Preview

Bible and Christian Antiquity

Advanced search

Ship Symbolism in Medieval Theology of Western Europe (II–IX Centuries)

https://doi.org/10.31802/BCA.2022.14.2.005

Abstract

The article focuses on the image of the ship in the works of West European theologians in the early Middle Ages, being one of the key images of medieval theology and Christian culture. A brief overview of foreign and domestic research deals with the publications, devoted to the importance of the ship in medieval culture. The following issues are touched upon: the source of ship’s symbolic meanings; ship as a symbol of a religious community, an image of the Holy Cross, of world and man, of the stages of a person’s spiritual growth; symbolic meanings of parts of the ship and ship’s inventory. The study showed that ship denoted the Church of Christ and the Synagogue; it could symbolize the Holy Cross, prayer, alms, hope, both a person in general and Virgin Mary, as well as Christian virtues and the stages of a Christian’s spiritual growth.

About the Author

M. R. Nenarokova
A. M. Gorky Institute of World Literature at the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation

Maria R. Nenarokova - Doctor of Philology Leading Researcher

25a Povarskaya Street, Moscow 121069



References

1. Ляликов А. П. Краткая история корабля. СПб.: Изд. центр Мор. техн. ун-та, 1997.

2. Цветков С. В., Черников И. И. Торговые пути, корабли кельтов и славян. СПб.: Русско-Балтийский информ. центр «БЛИЦ», 2008.

3. Anderson E. R. Scemearh and Like Compounds: A Theme in Old English Poetry Comitatus // A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies. 1972. Vol. 3. P. 3–10.

4. Beltrame C. On the Origin of Ship Construction in Venice // The Age of Affirmation. Venice, the Adriatic and the Hinterland Between the 9th and 10th Centuries / ed. S. Gasparri, S. Gelichi. Turnhout: Brepols, 2018. (Seminari del Centro Interuniversitario per la Storia e l’Archeologia dell’Alto Medioevo; vol. 8). P. 129–146.

5. Hares-Stryker C. The Elaine of Astolat and Lancelot Dialogues: A Confusion of Intent // Texas Studies in Literature and Language. 1997. Vol. 39.3. P. 110–132.

6. International Symposium on Boat and Ship Archaeology (ISBSA) History. [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://isbsaorghw.cluster023.hosting.ovh.net/previous-isbsa/ (дата обращения 1.11.2021).

7. Kampbell S. M. Reconstructing the Pantano Longarini Ship // Maritime Studies in the Wake of the Bysantine Shipwreck at Yassiada, Turkey / ed. D. N. Carlson, J. Leidwanger, S. M. Kampbell; Foreword by G. F. Bass. College Station (Tex.): Texas A and M University Press, 2015. P. 91–101.

8. Lincoln B. The Ship as Symbol. Mobility, Stability, and Mercantile Capitalism in Gautrek’s Saga // The Ship as Symbol in Prehistoric and Medieval Scandinavia: Papers from an International Research Seminar at the Danish National Museum, Copenhagen, 5th–7th May 1994 / ed. O. Crumlin-Pedersen, B. Munch Thye. Copenhagen: Nationalmuseet, 1995. P. 25–33.

9. Marchand J. W. The Ship Allegory in the Ezzolied and in Old Icelandic // Neophilologus: An International Journal of Modem and Mediaeval Language and Literature. 1976. Vol. 60.2. P. 238–250.

10. Munch Thye B. Early Christian Ship Symbols // The Ship as Symbol in Prehistoric and Medieval Scandinavia Papers from an International Research Seminar at the Danish National Museum, Copenhagen, 5th–7th May 1994 / ed. O. Crumlin-Pedersen, B. Munch Thye. Copenhagen: Nationalmuseet, 1995. P. 186–196.

11. Niles J. D. Exeter Book Riddle 74 and the Play of the Text // Anglo-Saxon England. 1998. Vol. 27. P. 169–207.

12. Olsen K. Animated Ships in Old English and Old Norse Poetry // Animals and the Symbolic in Mediaeval Art and Literature / ed. L. A. J. R. Houwen. Groningen: Egbert Forsten, 1997. P. 53–66.

13. Rabiega K., Kobylinski Z. The Symbolic Role of Boats and Ships in Pagan and Christian Medieval Northern Europe // Sacred Space: Contributions to the Archaeology of Belief / ed. L. D. Nebelsick, J. Wawrzeniuk, K. Zeman-Wiśniewska. Warsaw: Institute of Archaeology, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, 2018. P. 197–229.

14. Schødt J. P. The Ship in Old Norse Mythology and Religion // The Ship as Symbol in Prehistoric and Medieval Scandinavia: Papers from an International Research Seminar at the Danish National Museum, Copenhagen, 5th–7th May 1994 / ed. O. Crumlin-Pedersen, B. Munch Thye. Copenhagen: Nationalmuseet, 1995. P. 20–24.

15. Ships and Maritime Landscapes: Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Symposium on Boat and Ship Archeolody, Amsterdam 2012 / ed. J. Gawronsky, A. van Holk, J. Schokkenbroek. Eelde: Barkhuis, 2017.

16. Sobecki S. I. A Source for the Magical Ship in the Partonopeu de Blois and Marie de France’s Guigemar // Notes and Queries, n. s. 2001. Vol. 48.3. P. 220–222.

17. Sobecki S. I. King Horn and Horace’s «Ode to Virgil’s Ship» (Odes 1.3) // Notes and Queries, n. s. 2007. Vol. 54.3. P. 231–233.

18. Unger R. W. Changes in Ship Design and Construction: England in the European Mould // Roles of the Sea in Medieval England / ed. R. Gorski. Woodbridge (Suffolk): Boydell Press, 2012. P. 25–39.

19. Villain-Gandossi Ch. Le navire médiéval à travers les miniatures / Préf. de M. M. du Jourdin. Paris: Editions du CNRS, 1985.


Review

For citations:


Nenarokova M.R. Ship Symbolism in Medieval Theology of Western Europe (II–IX Centuries). Bible and Christian Antiquity. 2022;(2):147-169. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31802/BCA.2022.14.2.005

Views: 88

JATS XML


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.


ISSN 2658−7815 (Print)
ISSN 2713-1122 (Online)