medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
On 06/30/13, Andrew Larsen wrote:
> My favorite solution is that angels are solemn creatures and therefore do not dance.
Some have supposed that they do dance. E.g., among Christians, in the seventh century, the translator into Syriac of a hymn on baptism attributed to Severus of Antioch (_Patrologia orientalis_, VI, pt. 1, p. 137: "the angels dancing and singing praise in spiritual companies and bands"; tr. E. W. Brooks) and perhaps already in the earlier sixth century if this thought were in Severus' lost Greek-language original. And in the seventeenth century, John Milton (_Paradise Lost_, V, 618-19: "That day, as other solemn dayes, they [the angels] spent / In song and dance about the sacred Hill"). Earlier medieval rabbinical commentary on the Torah has angels dancing as well; see <http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1521-angelology>, at "Variety of Angelic Forms", 2d paragraph (a more current reference would be welcome).
How early is this supposition attested? Is it widespread in medieval angelology?
Best,
John Dillon
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