This thesis examines the dissemination of visions of the otherworld in the long thirteenth century (c.1150-1321) by analysing the work of one enthusiast for such visions, Helinand of Froidmont, and studying the later transmission of three, contrasting accounts: the vision of the monk of Eynsham (c.1196), the vision of St. Fursa (c.656) and the vision of Gunthelm (s.xiiex). It relies on a close reading and comparison of different versions of these visions as they appear in exempla collections, religious miscellanies, history chronicles and sermons. In considering the process of redaction, it corrects two imbalances in the recent scholarship: a focus on searching for, then discussing ‘authorial’ versions of the narratives and a tendency among students of literature to treat visions of the otherworld as an independent sub-genre, prefiguring Dante’s later masterpiece. Instead, by looking at the different responses of a number of authors and compilers to visions of the otherworld, this thesis shows how they interacted with other elements of religious culture. On one hand it reveals how all medieval editors altered the narratives that they inherited to fit the needs and rules of genre. These rules had an important influence on how visions were spread and received by different audiences. On the other, it explains how individual authors demonstrated personal or communal theological and political motivation for altering visions. In doing so, it notes a divergence in the way that older monastic communities and travelling preachers responded to the stories. By explaining these variations, this study uncovers a range of complex reactions to trends in thirteenth-century eschatology (particularly the development of the doctrine of Purgatory) and how they interacted with wider religious concerns such as pastoral care. Finally, it shows how an examination of the pattern of a vision’s dissemination can lead to a re-consideration of the earlier texts themselves and the religious milieu from which they emerged.

<div> <div> <div> <p>Medieval fairies are chaotic and perplexing narrative agents—neither humans nor monsters—and their actions are defined only by a characteristic unpredictability. My dissertation investigates this fairy chaos, focusing on those moments in a premodern romance when a fairy or group of fairies intrudes on a human community and, to be blunt, makes a mess. I argue that fairy disruption of human ways of thinking and being—everything from human corporeality to the definition of chivalry—is often productive or generative. Each chapter examines how narrative fairies upset medieval English culture’s operations and rules (including, frequently, the rules of the narrative itself) in order to question those conventions in the extra-narrative world of the tale’s audience. Fairy romances, I contend, puzzle and engage their audiences, encouraging readers and hearers to think about and even challenge the processes of their own society. In this way, my research explores the interaction between a text and its audience—between fiction and reality—illuminating the ways in which premodern narratives of chaos and disruption encourage readers and headers to engage in a sustained, ethical consideration of the world. </p> </div> </div> </div>

Syftet är att fastställa gemensamma drag och paralleller, som återfinns i dels keltiska myter/keltiska texter och dels i Wuthering Heights, för att sedan kunna diskutera hur dessa gemensamma drag möter och interagerar med varandra.Resultat: Jag har funnit att det i Wuthering Heights’ ramberättelse återfinns gemensamma drag och paralleller, mellan voyage-genrerna immram & echtrae och Wuthering Heights. I Wuthering Heights ’ kärnberättelse har jag funnit gemensamma drag och paralleller mellan berättelserna hämtade från Leabhar Gabhála Éireann och Wuthering Heights (samtligt mytologiskt material är hämtat ur den mytologiska cykeln). I diskussionen om det innehållsliga mötet, kommer jag fram till att Mr. Lockwood förändrats i och genom sin resa. Jag finner också att Wuthering Heights förändrats i sitt möte med Mr. Lockwood. Lägger man sedan det mytiska filtret uppe på det innehållsliga mötet kan man tolka in ett att kulturellt möte mellan det keltiska/gamla och det europeiskt-kristna/nya som en fruktbar förening, där ingen av parterna är att ringakta. Genom att låta polariteter som dåtid/nutid, hedniskt/kristet och ödemark/civilisation beblanda sig med varandra, både textmässigt strukturellt sker en sammansmältning. Detta är något som ligger helt i linje med den mytologiska cykelns världsuppfattning, där element från vår värld beblandas med element från the Otherworld.

Magijos samprata moksliniame diskurse neišvengiamai atskleidžia ne tik mokslininko ar tiriamos visuomenės sampratas, bet ir išryškina perskyras. Taip atsiranda poreikis plėsti sampratos ribas, telkiantis ne tik į praktinę magijos pusę, bet ir į bendrus maginės pasaulėžiūros aspektus. Šiuo tyrimu, remiantis Lietuvos studentų magijos ir religijos sampratomis, maginėmis-religinėmis praktikomis, antgamtinio pasaulio suvokiniais, patirtimis, siekiama atskleisti magijos supratimo įvairovę. Išanalizavus studentų magijos ir religijos sampratas, studentams būdingas magines-religines praktikas, atskleidžiamos studentams būdingiausios magijos ir religijos sampratos, maginių-religinių praktikų ypatumai. Disertacijoje tiriamos ne tik studentų magijos ir religijos sampratos, maginės-religinės praktikos, bet ir antgamtinio pasaulio patirtys ir suvokiniai, kuriuose magija atsiskleidžia kaip bendražmogiškos pasaulėžiūros dalis. Tokiame kontekste išryškėja magijos suvokimo dualizmas – atsispindi du skirtingi jos matymo būdai. Viena vertus, magija atsiskleidžia kaip į tikslą orientuotų praktikų, veiksmų visuma. Kita vertus, studentų maginėse-religinėse praktikose atsispindintys antgamtinio pasaulio suvokiniai, antgamtinio pasaulio patirtys atskleidžia magiją kaip prisidedančią prie žmogaus pasaulėžiūros formavimosi. / The concept of magic in a scientific discourse inevitably reveals not only the concepts of a scientist or a society that is being researched but also highlights disjunctions between them. This causes a need to widen the boundaries of the concept focusing both on the practical side of magic and the common aspects of a magic worldview. The object of the research is to reveal a variety of understanding magic based on concepts of magic and religion, magico-religious practices, and Otherworld experiences and conceptions of Lithuanian students. The analysis of students‘ concepts of magic and religion and magico-religious practices revealed the most common concepts and features of magico-religious practices in the group researched. The dissertation explores not only students‘ concepts of magic and religion and magico-religious practices but also Otherworld experiences and conceptions, which reflect magic as a part of the common human worldview. In such context dualism in perception of magic comes to light; two different ways of perceiving magic are reflected. On the one hand magic reveals itself as the whole of actions oriented towards an aim. On the other hand students‘ Otherworld experiences and conceptions that reflect themselves in student’s magico-religious practices reveal magic as a contributory element in a person’s worldview formation.

The concept of magic in a scientific discourse inevitably reveals not only the concepts of a scientist or a society that is being researched but also highlights disjunctions between them. This causes a need to widen the boundaries of the concept focusing both on the practical side of magic and the common aspects of a magic worldview. The object of the research is to reveal a variety of understanding magic based on concepts of magic and religion, magico-religious practices, and Otherworld experiences and conceptions of Lithuanian students. The analysis of students‘ concepts of magic and religion and magico-religious practices revealed the most common concepts and features of magico-religious practices in the group researched. The dissertation explores not only students‘ concepts of magic and religion and magico-religious practices but also Otherworld experiences and conceptions, which reflect magic as a part of the common human worldview. In such context dualism in perception of magic comes to light; two different ways of perceiving magic are reflected. On the one hand magic reveals itself as the whole of actions oriented towards an aim. On the other hand students‘ Otherworld experiences and conceptions that reflect themselves in student’s magico-religious practices reveal magic as a contributory element in a person’s worldview formation. / Magijos samprata moksliniame diskurse neišvengiamai atskleidžia ne tik mokslininko ar tiriamos visuomenės sampratas, bet ir išryškina perskyras. Taip atsiranda poreikis plėsti sampratos ribas, telkiantis ne tik į praktinę magijos pusę, bet ir į bendrus maginės pasaulėžiūros aspektus. Šiuo tyrimu, remiantis Lietuvos studentų magijos ir religijos sampratomis, maginėmis-religinėmis praktikomis, antgamtinio pasaulio suvokiniais, patirtimis, siekiama atskleisti magijos supratimo įvairovę. Išanalizavus studentų magijos ir religijos sampratas, studentams būdingas magines-religines praktikas, atskleidžiamos studentams būdingiausios magijos ir religijos sampratos, maginių-religinių praktikų ypatumai. Disertacijoje tiriamos ne tik studentų magijos ir religijos sampratos, maginės-religinės praktikos, bet ir antgamtinio pasaulio patirtys ir suvokiniai, kuriuose magija atsiskleidžia kaip bendražmogiškos pasaulėžiūros dalis. Tokiame kontekste išryškėja magijos suvokimo dualizmas – atsispindi du skirtingi jos matymo būdai. Viena vertus, magija atsiskleidžia kaip į tikslą orientuotų praktikų, veiksmų visuma. Kita vertus, studentų maginėse-religinėse praktikose atsispindintys antgamtinio pasaulio suvokiniai, antgamtinio pasaulio patirtys atskleidžia magiją kaip prisidedančią prie žmogaus pasaulėžiūros formavimosi.

This dissertation deals with the interpretation of four myths from early medieval Scandinavia, in which the main role is played by the god Óðinn. All four myths narrate how he achieved a state of permanent increase of his numinous knowledge. Based on the fact that the outcome of all of the narratives is the acquisition of the Mead of Poetry (or its equivalent), they can be percieved as "four reports on the same event". The analysis of myths itself has been executed in two steps: firstly the separate inquiry of the two more central myths and introduction of the other two followed by thorough analysis of the four together. All four myths demonstrate to a certain degree a presence of motifs and structures associated with the religious phenomena of sacrifice and initiation. By the means of said analysis the study reviews the systematic relations of the sacrificial and initiatory structures and postulates a common core which is subsequently named "monomyth".