The Landscapes of Thanet and the Legend of St Mildrith: Human and Nonhuman Voices, Agencies and Histories.

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  • Author(s): Davies, Joshua (AUTHOR)
  • Source:
    English Studies. Aug2015, Vol. 96 Issue 5, p487-506. 20p.
  • Additional Information
    • Subject Terms:
      English legends; Mildred, Saint, 7th or 8th century; Saints -- Legends; Natural history
    • Subject Terms:
      Thanet (England); United Kingdom
    • Abstract:
      The “Mildrith legend” is a group of Latin and English texts that record the circumstances in which the abbey of Minster in Thanet was founded and celebrate the life of its saintly abbess. The stories the legend tells of St Mildrith and the foundation of Minster by her mother Domne Eafe are deeply concerned with the environment, and the transmission of the legend was determined by the connection that existed between the legend and Minster's estates on Thanet. In this essay I examine the representation of the environment within various versions of the legend and interrogate how this can be related to historical context and broader cultural and critical traditions. I investigate how the dissemination of the legend is related to the natural history of the Isle of Thanet and argue that the legend and its history provide a valuable example of the interaction and interdependence of human and nonhuman beings and histories through and across time. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]