Warriors with animal faces. Negotiating an anthropological model
(2014) International Medieval Conference — Location: Leeds (7.July.2014)
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- Abstract
- European Medieval literatures occasionally feature warriors who, during battle, take the appearances of wild animals. This transformation occurs on many levels: physical, total-body metamorphosis, a facial deformation, or symbolic, using animal masks. These three configurations are variations upon the same anthropological model: that of the animal-warrior. Inside the socio-cultural process of shaping the image of the feudal knight, the universal model of the animal-warrior endured in both practice and literature, although negated, disguised and transformed. This paper illustrates patterns of negotiation of this model in medieval literature. It considers mainly literature in old French, both epic and romance, with occasional examples drawn from Germanic and Celtic literatures.
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Sciancalepore, A. (2014). Warriors with animal faces. Negotiating an anthropological model. International Medieval Conference, Leeds. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/93208