Paper Example on Marvel and Miracle in Medieval Literature

Introduction

In some sense, miracles and marvel literature can be regarded as early precursors of the contemporary fantastic. The history of miracles and marvels in medieval times is a topic that has received very little scholarly attention. The Latin word for marvels or wonders, "Mirabella" encompasses various unusual events in the history of literature that resist explanation. Some of the products of magic include transmutations and illusions, as well as the unique properties of natural things such as strange stones and healing herbs. They are described in part by the marvel they create. Similar to the wonders we have in the modern world, medieval wonder were highly entertaining. Marvel and miracle evaluation are also considered as social analyses. In the medieval times, marvel and miracles were considered as divine works in a world that was created by God. Nonetheless, there was a clear distinction between a divine wonder that involved direct human action and divine marvel that influence nature in a general manner. Various marvels in medieval history involved imagination just like cosmological anomalies. My argument concerns the nature of extraordinary imagination that medieval literature depicts (Bundy et al. p. 68-79).

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According to medieval literature, imagination is considered as a sensory faculty that is responsible for various body functions. Its mechanisms, variety of functions and location have all been a matter for debate for many decades. The degree to which I help produce marvel, imagination is usually at its climax. At this level, is exhibits several distinct traits with strange clarity. One of the features of emphasis is imagination's ability to mistake the line between what is outside the soul and what is in the soul, for instance, delusions and perceptions (Daston and Park, p. 109-34). Christianity in the medieval world identified discovered how natural events such as miracles and marvel are caused by natural caused.

By putting out the vital boundary that exists within the soul and the outside world, there is an explanation of how Marvel could have a broader meaning than just the events that are associated. For example, a wonder such as a bewitchment is more important as a symbol and not as an occurrence, one that signifies the sources of human potential than the usually untapped. Imagination leads to a creating of the excess. For instance, in The Lais of Marie de France, "Guigemar" tells a tale of a knight who never showed interest in love until he was cursed by a magical deer who supposes that he would not heal unless he finds a woman whom he yearns (Pickens, p. 367-384). After a magic deer cursed Guigemar, he crosses the sea using a magic boat and goes to fall in love with a married woman. The woman was married to an oppressive lord who finds out about their relationship and banishes Guigemar. Miraculously, they later reunite when the lady takes the magical boat to his land. These events portray two marvels that involve two associated events.

Miracles are considered to be a vital element of the biblical faith. Although miracles are not understood regarding the current argument between science and religion, Christianity and the biblical doctrine explains the natural phenomenon. The Christian miracle and the mythological miracles show different invasion by a high power. For instance, Pearl poet, an author believed to have lived in the fourteenth century wrote Sir Gawain and the Green Knight which was a story that had accounts of marvelous happenings. His tale revolves around Britain's founding tales on Camelot. His stories are linked with classics such as Virgil's Aeneid making his work related to the ancient world. Poet posits that he first encountered the original story of the Green Knight "in a hall" (Putter, p.42-54).

The Green Knight challenged King Arthur's men to a duel calling the legendary knights as a way to mock them. He proposed that one of Arthur's men should ax him with the condition that he will also do the same to him in a year and a day's time. Sir Gaiwan volunteers and agrees to execute the task. He brings the ax down and cuts off the head of Green Knight. Instead of dying on the spot after his head falling to the ground, Green Knight picks it up, turns to the court and tells Gaiwan to honor his word in a year and a day and meet him at the Green Chapel. Everyone in the hall is left picking up their jaws up off the floor after the incident.

The argument here is that imagination does not in any way erase the boundary between bodies within the world and mental representations. However, medieval literature gave imagination power to act of the bodies within the world indirectly and also create visuals so brilliantly such that they resemble objects in the extramental world that are easy to mistake. Imagination in a context suggests a greater power through visualizations that exceeds its limits. This is one of the reasons that imagination is vital to a wide range of marvels and miracles. Imagination has many implications and has the power that seems to exceed its exact limitations; it bestows such undefined and indefinite importance.

According to Bradwardine, miracles and Marvel are usually misunderstood in a manner that deliberately insults Christianity. He, therefore, condemns overconfident philosophers who assume to understand the nature and the marvelous events. Blush, oh philosopher, taking pride in knowledge. You scorn God by keeping him so small that small you with your little mind might scrutinize the whole of him, might lay bare all his secrets, might grasp and know him ultimately" (Bradwardine and Savile, p. 158). He is displeased by the idea that miracles and Marvel are natural and is a contradiction of the statement that it describes that imagination answers for the occurrence of these events.

Moreover, he makes efforts to reduce imagination's horizon to maximize divine power. His conclusion regarding this topic is that no matter how potent human imagination is, it is not nearly as potent as the High power which has no limitations. The aspect of medieval literature regarding miracles and Marvel should be emphasized because medieval belief in miracles and wonder has significantly influence today's assessment of the period. Moreover, there has been some willingness of the literature of the period crediting and defining it in some respects as antirational and premodern. The contemporary world might better appreciate the intricate nature of the period that embraced marvels and miracles after realizing that they are not more straightforward than the imagination that at times contributed to them. Undoubtedly, the study of marvel and miracle in the middle ages has witnessed a deflating wonder to naturalize the phenomena.

Works Cited

Bradwardine, Thomas, and Henry Savile. Thomae Brandwardini De Causa Dei, Contra Pelagium Et De Virtute Causarum Ad Suos Mertonenses, Libri Tres. Minerva, 1964.

Bundy, Murray Wright. "The theory of imagination in classical and medieval thought." (1927). 68-79 and 154-74.

Daston, Lorraine, and Katharine Park. Wonders and the Order of Nature: 1150-1750. Zone Books, 2001.

Pickens, Rupert T. "La Poetique de Marie de France d'apres les Prologues des Lais." Les Lettres Romanes, vol. 32, no. 4, 1978, pp. 367-384.

Putter, Ad. "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." The Gawain Poet, pp. 42-54.