“We know that she could read: she learned how to pretend bewitchment partly by consulting books about such matters… (5)”

This quote stood out a lot to me, and I think I mentioned it in class. To me, this quote shows the effect of literature on real world events. This girl, because she was literate and had access to books, was able to strengthen her real world depiction of being possessed. This in turn created such a complicated situation that even the king became involved. She may not have been able to do this without access and the know how to read these books. Furthermore, it shows how the increased availability of printed text is affecting the world. In previous centuries, the youngest daughter of a family would likely not have access to multiple books about witchcraft and bewitchment.

(On the day of Elizabeth’s death)

“Mary bore God in her womb, but Elizabeth bore God in her heart… it is in this aspect alone that there are not of equal rank.”

To, me this quote stood out more than almost any other in the book. This idea, that Elizabeth is so close in divinity to that of the virgin Mary, seems it would be almost blasphemous to me. However, considering this is not the case, it is a massive indication that Elizabeth truly did have a divine aura to much of her subjects. In no way would she receive this comparison after her death than if she had cultivated this reputation throughout her life which, as we see in the rest of the text, she did.

“I heard the abbot say that if he could have returned to the circumstances he had enjoyed before he became a monk, with 5 or 6 marks a year to keep himself at university, he would never have become a monk or abbot,” (33).

In my opinion, this was one of the most interesting passages of the entire text. It’s incredibly revealing about his true nature. Up until this point, I always saw Samson as a rather non-secular figure; he had never done anything particularly religious, he was much more of a leader of a community. I had wondered about this particular hypothetical before it was presented by Samson himself; what would he be like if he perused secular matters? Would he have been a famous historian? A political leader? An author? To me this is evident of the great power of the church; it was the only place to go to further yourself and gain access to resources present in very few other areas. I believe Samson was a victim of this; with all his potential he had no where to but the church, and he seems to feel regretful about this situation.

“He was being mocked because he had no beard… a real warrior wouldn’t fight him… He took a fistful of grass and whispered a spell into it to make them all think he had a beard” (Page 93)

From this short passage, we can see the significance of physical masculinity to the Celtic culture. A male is not a man unless he has a beard. He will not be treated as one and, in this case, will not be able to fight with them. The fact that Cu Chulainn is the hero of this story makes this exchange even more interesting; there is an acknowledgement that there is a expectation within the culture for male warriors to have a beard a show off their manliness. However, form Cu Chulainn’s ability to fight without one effectively demonstrates this as unreasonable; you don’t need to have a beard to be a great fighter. I see this as a social critique. This story acknowledges beards as a  cultural necessity to be a man and a great fighter, but the events of the plot show this to be untrue.