Medieval Death Trip

A Podcast Exploring the Wit and Weirdness of Medieval Texts

Tag: William of Newburgh

Concerning the Green Children of Woolpit and Other Prodigies

This Halloween marks our 10th anniversary, and we observe it by hearing the earliest written accounts of one of the most well-known pieces of medieval weird history: the Green Children of Woolpit — and also hear the other less famous prodigies their story was originally presented alongside.

Today’s Texts:

  • Radulphi de Coggeshall. Chronicon Anglicanum. Edited by Joseph Stevenson, Longman & Co., 1875. Google Books.
  • William of Newburgh. The History of William of Newburgh. The Church Historians of England, vol. IV, part II, translated by Joseph Stevenson, Seeleys, 1856, pp. 395–670. Google Books.

References:

  • Clark, John. “The Green Children: A Cautionary Tale.” 1999. Academia.edu.
  • Clark, John. “‘Small, Vulnerable ETs”: The Green Children of Woolpit.” Science Fiction Studies, vol. 33, no. 2, July 2006, pp. 209-229. JSTOR.
  • Dutton, Paul Edward. “An Incident: The Strange Case of the Green Children.” Micro Middle Ages. Palgrave Macmillan, 2023, pp. 11-53.
  • Lunan, Duncan. “Children from the Sky.” Duncanlunan.com, 2013, https://www.duncanlunan.com/childrenfromthesky.asp
  • Yglesias, Matthew. “The Bizarre Myth that Ancient Greeks Couldn’t See Blue.” Slow Boring, 4 April 2022, www.slowboring.com/p/greeks-blue

MDT Ep. 31: Concerning the Revenants of William of Newburgh

BL MS Add 37049 f31vWe celebrate two years of Medieval Death Trip on our Halloween anniversary with an extra spooky episode looking at the walking dead who haunt William of Newburgh’s Historia rerum Anglicarum.

This Episode’s Text:

  • William of Newburgh. The History of William of Newburgh. The Church Historians of England, vol. IV, part II, translated by Joseph Stevenson, Seeleys, 1856, pp. 395–670. [Available at Google Books.]

References:

  • Caciola, Nancy. “Wraiths, Revenants and Ritual in Medieval Culture.” Past and Present, vol. 152, Aug. 1996, pp. 3-45.
  • Simpson, Jacqueline. “Repentant Soul or Walking Corpse? Debatable Apparitions in Medieval England.” Folklore, vol. 114, no. 3, Dec. 2003, pp. 389-402.

Image: Detail from British Library, Add 37049, fol. 31v.

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