Animals in Celtic Magical Texts

Sponsoring Organization(s)

Research Group on Manuscript Evidence; Societas Magica

Organizer Name

Phillip A. Bernhardt-House

Organizer Affiliation

Skagit Valley College-Whidbey Island

Presider Name

Phillip A. Bernhardt-House

Paper Title 1

Rodents, Rhymes, and Rituals: The Irish Tradition of Charming Rats (to Death)

Presenter 1 Name

Ilona Tuomi

Presenter 1 Affiliation

Univ. College Cork

Paper Title 2

"Le glór binn a cinn / thug sí an rón mara ón tuinn": The Seal in Gaelic and Norse Tradition

Presenter 2 Name

Gregory R. Darwin

Presenter 2 Affiliation

Harvard Univ.

Start Date

11-5-2019 1:30 PM

Session Location

Bernhard 205

Description

A variety of magical texts in Celtic contexts include animals or animal imagery in their spells. The creatures range from snakes, beetles, and worms, to dogs, wolves, deer, pigs, and birds -- and many other creatures besides. Besides mantic operations and charms, the medieval literate record contains many occurrences of animals in relation to the magical actions of characters, whether human or divine, or of "magical animals" of various sorts appearing as messengers, omens, or agents and characters in their own right. Papers in this session may relate to theoretical approaches toward the material of animal imagery, thematic explorations of different types of usage of animals, or attempts to survey, catalogue, and analyze the nature of particular animal appearances in these texts and operations, as well as the broad topic of animals and Celtic magical texts. Mildred Budny