medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
I was intrigued by Al Magary's reference to mice = souls in purgatory and
wondered why?
>St. Gertrude of Nivelles (d. 659), whose
>day is March 17. She became associated with mice (=souls in
>purgatory) and so is invoked against rats and mice ...
The Aberdeen Bestiary has the caption for mice
Of mice
The mouse is a puny animal; its name, mus, comes from the Greek, the Latin
word deriving from it. Others say mures, mice, because they are produced ex
humore, from the damp soil, of the earth; for humus means earth and from
that comes mus, mouse. Their liver grows bigger at full moon, like the
tides rise then fall with the waning of the moon
http://www.clues.abdn.ac.uk:8080/bestiary_old/alt/translat/trans23v.html
which doesn't obviously help equating mice with souls in purgatory
Did any other animals equate to souls after death?
Chris Daniell
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