Dear all -
Thanks for the suggestions. I should, of course, have been more specific
about the Eight Retributions. As listed by my poet, they are:
1) the expulsion of Lucifer from heaven;
2) the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden;
3) the flood;
4) Babel and the scattering of the nations
5) the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
6) fire from heaven;
7) Joshua's defeat of the kings;
8) Armageddon and the Last Judgement
There are serious textual problems with this poem, although it is attested
in a large number of mss. sources. Can anyone think of any Latin or
Vernacular sources / parallels?
Paul
-----Original Message-----
From: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Carlos Sastre
Sent: 12 December 2000 07:10
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: the eight retributions
There is a 13th century poem entitled "The eleven (sorry, not eight) pains
of Hell"; edited by R. Morris, _An Old English Miscellany_ (EETS, 49)
On Mon, 11 Dec 2000 12:21:52 -0000, M. Paul Bryant-Quinn <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
>I am editing a text by an early 15th century Welsh poet, Siôn Cent. He has
>one poem which describes *yr wyth dial* (roughly, the Eight Restributions
>(or Punishments)). Does anyone have a parallel for this?
>
Dear Paul,
It could be that these are the eight punishments in hell, a catalogue very
popular in medieval visions, sermons and encyclopaedic descriptions of the
Other World (e.g., Honorius). These eight punishments are usually
enumerated briefly, without explanations or great elaboration. I don't
remember all of them (also there are variants), but fire, ice, stench and
snakes are some of them. If you think that this might help, I could try to
dig up some old notes about this topos.
Best,
Otfried
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