"They had laid hold of her; they drew her down into themselves like a maelstrom that was all the stronger for being so quiet..." (p. 224)
She sees illuminated manuscripts:
"...brilliant bewilderment of interlacings, pictures from a thousand tales out of two thousand years or more, and within those borders the close-ranked, tightly curved letters making words she could not read, an endlessness of words." (p. 224)
These many words contrast with the "...few and spare..." runes that she has cast for spells or cut in stone. (p. 224)
Later, she must ask her cleric (clergyman, clerk) to read a letter to her:
"If only she could read it! In the Christian letters lay a might and mystery beyond the reach of her runes. How much of its power did Christendom draw from them?" (p. 261)
Well, the Bible, both words and Word, is central to Christianity. And later generations had not only the Bible but also the Encyclopedia.
By Christian letters, Gunnhild means what we call Roman letters but, by Gunnhild's time, Rome had been Christian for centuries. We take it for granted now but, by participating in a literate society where we regularly read printed newspapers and paperback novels, we access the "...might and mystery..." that is greater than runes.
6 comments:
I am just about to go out for the afternoon. The next post might be a summary of the defences of Paganism presented by Anderson's characters.
Hi, Paul!
Encyclopedias? The Middle Ages had a kind of encylopedia as well. Such as the ones compiled by Pliny the Elder and St. Isidore of Seville. And works like Ptolemy's "Almagest" and Euclid's "Elements" for astronomy and geometry. And there were "bestiaries" which attempted to collect knowledge of animals.
Works like these, as well as the Bible, would have impressed Queen Gunnhild hugely!
Sean
Hi, Paul!
I forgot to add that some of the books Queen Gunnhild saw were probably copied using Carolingian minuscules, spacing of words, and the question mark. These inventions of the Carolingian Renaissance were revolutionary, making it much easier to produce, distribute and read books.
Sean
By "Encyclopedia", I meant one specific work of that title which was an Enlightenment attempt to compile all knowledge to that date.
Hi, Paul!
Yes, but the 18th century French ENCYCLOPEDIE was not the first attempt at a compendia of knowledge. Which is why I thought of Pliny the Elder and St. Isidore of Seville. These would have been the works educated people of Queen Gunnhild's time would have known of.
And the Chinese were compiling encyclopedic compendia of knowledge before the Encyclopedie as well.
I also argue we should not forget the role the Carolingian innovations in improving and producing books were in spreading literacy.
Sean
Right on!
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