Institute for Medieval Studies

Session	108
Title	Thinking through Making in Early Medieval English Studies
Date/Time	Monday 4 July 2022: 11.15-12.45
Sponsor	Centre for Medieval & Early Modern Studies, University of Manchester
Organiser	James Antonio Paz, School of Arts, Languages & Cultures, University of Manchester
Moderator/Chair	James Antonio Paz, School of Arts, Languages & Cultures, University of Manchester
Paper 108-a	Handling Birds, Handling Quills: Animal Husbandry and Scribal Practice (Language: English) Donna Beth Ellard, Department of English, University of Denver, Colorado Index Terms: Language and Literature - Old English; Manuscripts and Palaeography
Paper 108-b	Scribe C: Rewriting the Beowulf Manuscript with the Guidance of Scribes A & B (Language: English) Cheryl Jacobsen, Graduate College, Center for the Book, University of Iowa Jonathan Wilcox, Department of English, University of Iowa Index Terms: Language and Literature - Old English; Manuscripts and Palaeography
Paper 108-c	Nettles and Networks: New Ways to Tackle Wound Infections (Language: English) Erin Connelly, School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick Christina Lee, School of English, University of Nottingham Index Terms: Language and Literature - Old English; Medicine
Abstract	How can we cross the border between thinking and making in early medieval English studies? This session will bring ways of knowing early English culture through the 'head' and through the 'hands' together. How did acts of making shape thought within early medieval England? How might we think through making in modern studies of early English culture? The papers explore the relationship between head and hands, theory and practice, thinking and making from a variety of perspectives: the first paper reconsiders early medieval scribal writing as an activity that emerges from animal husbandry and manual engagement with birds; the second reports on a modern-day collaboration between an early medieval scholar and calligrapher in rewriting the Beowulf manuscript; and the third presents research from a project examining the potential medicinal qualities of nettles based on early and late medieval medical recipes.