Concepts of Infectious, Contagious, and Epidemic Disease in Anglo-Saxon England Stefanie

274 Pages·2017·1.8 MB·English

Concepts of Infectious, Contagious, and Epidemic Disease
in
Anglo-Saxon England

Stefanie Künzel, MA.

Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham for the
degree of Doctor of Philosophy

SEPTEMBER 2017
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Abstract

This thesis examines concepts of disease existing in the Anglo-Saxon period.
The focus is in particular on the conceptual intricacies pertaining to pestilence
or, in modern terms, epidemic disease. The aim is to (1) establish the different
aspects of the cognitive conceptualisation and their representation in the
language and (2) to illustrate how they are placed in relation to other concepts
within a broader understanding of the world. The scope of this study
encompasses the entire corpus of Old English literature, select Latin material
produced in Anglo-Saxon England, as well as prominent sources including
works by Isidore of Seville, Gregory of Tours, and Pope Gregory the Great.
An introductory survey of past scholarship identifies main tenets of research and
addresses shortcomings in our understanding of historic depictions of epidemic
disease, that is, a lack of appreciation for the dynamics of the human mind. The
main body of research will discuss the topic on a lexico-semantic, contextual and
wider cultural level. An electronic evaluation of the Dictionary of Old English
Corpus establishes the most salient semantic fields surrounding instances of
cwealm and wol (‘pestilence’), such as harmful entities, battle and warfare, sin,
punishment, and atmospheric phenomena. Occurrences of pestilential disease
are distributed across a variety of text types including (medical) charms,
hagiographic and historiographic literature, homilies, and scientific,
encyclopaedic treatises. The different contexts highlight several distinguishable
aspects of disease, (‘reason’, ‘cause’, ‘symptoms’, ‘purpose’, and ‘treatment’)
and strategically put them in relation with other concepts. Connections within
this conceptual network can be based on co-occurrence, causality, and analogy
and are set within a wider cultural frame informed largely though not exclusively
by Christian doctrine.
The thesis concludes that Anglo-Saxon ideas of disease must be viewed as part
of a complex web of knowledge and beliefs in order to understand how they can
be framed by various discourses with more or less diverging objectives. The
overall picture emerging from this study, while certainly not being free from
contradiction, is not one of superstition and ignorance but is grounded in
observation and integrated into many-layered systems of cultural knowledge.
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Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisors, Dr Christina Lee and
Prof Judith Jesch. Throughout my time as a PhD candidate, as well as during my
MA studies, they have provided the patient support and necessary guidance
which made this thesis possible.
Beside academic and pastoral support, I have received financial aid from
numerous sources, especially the University of Nottingham’s Vice Chancellor’s
Scholarship for Research Excellence as well as conference bursaries from the
Institute of Medieval Research and the Centre for the Study of the Viking Age. In
addition, I was fortunate to enjoy the support and community spirit of Teachers
of Old English in Britain and Ireland (TOEBI).
My appreciation goes out to all of the junior, senior, and veteran academics who
ignited and shared my enthusiasm for the Old English and, a bit later, the Old
Norse language. In particular, thanks are due to Prof Gabriele Knappe who
introduced me to the Anglo-Saxon wor(l)d and whose dedication to teaching Old
English by far surpasses the requirements and limitations set by core curricula.
Last but not least, a select few items off my long list of things I am grateful for:
having a PhD-sibling of Dr Erin Connelly’s calibre; the exceptional hospitality
of Hayden Ashby; my mother never asking too many questions; the unobtrusive
encouragement received from colleagues and friends; and especially, the
constancy of my partner Judith who had to witness every step of the way from
up-close.
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Index

List of Abbreviations .......................................................................................... 9
1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 13
1.1 Historical Development of Scholarship on Diseases and Medicine of the
Early Medieval Period ...................................................................................... 15
Etymology and the Vocabulary of Disease ................................................... 17
Historiographic Approaches to Disease(s) and Medicine ............................. 18
Anglo-Saxon Medicine & Magic – The Anthropological Perspective ......... 22
The ‘Apologetic’ Approach ........................................................................... 24
Recent Interdisciplinary Approaches ............................................................ 25
1.2 Definition of Terminology, Scope, and Research Questions ..................... 28
Concepts…of Disease ................................................................................... 29
Infectious, Contagious, Epidemic ................................................................. 34
Research Aims and Questions ....................................................................... 38
2 Theoretical Background and Methodology ............................................... 40
2.1 Social Constructionism ............................................................................... 41
2.2 The Perspective of Cognitive Linguistics ................................................... 45
2.3 Cognitive Linguistics and Cultural History ................................................ 49
2.4 Methods, Structure and Limitations of this Investigation .......................... 59
A Note on Citation and Translation .............................................................. 64
3 Linguistic Evaluation of the Primary Sources .......................................... 65
3.1 Semantics and Etymology .......................................................................... 66
3.2 When is Disease Epidemic?........................................................................ 73
3.3 Metaphoric Conceptualisation of Disease .................................................. 74
3.4 Disease as Metaphor ................................................................................... 77
3.5 Parallels and Co-Occurrences with Other Concepts ................................... 79
4 Monsters and Disease .................................................................................. 84
Definition: ‘Monsters’ ................................................................................... 85
4.1 Verbs: forhergian and afligan .................................................................... 87
4.2 Personification of Disease .......................................................................... 91
The ‘Nine Herbs Charm’ ............................................................................... 91
Grendel and Other Monsters ....................................................................... 100
4.3 Disease and Monsters in Related Contexts: Two Old Norse Charms ...... 110
4.4 Summary ................................................................................................... 115
5 Saints and Disease ...................................................................................... 118
Parameters of Text Selection and Literature Review .................................. 118
5.1 Martyrs and Patients – St. Oswald and St. Chad ...................................... 127
St Oswald .................................................................................................... 127
St Chad ........................................................................................................ 133
5.2 Asceticism and Inspiration – St Cuthbert and St Guthlac ........................ 137
St Cuthbert ................................................................................................... 137
St Guthlac .................................................................................................... 144
5.3 Abbesses and Epidemics – St Æthelburh and St Æthelthryth .................. 146
St Æthelburh ................................................................................................ 146
St Æthelthryth.............................................................................................. 154
5.4 Summary ............................................................................................... 164
6 Disease and the End of the Natural World .............................................. 169
6.1 Prognostics ................................................................................................ 174
6.2 The Homilies of Wulfstan and Ælfric ...................................................... 180
The Phrase stric and steorfa ........................................................................ 185
Punishment and Penitence ........................................................................... 189
Disease and the Law .................................................................................... 206
6.3 On the Nature of Pestilence ...................................................................... 214
De natura rerum .......................................................................................... 217
Isidore‘s Etymologies .................................................................................. 229
A Note on Galen: Theory vs Practice .......................................................... 235
6.4 Summary ................................................................................................... 243
7 Conclusions – A Complex Picture ............................................................ 245
Bibliography ................................................................................................... 257
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