Hi Jeremy, I recently stumbled upon your Substack & am really excited to see these thoughts. I'm writing now about the shadows & insinuations of queerness & homoerotic desires in Old English poetry, focusing on the Exeter Book Riddles at the moment.
You're absolutely on the right track here & Grendel's a fine place to start. David Clark suggests that terms like "bædling" or "ergi" ("earga" in OE), focused as they are on nonconforming gender performance, renders the field of genders to "men" & "not-men" (which is everybody else: old men, the disabled, slaves, & women). This idea of "not-men" fascinates me as it relates to Grendel. Most of the words used to describe him only become demonic or monstrous in very motivated translation, but rather suggest this "won-sælig" creature as "not-man" — and so very much queer. Ditto for his propensity to eat dudes — anthropophagism always bears a whiff of sodomy. In comparison, see the famous image of the Donestre from the Cotton Tiberius copy of the "Wonders of the East" (which also appears in the Nowell Codex before Beowulf). This guy is full-on erect before chowing down on his unfortunate victim — & seems to regret neurotically his appetites afterwards.
Anyways, there's lot to say — so hope to read & share more as you go.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read as well as comment, Grouchy Medievalist! I'm immensely fascinated by what you've presented here, which both sheds new light for me on a topic very near and dear to my heart (specifically gender and sexuality and its presentations throughout history/literature) and also gives me more food for thought for research.
I would also love to see what you are writing/end up writing in regard to queerness/homoeroticism in Old English poetry--some of it might go over my head, but color me intrigued by what you've said already.
Thanks again, and looking forward to hearing more from you if you stick around (but no pressure)! Take care!
Hi Jeremy, I recently stumbled upon your Substack & am really excited to see these thoughts. I'm writing now about the shadows & insinuations of queerness & homoerotic desires in Old English poetry, focusing on the Exeter Book Riddles at the moment.
You're absolutely on the right track here & Grendel's a fine place to start. David Clark suggests that terms like "bædling" or "ergi" ("earga" in OE), focused as they are on nonconforming gender performance, renders the field of genders to "men" & "not-men" (which is everybody else: old men, the disabled, slaves, & women). This idea of "not-men" fascinates me as it relates to Grendel. Most of the words used to describe him only become demonic or monstrous in very motivated translation, but rather suggest this "won-sælig" creature as "not-man" — and so very much queer. Ditto for his propensity to eat dudes — anthropophagism always bears a whiff of sodomy. In comparison, see the famous image of the Donestre from the Cotton Tiberius copy of the "Wonders of the East" (which also appears in the Nowell Codex before Beowulf). This guy is full-on erect before chowing down on his unfortunate victim — & seems to regret neurotically his appetites afterwards.
Anyways, there's lot to say — so hope to read & share more as you go.
Cheers!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read as well as comment, Grouchy Medievalist! I'm immensely fascinated by what you've presented here, which both sheds new light for me on a topic very near and dear to my heart (specifically gender and sexuality and its presentations throughout history/literature) and also gives me more food for thought for research.
I would also love to see what you are writing/end up writing in regard to queerness/homoeroticism in Old English poetry--some of it might go over my head, but color me intrigued by what you've said already.
Thanks again, and looking forward to hearing more from you if you stick around (but no pressure)! Take care!