Critical Introduction

The Wonders of the East is a short prose text that appears in three medieval English manuscripts from the eleventh and twelfth centuries. It consists of a loosely connected series of descriptions of marvels, most of which are based on classical sources, including Pliny's Natural History. Unlike most texts in this collection, the Wonders begins without introduction and ends without conclusion. The brief vignettes therefore stand on their own, without apparent narrator or framing narrative. This gives them the feeling of a biological field guide. The wonders include beasts, humanoid beings, humans, and even strange plants. In most cases, the text provides only the basics: a name, physical description, and a characteristic behaviour.

All three Wonders manuscripts are heavily illuminated, with an illustration for almost every wonder in the text. The illustrations vary quite a bit from one manuscript to the next. The earliest copy, on which this translation is based, has loose, wild images that break through their frames and at times seem to attack the words of the text. They are dark, murky images that raise more questions about the wonders than they answer. This copy of the Wonders is bound in the same manuscript as the Old English epic poem Beowulf. The manuscript also contains The Life of Saint Christopher, who was purportedly a dog-headed giant, and a letter that claims to have been written by Alexander the Great, reporting on his monster-filled adventures in the East. The manuscript therefore appears to be an extended exploration of monstrosity.

Reading Questions

This text seems, at a first read, quite simple. However, a careful reading will reveal many strange facets. As you read, keep asking what we can really know about these creatures. Many of the wonders are human, or human-like. If they are all somehow different from a “normal” human like the intended reader, what is the text's implied definition of a normal human?

Editorial Notes

The text, in Old English, is written in a simple style that this translation attempts to replicate. There are places, though, where the grammar or meaning of the Old English is unclear. Most punctuation and capitalization is added, as the manuscript does not contain such markers. Occasional words not present in the Old English text have been inserted for clarity, based on other copies of the Old English text.