Engelbert Kaempfer and the Myth of the Scythian Lamb
By Robert W. Carrubba, for The Classical World (1993)
This article opens with a substantial (for an article) biography of Engelbert Kaempfer, a German scholar and physician whose travels (1683-93) gave him the opportunity to personally research and report on the origin of the vegetable lamb myth.
Carrubba points to Kaempfer's extensive training, his firm grounding in both Humanities and Sciences, his belief in "the primacy of reason and scientific methodology" (41) and other qualities that make him a reliable reporter on the V.L. In addition, he seems to have composed works on Persian and Japanese botany.
Carrubba includes a nice, concise summary of the lamb myth, which I'll include here in case I need to write one some day and find it's more prudent to copy and credit:
"In common form, the myth has it that the Scythian Lamb is a zoophyte (plant-animal or vegetable lamb) which grows from the ground on a stem attached to its navel. In all other respects the creature looks like a real lamb of flesh and blood with four legs and a sizeable tail. The Lamb of Scythia or Tartary feeds on the grass about it and is a prey for wolves, though not for other carnivores." (43)
In discussing Kaempfer's report on the vegetable lamb, Carrubba first summarizes its organization:
"Kaempfer's report o nthe Scythian Lamb is organized as follows: (1) credulity and misunderstanding of terms created the fable; (2) the conventional description of the creature; (3) etymology of the word Borometz (Borametz); (4) description of a real breed of Scythian Lamb; (5) extraction of the lamb fetus; (6) preparation of the skins; (7) debunking of the myth, based on eyewitness investigation; (8) ascription of the origin of the myth to ignorance, inattentiveness, and the human inclination to believe in wonders." (44)
I won't get too far into Carrubba's rehashing of Kaempfer's arguments. Why? Because a couple of centuries after Kaempfer and before Carrubba, Henry Lee sat down and penned a great little booklet that explains everything in great detail, from the possible roots of the myth through all the major attempts to explain and understand it. The men and their peers ultimately reached different conclusions -
(1) that the origin was based in folk art made from manipulated fern tree rhizomes,
(2) that it was rooted in a misunderstanding/mistranslation of cotton, and
(3) that it could be traced to the practice of removing fetal lambs from the womb for their soft skins, resulting in misleading "scientific specimens"
What is perhaps most reassuring about Kaempfer is the fact that his report is based on eyewitness investigation. That lends him a credibility that is lacking in some other folks who discuss the zoophytic phenomenon.
As usual, no direct bearing on Mandeville, but the article points to the place the vegetable lamb had in the collective imagination of medieval and early modern Europe, and the whole spectrum of response (from Erasmus Darwin's airy-fairy poems to Kaempfer's rigorous scientific report) to an idea that Mandeville helped to solidify within the culture of the period.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Medieval Landscape and the Encyclopedic Tradition (article)
Medieval Landscape and the Encyclopedic Tradition
By Walter Cahn, for Yale French Studies (1991)
This article is most irrelevant (though well-written). So I'm just going to include some quotes I found interesting.
"Scholars who from the nineteenth century onward sought to chart the history of a concern with landscape in art and literature were struck first and foremost by the silence of the Middle Ages on this score, by absence, in other words, or at any rate, by the apparent lack of a concrete expression in the medieval period of anything resembling a conception of the natural world in our sense of the term" (11).
I see.
"...when medieval artists turned to nature, their vision was transfixed by 'the icy winds of doctrine,' and flowers and trees lost their lively quality to become prototypes of the divine" (12).
I realize Cahn is speaking of art and not literature, but I think this bears in interesting ways on Mandeville's treatment of nature. Sometimes, he is concerned largely (or at least clearly) with the imprint of the divine, and only rarely does he mention nature for its own sake, but where he shines is in a middle ground in which nature is important for the way it reflects culture.
"...much encyclopedic writing about the natural world is mere enumeration and description, leavened by etymological word play, and conceived as an inventory of the Lord's creation, a more or less systematic supplement to the record of the divine work given in the opening verses of Genesis" (14).
See above. Then, Cahn goes on to discuss Marvels of the East, and the illustrations within (focusing on an illustration of a balm tree). He draws attention to the way the illustration evokes the innate qualities of the plant, and the importance of space in the composition.
Later in the article:
"...the rendering of nature in the ancient world and in the Middle Ages is often made by way of personifications, not only of winds, but of other entities like rivers, the earth and natura herself(17).
Which just leads me to think generally about figurative nature and the use of plants as anything (and everything) other than specific objects/scientific specimens in the Travels.
By Walter Cahn, for Yale French Studies (1991)
This article is most irrelevant (though well-written). So I'm just going to include some quotes I found interesting.
"Scholars who from the nineteenth century onward sought to chart the history of a concern with landscape in art and literature were struck first and foremost by the silence of the Middle Ages on this score, by absence, in other words, or at any rate, by the apparent lack of a concrete expression in the medieval period of anything resembling a conception of the natural world in our sense of the term" (11).
I see.
"...when medieval artists turned to nature, their vision was transfixed by 'the icy winds of doctrine,' and flowers and trees lost their lively quality to become prototypes of the divine" (12).
I realize Cahn is speaking of art and not literature, but I think this bears in interesting ways on Mandeville's treatment of nature. Sometimes, he is concerned largely (or at least clearly) with the imprint of the divine, and only rarely does he mention nature for its own sake, but where he shines is in a middle ground in which nature is important for the way it reflects culture.
"...much encyclopedic writing about the natural world is mere enumeration and description, leavened by etymological word play, and conceived as an inventory of the Lord's creation, a more or less systematic supplement to the record of the divine work given in the opening verses of Genesis" (14).
See above. Then, Cahn goes on to discuss Marvels of the East, and the illustrations within (focusing on an illustration of a balm tree). He draws attention to the way the illustration evokes the innate qualities of the plant, and the importance of space in the composition.
Later in the article:
"...the rendering of nature in the ancient world and in the Middle Ages is often made by way of personifications, not only of winds, but of other entities like rivers, the earth and natura herself(17).
Which just leads me to think generally about figurative nature and the use of plants as anything (and everything) other than specific objects/scientific specimens in the Travels.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Medicines and Spices (article)
Medicines and Spices, with Special Reference to Medieval Monastic Accounts
By Marjorie Jenkins, for Garden History (1976)
This article is very short but has a couple of interesting points. It is essentially a note on the importance and prevalence of spices in medieval monastic records. Marjorie Jenkins (based on notes from Nancy Jenkins) lists some common medieval spices in Europe, with reference to the Rule of St. Benedict. Then, she notes some evidence for the cultural importance of spices.
Interestingly, she points out the taxes that were levied on spices in the 1300s in order to raise funds for things like repairing London Bridge. That spices, along with known commodities of import, were subject to taxes points to their popularity and their increasingly consistent place in the medieval kitchen and apothecary.
Jenkins also points to the use of spices as a currency for things like the payment of rent: with standardized prices (which, per pound, could be easily converted to "sheep" or money) making them an acceptable form of payment. Lastly, she points to the place of spices in gifts and tribute to royalty and persons of import.
Brief though this article may be, it points to the use of monastic records as an indication of trafficking in spices in Europe - purchases by the Cellarer and Infirmarer reflect the popularity and trade of different spices/botanic commodities in the kitchen and infirmary.
What these accounts do not satisfactorily reflect is the cultivation and use of indigenous herbs in monastic gardens: says Jenkins, medicinal plants which are indigenous or easily cultivated in our climate are not mentioned in these accounts (48), and I suppose one (I) must look elsewhere for information on the popularity and use of indigenous plants.
By Marjorie Jenkins, for Garden History (1976)
This article is very short but has a couple of interesting points. It is essentially a note on the importance and prevalence of spices in medieval monastic records. Marjorie Jenkins (based on notes from Nancy Jenkins) lists some common medieval spices in Europe, with reference to the Rule of St. Benedict. Then, she notes some evidence for the cultural importance of spices.
Interestingly, she points out the taxes that were levied on spices in the 1300s in order to raise funds for things like repairing London Bridge. That spices, along with known commodities of import, were subject to taxes points to their popularity and their increasingly consistent place in the medieval kitchen and apothecary.
Jenkins also points to the use of spices as a currency for things like the payment of rent: with standardized prices (which, per pound, could be easily converted to "sheep" or money) making them an acceptable form of payment. Lastly, she points to the place of spices in gifts and tribute to royalty and persons of import.
Brief though this article may be, it points to the use of monastic records as an indication of trafficking in spices in Europe - purchases by the Cellarer and Infirmarer reflect the popularity and trade of different spices/botanic commodities in the kitchen and infirmary.
What these accounts do not satisfactorily reflect is the cultivation and use of indigenous herbs in monastic gardens: says Jenkins, medicinal plants which are indigenous or easily cultivated in our climate are not mentioned in these accounts (48), and I suppose one (I) must look elsewhere for information on the popularity and use of indigenous plants.
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