Pilgrim Reindeer in Pisa, 1348
a free multimedia novel by
Thomas A. DuBois, University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Pilgrim Reindeer in Pisa, 1348 a free multimedia novel by Thomas A. DuBois, University of Wisconsin-Madison |
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1. Part I Setting Out 16. The Letters [September 1, 1347]
When making a book online, it is always useful to reflect on the labor that went into books in the past. If you've never seen it, there's a wonderful comedy routine of a medieval monk getting help using a book from a helpdesk guy: click HERE to watch the YouTube.
As someone who has been raised in a culture that makes all its own things, Bávlos is fascinated by the technology and process behind the material culture he observes on his travels, and I wanted the chapter to reflect his interests. He looks upon the novelties he witnesses not with the jaded or indolent eye of a modern tourist, but as someone keenly interested in gathering useful information for making a better life for himself and his family once he returns to his home.
Also, of course, I am a folklorist, and I couldn't let the novel proceed without a Uriah letter motif (K978), in this case one associated (as it often is in Nordic folktales) with the quest narrative of the boy with impossible tasks ("Three Hairs from the Devil's Beard"; AT 461). You will see how these traditional elements play out in future chapters! The ring detail is of course an allusion to that great medieval pilgrim's tale Auðunar þáttr, the "Tale of Audun."
