Introducing the Medieval Swan

Language: English

Published by University of Wales Press, GB, 2022

1786838397 / 9781786838391

Series: Book 3 of 5 - Medieval Animals

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Softcover

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What comes to mind when we think of swans? Likely their beauty in domestic settings, their preserved status, their association with royalty, and possibly even the phrase 'swan song'. This book explores the emergence of each of these ideas, starting with an examination of the medieval swan in natural history, exploring classical writings and their medieval interpretations and demonstrating how the idea of a swan's song developed. The book then proceeds to consider literary motifs of swan-to-human transformation, particularly the legend of the Knight of the Swan. Although this legend is known today largely through Wagner's opera, it was a best-seller in the Middle Ages, and courts throughout Europe strove to be associated as descendants of this Swan Knight. Consequently, the swan was projected as an icon of courtly and eventual royal status. The book's third chapter looks at the swan as icon of the Lancasters, particularly important during the reign of Richard II and the War of the Roses, and the final chapter examines the swan as an important item of feasting, focusing on cookery and husbandry to argue that over time the right to keep swans became an increasingly restricted right controlled by the English crown. Each of the swan's medieval associations are explored as they developed over time to the modern day.…

Seller Inventory # LU-9781786838391

Title
Introducing the Medieval Swan
Author
Natalie Jayne Goodison
Publisher
University of Wales Press, GB
Publication year
2022
Condition
New
Binding
Paperback
Language
English
ISBN 10
1786838397
ISBN 13
9781786838391
Series
Book 3 of 5: Medieval Animals

Rarewaves.com UK

London, United Kingdom

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