Medieval lore was full of fantastical creatures. Some, like the dragon or the basilisk are still well known and popular today. But others remain fairly obscure, despite their popularity back then. This is the case for the legendary dog-headed men, or cynocephali, thought to inhabit the lands beyond the familiar. Whether placed in India, Scandinavia, or Libya, these half-human hybrids fascinated medieval people and inspired both imagination and intellectual discussion. In fact, there was quite a bit of discussion as to whether or not they could be considered human.
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Works cited and recommendations for further reading:
-Abed, Sally. "Wonders and Monsters in The Travels of John Mandeville and in Abu Hamid al-Gharnāti's Tuhfat al-Albāb." In Imagination and Fantasy in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Time: Projections, Dreams, Monsters, and Illusions. Albrecht Classen, ed. (De Gruyter, 2020).
-Austin, Greta. "The Anglo-Saxon Wonders of the East." In Marvels, Monsters, and Miracles: studies in the medieval and early modern imaginations. Timothy S. Jones, David A Sprunger, eds. (Kalamazoo Medieval Institute Publications, 2002).
-Bartlett, Robert. The Natural and the Supernatural in the Middle Ages (Cambridge University Press, 2008).
-Brewer, Keagan. Wonder and Skepticism in the Middle Ages (Routledge, 2016).
-Francheschetti, Philippe. "Mission et intégration sociale: le cas des cynocéphales au IXe siècle." In Vivre en société au Moyen Âge. Claude Carozzi, Daniel Le Blévec, Huguette Taviani-Carozzi, eds. (Presses Universitaires de Provence, 2008).
-Gkounis, Spyridon. "A 'Monster' in Holy Grounds: Saint Christopher the Cynocephalus in the Taxiarches Church at Melies of Pelion in Greece." Troianalexandrina 11 (2011): 105-114.
-Leclercq-Marx, Jaqueline. "L'humanisation des hybrides mi-home, mi-bêtes en question(s). À propos de quelques monstres d'origines antique et de leur postérité au Moyen Âge." Frontières 8 (2023): 17-27.
-Mittman, Asa Simon, Peter Dendle, eds. The Ashgate Research Companion to Monsters and the Monstrous (Ashgate, 2012).
-Ottewill-Soulsby, Sam. "City of Dog." Journal of Urban History 47, n.5 (2021): 1130-1148.
-Wood, Ian. "'The ends of the Earth': the Bible, Bibles, and the other in early Medieval Europe." In The Calling of the Nations: exegesis, ethnography, and empire in a biblical-historic present. Mark Vessey, ed. (University of Toronto Press, 2011).
-Wood, Ian. "Where the Wild Things Are." In Visions of Community in the Post-Roman World : the West, Byzantium and the Islamic World, 300-1100. Clemens Gantner, Richard E. Payne, Walter Pohl, eds. (Taylor and Francis, 2016).
/ studiumhistoriae1215
Follow me on Instagram: / studium.historiae
Works cited and recommendations for further reading:
-Abed, Sally. "Wonders and Monsters in The Travels of John Mandeville and in Abu Hamid al-Gharnāti's Tuhfat al-Albāb." In Imagination and Fantasy in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Time: Projections, Dreams, Monsters, and Illusions. Albrecht Classen, ed. (De Gruyter, 2020).
-Austin, Greta. "The Anglo-Saxon Wonders of the East." In Marvels, Monsters, and Miracles: studies in the medieval and early modern imaginations. Timothy S. Jones, David A Sprunger, eds. (Kalamazoo Medieval Institute Publications, 2002).
-Bartlett, Robert. The Natural and the Supernatural in the Middle Ages (Cambridge University Press, 2008).
-Brewer, Keagan. Wonder and Skepticism in the Middle Ages (Routledge, 2016).
-Francheschetti, Philippe. "Mission et intégration sociale: le cas des cynocéphales au IXe siècle." In Vivre en société au Moyen Âge. Claude Carozzi, Daniel Le Blévec, Huguette Taviani-Carozzi, eds. (Presses Universitaires de Provence, 2008).
-Gkounis, Spyridon. "A 'Monster' in Holy Grounds: Saint Christopher the Cynocephalus in the Taxiarches Church at Melies of Pelion in Greece." Troianalexandrina 11 (2011): 105-114.
-Leclercq-Marx, Jaqueline. "L'humanisation des hybrides mi-home, mi-bêtes en question(s). À propos de quelques monstres d'origines antique et de leur postérité au Moyen Âge." Frontières 8 (2023): 17-27.
-Mittman, Asa Simon, Peter Dendle, eds. The Ashgate Research Companion to Monsters and the Monstrous (Ashgate, 2012).
-Ottewill-Soulsby, Sam. "City of Dog." Journal of Urban History 47, n.5 (2021): 1130-1148.
-Wood, Ian. "'The ends of the Earth': the Bible, Bibles, and the other in early Medieval Europe." In The Calling of the Nations: exegesis, ethnography, and empire in a biblical-historic present. Mark Vessey, ed. (University of Toronto Press, 2011).
-Wood, Ian. "Where the Wild Things Are." In Visions of Community in the Post-Roman World : the West, Byzantium and the Islamic World, 300-1100. Clemens Gantner, Richard E. Payne, Walter Pohl, eds. (Taylor and Francis, 2016).
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