“Jako samojedź krzywousta...” Cover Image

„Jako samojedź krzywousta...”
“Jako samojedź krzywousta...”

(“Looking wrymouthed like a man-eater...”). Some Remarks on the Image of Death in “Rozmowa Mistrza Polikarpa” (“Master’s Conversation With Death”)

Author(s): Jacek Sokolski
Subject(s): Studies of Literature
Published by: Instytut Badań Literackich Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: “Master’s Conversation with Death"; image of Death in 15th c.entury; Death as a presentation of clinical descriptions of a leper’s appearance

Summary/Abstract: The article describes the image of Death in 15th c. “Rozmowa mistrza Polikarpa ze Śmiercią (Master’s Conversation with Death).” The piece says that Death looks “wrymouthed like a man-eater.” The word “samojedź” (“man-eater”) is now no longer used though recurring in Old-Polish writers collective noun referring to an anthropophagus, it seems, however, that it might initially have had a different meaning. An analysis of the proper fragment of the piece in question reveals that the presentation of personified Death directly refers to clinical descriptions of a leper’s appearance known from various medieval works. It is thus possible that the term “samojedź” (“man-eater”) was also used to refer to the lepers and this meaning disappeared due to some reasons.

  • Issue Year: 2017
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 137-144
  • Page Count: 8
  • Language: Polish