The Natural World in the Exeter Book RiddlesHumanity is a dominant presence in the Exeter Book riddle collection. It is frequently shown using, shaping and binding the physical world in which it lives. The riddles depict master and craftsman and use the familiar human world as a point of orientation within a vast, overwhelming cosmos. But the riddles also offer an eco-centric perspective, one that considers the natural origins of man-made products and the personal plight of useful human resources. This study offers fresh insights into the collection, investigating humanity's interaction with, and attitudes towards, the rest of the created world. Drawing on the principles of eco-criticism and eco-theology, the study considers the cultural and biblical influences on the depiction of nature in the collection, arguing that the texts engage with post-lapsarian issues of exploitation, suffering and mastery. Depictions of marginalised perspectives of sentient and non-sentient beings, such as trees, ore and oxen, are not just characteristic of the riddle genre, but are actively used to explore the point of view of the natural world and the impact humanity has on its non-human inhabitants. The author not only explores the riddles' resistance to anthropocentrism, but challenges our own tendency to read these enigmas from a human-centred perspective. Corinne Dale gained her PhD from Royal Holloway, University of London. |
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Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Locating NonHuman Subjects in an Anthropocentric World | 31 |
The Groan of Travail in the Ox Riddles | 57 |
Inverting the Colophon in Riddle 26 | 87 |
Wounding and Shaping in Riddles 53 and 73 | 103 |
The Principle of Accountability in Riddle 83 | 123 |
The Failure of Human Mastery in the Wine and Mead Riddles | 145 |
The Limits of Wisdom in Riddle 84 and the Storm Riddles | 167 |
Conclusion | 195 |
| 199 | |
| 215 | |
Common terms and phrases
Aldhelm’s riddle Anglo-Saxon England Anglo-Saxon Literature animal anthropocentric argues Beowulf biblical book of Job book’s Buell Cambridge chapter Christ Christian colophon created world creation creature Cynewulf’s depiction described discussion Dream drink dwelling eard ecocentric ecocritical ecocriticism ecological ecotheology eius environment eorþan example Exeter Book riddles explore God’s Hexameron humanity’s humans and nature Ibid labour lines literary literature material mead Medieval metaphor narrative narrator natural environment natural world nature’s Neville non-human world nostalgia object ofer Old English Poetry Old English riddles ox riddles ox’s Oxford Oxford English Dictionary perspective poem post-lapsarian world principles reader reading relationship between humans resist Riddle 11 Riddle 27 Riddle 60 Riddle 72 Riddle 83 riddle collection riddle subjects riddle writer riddle’s Rood says solution storm riddles suffering suggests text’s things transformed Translation tree tree’s Tupper University Press voice wæs whilst Williamson wine wisdom words wounds writes wudu þæt
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Natural World in the Exeter Book Riddles Nature and Environment in the Volume 1 of Nature and environment in the Middle Ages, ISSN 2399-3804 |
| Author | Corinne Dale |
| Publisher | Boydell & Brewer, 2017 |
| ISBN | 1843844648, 9781843844648 |
| Length | 217 pages |
| Subjects | › › Literary Criticism / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh Literary Criticism / Medieval |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |