Medical Blindness, Rhetorical Insight

Romance, Affect, and Ethical Thinking in a Fifteenth-Century Household Book: Chetham’s Library, MS 8009

“…Further on, the same man is said to 'laeteð inwitflan | brecan þone burgweal, þe him bebead meotud | þaet he þaet wigsteal wergan scealde' (let shafts of malice break through the city wall, the war-seat that his ruler warned him to watch) (ll. [37][38][39]. Dark, devilish forces have been permitted to pierce the vainglorious man with their flying arrows, but this is also an image of self-harm.…”

“…Lynn White saw the disappearing Christ art and the speculation it provoked as producing a new, realistic, and almost irreverent way of representing the Ascension [...] the Anglo-Saxons of Eilmer's days were beginning to show Christ almost jet-propelled, zooming heavenward so fast that only his feet appear at the top of the picture, while the garments of his astounded disciples flutter in the air currents produced by his rocketing ascent. 38 It is fascinating that this innovative iconography should coincide with Eilmer's flight attempt, but the fact remains that it is Christ doing the 'zooming ' and 'rocketing' in this artwork -and Christ was a special case. Christ's human flesh had been unburdened by any mortal corruption, for he had been immaculately conceived by the Virgin Mary.…”

“…Jesus ascended to heaven, who was not begotten by coition, nor did he himself beget). 39 Thus, unlike winged angels whose bodies were made for heaven, and unlike the sinless flesh of Christ, sin-laden humans could lift hearts and spirits to heaven but not their physical selves. This may be conceived of in moral terms, but also, once more, in spatial terms: celestial bodies can fly to the celestial realm; corrupt and mutable bodies cannot escape the corrupt and mutable sublunary realm.…”

“…As mentioned, historians of science and technology have been able to reconstruct these details: Hallion tells us that the wings 'were probably of ash or willow-wand construction' , and that they 'would have had midspan hand grips' and were 'perhaps attached with pivots to a bow brace across the back of the shoulders' , and so on. 46 None of this information is included in William's original account, though. The Gesta only says that 'nam pennas manibus et pedibus haud scio qua innexuerat arte' (by some unknown art, he had fixed feathers to his hands and feet).…”

“…Eilmer is then said to fall and break his legs. Whereas Wayland's flight, if you recall, was a way of overcoming his disability, of triumphing over his impediment, Eilmer's disability 46 Hallion, Taking Flight, p. 17. 47 See Clarke, Profiles of the Future, p. 36, footnote.…”