Broken Order: Shapeshifting as Social Metaphor in Early Medieval England and Ireland

Shapeshifting narratives appear in cultures all over the world, throughout human history. At each point, these narratives give expression to culturally contingent anxieties and preoccupations. This study examines shapeshifting narratives in early medieval England and Ireland in order to uncover what preoccupations informed the meaning of 'shapeshifting', and also what social functions these shapeshifting narratives could serve. It begins with a lexical analysis of the verbs and nouns most associated with shapeshifting narratives; then, it examines shapeshifting narratives on the one hand, and comparisons between humans and animals on the other; finally, the study turns to the sociocultural role of shapeshifting narratives. It demonstrates that, although shapeshifting manifests differently in English and Irish contexts, the importance of performance, in particular the proper performance of in-group behaviour, is a consistent theme between them. Often, shapeshifting narratives visually confirm or demonstrate changes that have already taken place. Although the transformation of a human into something else would appear to break the natural order, such a wondrous disruption ultimately reveals divine power, and reinforces the divine order. Acknowledgements 1 Abbreviations 3 Chapter 1: Introduction 6 Background 6 Research Aims and Questions 11 Previous Research 13 Discourses of the Body 13 Shapeshifting and Werewolf Studies 16 Theology and History of Religion 23 Theory and Methodology 24 'Eine Geschichtswissenschaft in anthropologischer Zielrichtung' 26 Comparison between Early Medieval England and Ireland 32 Source Material and Source Criticism 33 Works of Wonder and Philosophy 36 Hagiography and Related Religious Narrative 38 Epic Narrative and Poetry 41 Implications 43 Disposition and Presentation 45 Chapter 2: Transformations of Spirit and Body 47 Verbs of Transformation 50 Nouns Transforming 72 Discussion 82 Differentiation of Concepts and Semantic Overlaps 82 Turning, Conversion, and Metaphor 82 Shape, Form, and Natura 83 Conclusion 84 Chapter 3: Humans and Animals, Humans as Animals 87 Animals in Early Medieval England and Ireland 89 Humans into Animals 96 Serial Shapeshifting 106 Where Wolves? 107 Souls of the Dead as Birds 112 Animals into Humans 115 Secular Transformation 115 Transformations in Religious Narratives 116 Animals into Animals 117 Shapeshifting 'in verbis' 118 Implied Metamorphosis 118 Behavioural Transformations 120 Discussion 124 Loss and Gain of Human Status 124 Wild vs. Domestic Animals in Transformation 126 Conclusions 126 Chapter 4: Marginality of Metamorphosis 128 Disability and Body Theory 129 Monster Theory 131 Social Identity Theory 133 Change of Social Status 135 Performance of Human Status 138 Educating Religious Behaviour 141 Physical and Abstract Transformation 143 It’s an Illusion! Perception and Society 144 Normalized Boundary Transgressions 146 Discussion 147 Conclusions 151 Chapter 5: Breaking Order to Reveal Order 152 Shapeshifting Narratives as Conversion Narratives 157 Human Transformations and the Performance of Human Status 158 Transformation and Concepts of Change 160 Cultural Significances: Why Write about Shapeshifting 162 Methodological Evaluation 163 Concluding Remarks 163 Appendix 1: List of Transformations 167 Table 1: Transformations of Humans 167 Table 2: Transformations by Humans 169 Summary 171 Sammanfattning 177 Bibliography 183 Manuscripts Cited 183 Printed Sources 183 Image Sources 188 Electronic Publications 188 Literature 189