Man and Landscape in Old English Literature

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between man and landscape in Old Eng¬lish literature starting from the assumption that, during the Middle Ages, landscape was not merely a physical space, but it was rather a complex dimension involving religious and moral aspects. Examples from poetic and prose texts will show how the natural world was usually hostile and inhospitable. Mappae mundi will help determine how the Anglo-Saxons considered themselves in relation to the environment.