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5 - Ruptured Rivers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2024

Ellen F. Arnold
Affiliation:
Ohio State University
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Summary

This chapter focuses on the idea of rivers as frontier or boundary, beginning with stories from Late Antiquity, and including a discussion of the ways that river frontiers are porous and permeable. A case study of the monastery of Prüm shows the complexity of these dynamics. The main focus of the chapter is on the impact of the Viking raids on medieval monastic writers, and how their stories about this moment created a new view of rivers as sites of danger and disruption. Then, the chapter explores ways that rivers were seen as sites of destruction and oblivion – an alternate to the idea of rivers and memory explored in the previous chapter. Finally, it looks at how monastic communities reinvented their histories in the wake of the Viking attacks, and how this helped them in turn to reimagine and restore their relationships with rivers.

Type
Chapter
Information
Medieval Riverscapes
Environment and Memory in Northwest Europe, c. 300–1100
, pp. 178 - 209
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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  • Ruptured Rivers
  • Ellen F. Arnold, Ohio State University
  • Book: Medieval Riverscapes
  • Online publication: 15 March 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009299381.011
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  • Ruptured Rivers
  • Ellen F. Arnold, Ohio State University
  • Book: Medieval Riverscapes
  • Online publication: 15 March 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009299381.011
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Ruptured Rivers
  • Ellen F. Arnold, Ohio State University
  • Book: Medieval Riverscapes
  • Online publication: 15 March 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009299381.011
Available formats
×