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'Hares on the Hearthstones' in medieval England
- Source: Reinardus, Volume 20, Issue 1, Jan 2007, p. 29 - 39
Abstract
This paper explores the curious image of ‘the hare on the hearthstone’ – a sign of the impending Day of Doom in late medieval literature – investigating reasons why such an apparently harmless creature should be considered a harbinger of misfortune. By addressing a broad range of written sources, it builds up a picture of the hare as a symbol of otherness and instability whose intrusion into the very centre of domestic security would indeed provide a cause for profound unease.
© 2007 John Benjamins Publishing Company