{"product_id":"heads-will-roll-decapitation-in-the-medieval-and-early-modern-imagination-9789004211551","title":"Heads Will Roll: Decapitation in the Medieval and Early Modern Imagination","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe decapitation motif recurs in nearly all medieval and early modern genres, from saints' lives and epics to comedies and romances, yet decollation is often little regarded, save as a marker of humanity (that is, as the moment mortality exits) or inhumanity (that is, as the moment the supernatural enters). However, as a seat of reason, wisdom, and even the soul, the head has long been afforded a special place in the body politic, even when separated from its body proper. Capitalizing upon the enduring fascination with decapitation in European culture, this collection examines--through a variety of critical lenses--the recurring \"roles\/rolls\" of severed human heads in the medieval and early modern imagination. Contributors are Nicola Masciandaro, Mark Faulkner, Jay Paul Gates, Christine Cooper-Rompato, Dwayne Coleman, Mary Leech, Tina Boyer, Renée Ward, Andrew Fleck, Thomas Herron, Thea Cervone, and Asa Simon Mittman. Preface by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCONTENTS  Preface: Losing Your Head ........................................................................... vii Jefffrey Jerome Cohen  Acknowledgements ........................................................................................ xi List of Illustrations .......................................................................................... xiii List of Contributors ........................................................................................ xv Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1 Larissa Tracy and Jefff Massey  Non potest hoc corpus decollari: Beheading and the Impossible ...... 15 Nicola Masciandaro  EXECUTION AND HAGIOGRAPHY “Like a Virgin”: The Reheading of St. Edmund and Monastic  Reform in Late-Tenth-Century England ............................................. 39 Mark Faulkner A Crowning Achievement: The Royal Execution and Damnation of Eadric Streona ........................................................................................ 53 Jay Paul Gates Decapitation, Martyrdom, and Late Medieval Execution Practices in The Book of Margery Kempe .............................................................. 73 Christine F. Cooper-Rompato  CONTINENTAL NARRATIVES OF PUNISHMENT AND OTHERING Talking Heads in Hell: Dante’s Use of Severed Heads in Inferno .... 93 Dwayne C. Coleman Severed Silence: Social Boundaries and Family Honor in Boccaccio’s “Tale of Lisabetta” ............................................................... 115 Mary E. Leech The Headless Giant: The Function of Severed Heads in the Ahistorical (Aventiurehafte) Dietrich Epics ....................................... 137 Tina Boyer  ENGLISH ROMANCE AND REALITY “To be a ‘Fleschhewere’ ”: Beheading, Butcher-Knights, and Blood-Taboos in Octavian Imperator ................................................... 159 Renée Ward The Werewolf at the Head Table: Metatheatric “subtlety” in Arthur and Gorlagon ............................................................................ 183 Jefff Massey “So he smote of hir hede by myssefortune”: The Real Price of the Beheading Game in SGGK and Malory ............................................... 207 Larissa Tracy  EARLY MODERN PRACTICE AND IMAGINATION “At the time of his death”: The Contested Narrative of Sir Walter Ralegh’s Beheading .................................................................................... 235 Andrew Fleck “Killing swine” and planting heads in Shakespeare’s Macbeth ......... 261 Thomas Herron “Tucked Beneath Her Arm”: Culture, Ideology, and Fantasy in the Curious Legend of Anne Boleyn ........................................................... 289 Thea Cervone ‟Answering the Call of the Severed Head” .............................................. 311 Asa Simon Mittman  Bibliography ..................................................................................................... 329 Index ................................................................................................................... 347 Illustrations","brand":"Brill","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53210626326871,"sku":"9789004211551","price":199.2,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/heads-will-roll-decapitation-in-the-medieval-and-early-modern-imagination-9789004211551","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}