Inconceivable Beasts: !e Wonders of the East in the Beowulf Manuscript Mittman.indb 1 1/31/13 4:43:26 PM MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE TEXTS AND STUDIES VOLUME 433 Mittman.indb 2 1/31/13 4:43:26 PM Inconceivable Beasts: !e Wonders of the East in the Beowulf Manuscript Asa Simon Mittman Department of Art and Art History, California State University, Chico and Susan M. Kim Department of English, Illinois State University Tempe, Arizona 2013 Mittman.indb 3 1/31/13 4:43:26 PM Published by ACMRS (Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies), Tempe, Arizona. ©2013 Arizona Board of Regents for Arizona State University. All Rights Reserved. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Publication of this book has been aided by a grant from the Millard Meiss Publication Fund of the College Art Association ∞ This book is made to last. It is set in Adobe Caslon Pro, smyth-sewn and printed on acid-free paper to library specifications. Printed in the United States of America Mittman.indb 4 1/31/13 4:43:26 PM To Christina von Nolcken and Suzanne Lewis: Thank you for teaching and inspiring us. Mittman.indb 5 1/31/13 4:43:26 PM Mittman.indb 6 1/31/13 4:43:26 PM T C List of Figures ix Acknowledgments xiii 1. Introduction: Conceiving of the Inconceivable 1 2. The Wonders of the East 25 Unworthy Bodies: Editing the Female Wonders of the East Foliation Chart Facsimile Transcription and Literal Translation Translation 3. The Dittology of the Tripled Double Men 73 4. Naked Monsters and Men in Monster Suits: Looking at the Body in the 85 Beowulf Manuscript 5. Monstrous Genitals 103 6. Framing “the Real”: Spatial Relations on the Page and in the World 137 7. “In the Same Place”: The Location of Identity in the Wonders 181 8. “Whate’er the Fury of the Flames has spar’d”: Vision, Loss, and the 215 Wonders of the East 9. “Be Hwilcum Cnottum”: Concluding Gestures 235 Appendix A: Stadia and Leagues Chart 239 Appendix B: Frame Types 241 Bibliography 245 Index 267 Mittman.indb 7 1/31/13 4:43:26 PM Mittman.indb 8 1/31/13 4:43:26 PM L F Facsimile of the Wonders of the East in the Beowulf Manuscript Wonders of the East, British Library, MS Cotton Vitellius A.xv, fol. 1v–9v, ©The British Library Board, All Rights Reserved Color Plates 1. Scylla, Hereford Map, ca. 1285, by permission of the Dean and Chapter of Hereford and the Hereford Mappa Mundi Trust 2. Bearded Woman, Gerald of Wales, Topography of Ireland, London, Brit- ish Library, MS Royal 13 B.viii, fol. 19r, ©The British Library Board, All Rights Reserved 3. “Generous Men,” Sigelwara, London, British Library, MS Cotton Tibe- rius B.v., fol. 86r, ©The British Library Board, All Rights Reserved 4. Fall of the Rebel Angels, the Hexateuch, London, British Library, MS Cotton Claudius B.iv, fol. 2r, ©The British Library Board, All Rights Reserved 5. Donestre, London, British Library, MS Cotton Tiberius B.v., fol. 83v, ©The British Library Board, All Rights Reserved 6. Blemmye, London, British Library, MS Cotton Tiberius B.v., fol. 82r, ©The British Library Board, All Rights Reserved 7. Temptation, Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Junius 11, p. 24, by permission of The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford 8. Cotton Map Itinerary, based on London, British Library, MS Cotton Tiberius B.v, fol. 56v 9. Psalter Map, London, British Library, MS Add. 28681, fol. 9, ©The Brit- ish Library Board, All Rights Reserved 10. Matthew Paris Itinerary Map, London, British Library, MS Royal 14 C.vii, fol. 2, ©The British Library Board, All Rights Reserved 11. Wanderings of the Israelites, Hereford Map, 1285, by permission of the Dean and Chapter of Hereford and the Hereford Mappa Mundi Trust Mittman.indb 9 1/31/13 4:43:26 PM x List of Figures 12. Two-Headed Snake, London, British Library, MS Cotton Tiberius B.v., fol. 79v, ©The British Library Board, All Rights Reserved 13. Burning Hens, Two-Headed Beast, London, British Library, MS Cotton Tiberius B.v., fol. 79, ©The British Library Board, All Rights Reserved 14. Giant Serpents, London, British Library, MS Cotton Tiberius B.v., fol. 82v, ©The British Library Board, All Rights Reserved 15. Rota, Isidore, De natura rerum, London, British Library, MS Cotton Tibe- rius C.I, fol. 7r, ©The British Library Board, All Rights Reserved Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1. The Fall, Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Junius 11, p. 3, by permission of The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford 1.2. Flea, Robert Hooke’s Micrographia: or, Some physiological descriptions of minute bodies made by magnifying glasses, with observations and inquiries thereupon, 1st ed. (London: Jo. Marten and Ja. Allestry, 1665), table 34 Chapter 4: Naked Monsters 4.1. Wisdom Enthroned, Psychomachia, London, British Library, MS Cot- ton Cleopatra C.viii, fol. 36r, ©The British Library Board, All Rights Reserved 4.2. Ælfgyva and a Cleric, Bayeux Tapestry, Musée de la Tapisserie, Bayeux, France, photo credit: Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY Chapter 5: Monstrous Genitals 5.1. Beard-Puller, Barberini Gospels, Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Barb. lat 570, fol. 1r, drawing by Mittman 5.2. Ambiguously Gendered Images, from Suzanne Kessler and Wendy McK- enna, “Toward a Theory of Gender” 5.3. Sheela-na-gig, Parish Church of St. Mary and St. David, Kilpeck, Her- efordshire, photo credit: Jennifer Borland 5.4. Thomas Eakins, Study of a Seated Nude Woman Wearing a Mask, charcoal and crayon with stumping on paper, 1863–1866, by permission of The Philadelphia Museum of Art: Gift of Mrs. Thomas Eakins and Miss Mary Adeline Williams, 1929 5.5. René Magritte, Le Viol (The Rape), 1934, the Menil Collection, Houston, ©2011 C. Herscovici, London / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, and Banque d’Images, ADAGP / Art Resource, NY Mittman.indb 10 1/31/13 4:43:26 PM List of Figures xi 5.6. Sheela-na-gig at Fethard, County Tipperary, photo credit: Jennifer Bor- land Chapter 6: Framing “the Real” 6.1. Nicolas Poussin, Self-Portrait, 1650, Louvre, Paris, France, photo credit: Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY 6.2. Richard James, Table of Contents, British Library, MS Cotton Vitellius A.xv, fol. ir, ©The British Library Board, All Rights Reserved 6.3. Diagram of Transmission, Needham, Science and Civilisation in China 3: p. 588 6.4. Nier guo, Sancai tuhui, Ming Dynasty 6.5. Tree and Norman Cavalry, Bayeux Tapestry, Musée de la Tapisserie, Bay- eux, France, photo credit: Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY Mittman.indb 11 1/31/13 4:43:26 PM Mittman.indb 12 1/31/13 4:43:26 PM A We would first and foremost like to thank the staff at the British Library, includ- ing Scot McKendrick, Justin Clegg and Julian Harrison, for their generosity in allowing us access to the famous, fragile Beowulf Manuscript (as well as other treasures), and for facilitating our visit to examine it. This access in many ways made this study possible, and will remain a highlight of our careers. There is even — or especially — in this digital age no replacement for the real thing. We also wish to thank Bob Bjork, Roy Rukkila, Todd Halvorsen, and the rest of the staff at the ACMRS — would that they were only a few buildings over from the art department at Chico, as they are at Arizona State. Dr. Leslie S.B. MacCoull proofread the text with exacting care, for which we are grateful. Many thanks as well to the Newberry Library for their support of the Anglo- Saxon Consortium, and to the students and colleagues who participated with us in the 2007 seminar, “Unworthy Bodies”: The Other Texts of the Beowulf Manuscript. We would like to thank the following friends and colleagues for their sup- port, help, suggestions, sources, and comments on chapters: Elise Archias, Heather Blurton, Jennifer Borland, George Hardin Brown, Chris Breu, Mad- eline H. Caviness, Jennifer Chao, Jessica Clark, Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, Patri- cia Dailey, Melissa Ridley Elmes, Ana Grinberg, Christopher de Hamel, Peter Dendle, Chet Van Duzer, Alun Ford, Martin K. Foys, Marcus Hensel, Caro- line Hirasawa, Sylvia Huot, Eileen Joy, Susan Kalter, Herbert Kessler, Anna Klosowska, Suzanne Lewis, Carol and Ed Lind, Matthew Looper, Ya-chen Ma, Ashlie Martini, Marijane Osborn, Dana Oswald, Rayma Schebell, Wil- liam Schipper, Karl Steel, Jacqueline Stodnick, Debra Strickland, Tohkon, Tom Tolles, Jim Tschen-Emmons, Tom Tyler, Jonathan Wilcox, Benjamin Withers, and Alfred Yazzie. We also thank the anonymous peer reviewers, whose suggestions proved enormously helpful as we revised for publication, and the members of MEARC- STAPA, who attended conference paper versions of these chapters in force and provided excellent feedback. Likewise, we are glad to know that the Material Collective is out there with its open mind and its joy in faltering. The Department of Art and Art History at California State University, Chico, had the courage to hire (and tenure) “the monster guy,” and their sup- port and friendship are deeply appreciated. Erin Herzog in the Ira Latour Visual Mittman.indb 13 1/31/13 4:43:26 PM xiv Acknowledgments Resources Center was patiently helpful on a number of occasions, and the staff of the Interlibrary Loan office, Flora Nunn and Jo Ann Bradley, make research possible, up in the North State. Teresa Cotner, chair of Art and Art History, and Joel Zimbelman, Dean of Humanities and Fine Arts, have been unflaggingly supportive. The Department of English at Illinois State University has provided support in the form of a sabbatical, funding for travel, and assistance with permissions fees.