Gone Medieval The Medieval Moon
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Sep 2, 2025 Dr. Ayoush Lazikani, a lecturer at Oxford and author of *The Medieval Moon*, reveals how the moon shaped medieval mindsets across cultures. They discuss its dual nature as both powerful and delicate, influencing love, spirituality, and folklore. The conversation touches on the moon's impact on agriculture and health, alongside intriguing cultural narratives from Europe to East Asia. They also explore themes of exile and isolation in literature, showcasing the moon's profound role in human experiences and emotional connections.
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Moon As Dual Symbol
- Medieval people saw the moon as both powerful and fragile, mixing intimacy with distance.
- The moon symbolised love, exile, fertility, and violence across many texts.
Man In The Moon Poem
- A 14th-century English poem shows the man in the moon exiled for stealing thorns and condemned to wander.
- The poem mixes pity and comedy as the man shuffles across the lunar surface with a thorny burden.
Global Middle Ages Approach
- Ayoush Lazikani casts the study widely to avoid Eurocentric views of the medieval period.
- She uses key non-English terms to preserve cultural nuance across traditions.
