Tales in Context: Sefer Ha-Ma'asim in Medieval Northern France
Rella Kushelevsky, "Tales in Context: Sefer Ha-Ma'asim in Medieval Northern France "
English | ISBN: 081434271X | 2017 | 816 pages | EPUB | 152 MB
English | ISBN: 081434271X | 2017 | 816 pages | EPUB | 152 MB
In the thirteenth century, an anonymous scribe compiled sixty-nine tales that became Sefer ha-ma'asim, the earliest compilation of Hebrew tales known to us in Western Europe. The author writes that the stories encompass "descriptions of herbs that cure leprosy, a fairy princess with golden tresses using magic charms to heal her lover's wounds and restore him to life; a fire-breathing dragon . . . a two-headed creature and a giant's daughter for whom the rind of a watermelon containing twelve spies is no more than a speck of dust." In Tales in Context: Sefer ha-ma'asim in Medieval Northern France, Rella Kushelevsky enlightens the stories' meanings and reflects the circumstances and environment for Jewish lives in medieval France. Although a selection of tales was previously published, this is the first publication of a Hebrew-English annotated edition in its entirety, revealing fresh insight.
The first part of Kushelevsky's work, "Cultural, Literary and Comparative Perspectives," presents the thesis that
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