Astronomy, Literary Criticism, and Medieval Literature: An Introduction

Dale Kedwards introduces Cluster 1 of Interfaces 8, on the topic of The Astronomical Imagination in Literature through the Ages.

Some Boethian Themes in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings

There appear to be quite a few parallels between Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and Boethius’s The Consolation of Philosophy (Consolatio Philosophiae), and they seem to concern particularly, though not only, the character drawing in Tolkien’s book. Those parallels are preeminently connected with the fact that both Boethius and Tolkien like to think of the most extreme situations that can befall a human. And both are attached to the idea of not giving in to despair, and of finding a source of hope in seemingly desperate straits. The idea that there is some link between Boethius and Tolkien is naturally not new. T.A. Shippey talks about it in his The Road to Middle Earth, but he concentrates on the Boethian conception of good and evil, which is also of course an important matter, but surely not the only one that links Tolkien and Boethius. On the other hand, it is not my intention to claim that there is something in Tolkien’s book of which it can be said that it would have been absolutely impossible without Boethius. Still, I think it may be supposed that just like Boethian motifs are natural in the medieval literature of the West, so they can be thought of as natural in the work of such dedicated a medievalist as J.R.R. Tolkien.

Les manuscrits islandais médiévaux dans les romans islandais contemporains : l’exemple de L’Énigme de Flatey

In the rich history of Icelandic literature, the most famous literary genres are undoubtedly the medieval sagas and the contemporary criminal novels. However, those genres are as not as far from each other as one may think, since masterpieces of Icelandic medieval literature are sometimes summoned by contemporary authors, as is shown in The Flatey Enigma (Icelandic: Flateyjargáta), a criminal novel by Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson which is built around the story and the contents of the Book of Flatey, a famous fourteenth Icelandic manuscript. The present article provides an analysis of the place and function of the manuscripts and the medieval texts it contains: the results obtained show that their main function is to help the development of the plot, although some intertextual references also have a didactic dimension, whereas others provide information about the relations between the characters and the Book of Flatey.

DIALECTICS OF A MYTH AS ACADEMICIAN A. VESELOVSKY’S METHOD OF STUDYING EVOLUTION AND GENESIS OF ART FORMS

В статье анализируются методологические взгляды на миф выдающегося русского ученого А.Н. Веселовского (1838–1906). Мифологическая проблематика стала для Веселовского одной из центральных еще в молодые годы, когда он работал над дипломной работой, и оставалась таковой навсегда, о чем свидетельствуют его исследования как теоретического, так и сравнительно-исторического характера о международном фольклоре, средневековой словесности и литературе поздних веков. Отказавшись следовать канонам «мифологической школы», ученый поставил перед собой задачу разработать новый метод научного анализа, который позволит изучать эволюцию и генезис художественных форм как с формальной, так и с идейно-содержательной точек зрения. В этой статье мы ставим перед собой задачу собрать в единое целое суждения Веселовского о мифе, оценить их теоретический потенциал и доказать, что диалектика мифа и есть тот самый метод, благодаря которому он создал уникальную верификационную систему объяснения исторических изменений такого феномена как поэзия. Для раскрытия этой темы наиболее важными для нас являются: дипломная работа ученого (1857), статьи-рецензии «Заметки и сомнения о сравнительном изучении средневекового эпоса» (1868), «Сравнительная мифология и ее метод» (1873), теоретические статьи «Из введения в историческую поэтику. Вопросы и ответы» (1894), «Из истории эпитета» (1895), «Психологический параллелизм и его формы в отражении поэтического стиля» (1898), «Синкретизм древнейшей поэзии и начала дифференциации поэтических родов» (1899), в том числе неопубликованные при жизни Веселовского труды: «Поэтика сюжетов» (1913), «Определение поэзии» (1959) и другие. The article analyzes the methodological views on the myth of the outstanding Russian scientist A.N. Veselovsky (1838-1906). Mythological issues became for Veselovsky one of the central in his young years, when he worked on the graduation work, and turned into his lifelong priority. This is evidenced by his research of both theoretical and comparative historical nature about the international folklore, medieval literature and literature of late centuries. By refusing to follow the canons of the "mythological school", the scientist set himself the task of developing a new method of scientific analysis, which allowed to study the evolution and genesis of artistic forms with formal and ideological as well as meaningful points of view. In this article, we set ourselves the task of collecting judgments of Veselovsky about myth, to evaluate their theoretical potential and prove that the dialectic of myth is that very method, thanks to which he created a unique verification system for explaining historical changes to such a phenomenon as poetry. The most important for our topic is the scholar's diploma work (1857), critical reviews «Notes and doubts about the comparative study of the medieval epic» (1868), «Comparative mythology and its method» (1873), theoretical articles «From the introduction to historical poetics. Questions and Answers» (1894), «From the history of the epithet» (1895), «Psychological parallelism and its form in the reflection of the poetic style» (1898), «Syncretism of ancient poetry and the beginning of differentiation of poetic labor» (1899), including works of Veselovsky unpublished during his lifetime: «Excursions in the Fiction» (1913), «Definition of Poetry» (1959) and others.

NAJSTARSZE (XI-XII W.) FIGURY SZACHOWE WYKONANE W STYLISTYCE ABSTRAKCYJNEJ ARABSKIEJ Z TERENU POLSKI , NA TLE TRENDÓW EUROPEJSKICH ZWIĄZANYCH Z POCZĄTKOWYMI FAZAMI ADAPTACJI W EUROPIE

Chess is a board game, in the Middle Ages referred to as a tabula. During the long way it took since its origin in India in the 6th century until modern times, the subsequent communities left their own, inimitable cultural marks. In India, chess had a deeply mystical nature; Persians used chess to picture the world as a battlefield; Arabs systematised many concepts and took note of the mathematical aspect; Europe made use of chess to define rules that should apply to an ideal society. This shows a perfect understanding of the balance on the chessboard, the mutual dependencies and consistent actions leading to success – both when playing and creating social life. Medieval literature provides an excellent basis for studies of the intertwining cultural trends and describing the reality. In the literature, elements based on playing chess are oftentimes among the postulated modes of education. However, the ideas encountered by the potential users of chess tournaments were best communicated by the figures and the accumulated plethora of notions. An analysis of the changes affecting jackstraws at an early stage of the game’s adaptation in Europe and other territories which took over chess as cultural models, leads to a conclusion that the material from the 11th-12th centuries that comes from Polish collections matches many Latin trends and shows considerable knowledge thereof.