John the Carpenter's reaction to the fake stupefaction of “hende” Nicholas in The Miller's Tale provides some of the poem's more sardonic comic elements. Not only is John characterized as foolish for believing his lodger's warnings about the upcoming deluge, but his response to seeing Nicholas sat silent and agape in his bedroom—casting as he does a “nyght-spel” to ward off elves, wights, and...
abstract:Sleep paralysis, as it is known today, was one of the most remarked-upon maladies in premodern medicine. The feeling of being choked during sleep was usually seen by physicians as being caused by an abundance of melancholic humors. Others interpreted the experience as a supernatural attack. However, the distinctions between medical and "superstitious" remedies against nightmares were...
Nocturnal assaults by ghosts, revenants, and demons are a prominent feature in medieval writings on the supernatural. In modern sociological research, ‘nightmares’ – defined as sleep paralysis combined with REM hallucinations – are said to be a universal function of the human body, the symptoms of which are given meaning according to the mental schemas of the sufferer. The first part of the...
The aim of this article is to analyse the popular perception of the nightmare in medieval Europe. The first section will explore the ways in which the base experience of the nightmare (as documented in neuropsychological research) was interpreted according to Church doctrine, classical dream theories and Galenic medicine. Then, with reference to the remedies used to protect the body against the...