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Explores how the haunted, magical world of medieval times still surrounds us
List of contents
Foreword: Claude Lecouteux, A Ferryman Who
Smuggles History through Stories
Florence Bayard and Astrid Guillaume
Introduction
Florence Bayard and Astrid Guillaume
PART I
FROM DOCUMENT TO IDEA
Making Texts Speak1
The Ramsund StoneThe Mindset behind the Runic Inscription
2
Eyrbyggja Saga
The Saga of Snorri Goði
3
The Hidden Face of Tales and Legends
4
Fantasy and the Middle Ages
PART I I
BETWEEN MAGIC AND DIABLERIE
Ambiguous Objects and Beings5
A Typology of Several Kinds of Evil Dead
6
Grimoires and Their Ancestors
7
Big Bells and Little Bells
Beliefs and Magic
8
Weyland the SmithPART I I I
NATURE AND THE ELEMENTS
Between Awe and Terror
9
The Magnetic Mountain
10
The Raft of the Winds
Toward a Mythology of Clouds in the Middle Ages
11
The Masters of WeatherTempestarii, Coercers, Defenders, and Others12
Mythical Aspects of the Mountain in the Middle Ages
PART I V
BORDERS AT THE MARGINS
OF THE KNOWN WORLD
13
The Sea and Its Isles during the Middle AgesA Journey into the Marvelous
14
The Backdrop of the Adventure Sites in
Medieval Romances
15
The Taming of the Land
Reflections on Human Beings and Their Environment
16
Borderlands of the Otherworld17
The Spirits of Nature and of Humans in
the Middle AgesAspects of Their RelationshipNotes
Index
About the author
Claude Lecouteux is a professor emeritus of medieval literature and civilization at the Sorbonne. He is the author of numerous books on medieval beliefs and magic, including
Tales of Witchcraft and Wonder, The Tradition of Household Spirits, Demons and Spirits of the Land, and
Encyclopedia of Norse and Germanic Folklore, Mythology, and Magic. He lives in Paris.
Summary
Explores how the haunted, magical world of medieval times still surrounds us
