The Liber Monstrorum (or Liber monstrorum de diversis generibus) is a late seventh-or early eighth-century Anglo-Latin catalogue of marvellous creatures,[1] which may be connected with the Anglo-Saxon scholar Aldhelm. It is transmitted in several manuscripts from the ninth and tenth centuries, but is often studied in connection with the better-known text Beowulf, since the Liber also mentions King Hygelac of the Geats and that he was renowned for his large size. Some scholars argue that the Beowulf-poet was in fact inspired by the Liber Monstrorum.[2] The book contains extraordinary people, such as Hygelac; some clearly historical reports of actual peoples, such as the Ethiopians; and some obviously mythological reports, such as the cyclopes and centaurs.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Orchard, Andy (2003) [1995]. Pride and prodigies: studies in the monsters of the Beowulf-manuscript. U of Toronto P. p. 86. ISBN 9780802085832.
- ^ Princi Braccini, Giovanni (1984). "Tra folclore germanico e latinita insulare. Presenze del Liber Monstrorum e della Cosmographia dello Pseudo-Etico nel Beowulf e nel cod. Nowell". Studi Medievali. series 3 25: 681–720.
External links
edit- A translation, done by Andy Orchard, is available at https://web.archive.org/web/20050118082548/http://members.shaw.ca/sylviavolk/Beowulf3.htm
- Lapidge, Michael. 'Beowulf, Aldhelm, the Liber Monstrorum and Wessex', Studi medievali, 3rd ser., 23 (1982), 151-91