Wonders of the East

The Wonders of the East or The Marvels of the East is an Old English prose piece, written around AD 1000. It describes a variety of odd, magical and barbaric creatures that inhabit Eastern regions, such as Babylon, Persia, Egypt, and India. The Wonders can be found in three extant manuscripts from the 11th and 12th centuries.

Amongst the wonders described are huge dragons who prevent travel, phoenixes born from ashes, and hens in Lentibelsinea who burn peoples’ bodies when they are touched. The Wonders of the East also tells of incredible scenarios, like how to steal gold from giant ants. Fantastical and barbaric people are also mentioned, for example, the Donestre race of cannibals, the Homodubii half human and half donkey creatures, and the panotti, with their fan-like ears, which they sleep on and with which they cover themselves. The Wonders of the East is an Anglo-Saxon contribution to the mirabilia genre, "literature in which a traveler in foreign lands describes exotic sights in a letter home.” In addition, The Wonders of the East demonstrates the “mutual mistrust” between men and monsters because the creatures either flee from humans, harm those that come near them, or eat people.

The Wonders of the East is found in three manuscripts. It is in the Beowulf manuscript (also known as the Nowell Codex, London, British Library, Cotton Vitellius A. xv). It is written in Late West Saxon in a Mercian dialect. Other than Beowulf and The Wonders of the East, the other works in this codex include: The Passion of St. Christopher, The Letter of Alexander to Aristotle, and Judith. One scribe is believed to have copied The Passion of St. Christopher, The Letter of Alexander to Aristotle, The Wonders of the East, and first part of Beowulf, and another scribe wrote the remainder of Beowulf and Judith. This codex was most likely compiled by Sir Robert Cotton, who possessed many Old English manuscripts. In 1731 the Cotton Library, which housed this manuscript, caught on fire; therefore, the text almost did not survive and is slightly burned around the edges. The codex may have been intentionally put together because four of the manuscripts discuss monsters. Furthermore, it is a “liber monstrorum, or book of marvels, designed for entertainment along with usual edification. The date of this manuscript is usually believed to be “within a couple of decades of A.D. 1000,” no earlier than AD 997 and no later than AD 1016.

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