RT Article
T1 The Musical Devil Revisited: Vercelli Homily X and Satan’s Fiddle
JF Religion and the arts
VO 27
IS 5
SP 573
OP 596
A1 Heckman, Christina M.
LA English
PB Brill
YR 2023
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1876724706
AB This article argues that modern examples of the Devil as a player of plucked and bowed stringed instruments extend early medieval representations of the Devil’s music as a powerfully persuasive force that can be used to draw souls toward Satan and, conversely, to defend against his musical machinations. By examining Homily X of the Vercelli Book (c. tenth century) in relation to early medieval music theory, the legend of St. Dunstan, and modern examples of the fiddle-playing Devil, this article demonstrates that the musical Devil and his opponents show every sign of sustaining the motif’s power into the future.
K1 Medieval
K1 guitar
K1 Harp
K1 fiddle
K1 violin
K1 Dunstan (saint)
K1 Boethius
K1 Old English
K1 Vercelli Homily X
K1 Satan
K1 Devil
K1 Music
DO 10.1163/15685292-02705007