the first concerns over magic and legislation against magic appear only thirty years before Christianity is