Manuscript: Did you mean...?

The literature of ancient Egypt is as rich and varied as any other culture. From the inscriptions of the Old Kingdom of Egypt (c. 2613-2181 BCE) through the Love Poems of the New Kingdom (c. 1570 - c. 1069 BCE) the Egyptian scribes produced...

Scandinavians from the island of Gotland began to spread throughout the Baltic region along the Russian rivers in the 700s. While the Vikings of Norway and Denmark from the 8th to 11th centuries are widely recognized as fearsome raiders and...

It all began with a farmer shooting at a 'something' in a field. Or it may have started from a dispute with a neighbor. Or it may have never happened at all. However it began, the legend of the Bell Witch has been a popular tale in the United...

The poem called The Lay of Greybeard (Old Norse: Hárbarðsljóð) is one story from Norse mythology that relates an intriguing verbal fight between two of its essential gods, Thor and Odin. The poem consists of 60 stanzas and is found complete...

The poem Lokasenna belongs to the Poetic Edda, a bulk of Old Norse poetry written down in Iceland in the 1200s but based on linguistic features dating back as far as the 900s. In this invaluable resource for Norse mythology, Lokasenna stands...

In the 5th century BCE, the Carthaginian explorer Hanno sailed beyond the Pillars of Hercules, out of the Mediterranean and into hitherto unknown territory down the Atlantic coast of Africa. In his search to find new resources and trading...

Portrait of the Devil, Codex Gigas, f. 290r., created in the early 13th century CE in Bohemia (modern-day Czech Republic). National Library of Sweden, Stockholm.

Page showing the month of January in the Book of Hours known as Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (created c. 1412-1416 and 1485-1489 CE). It is frequently referred to as the “king of illuminated manuscripts” because of the grandeur...

Folio 5 of the Book of Kells with the Eusebian Canons. Trinity College Library

Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, Folio 113v - Purgatory Musée Condé, Chantilly.