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Eichhorn-Mulligan, Amy C., “The anatomy of power and the miracle of kingship: the female body of sovereignty in a medieval Irish kingship tale”, Speculum 81:4 (October, 2006): 1014–1054.

  • journal article
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Article
“The anatomy of power and the miracle of kingship: the female body of sovereignty in a medieval Irish kingship tale”
Periodical
Volume
81
Pages
1014–1054
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Abstract (cited)
“I am the Sovereignty” (“Misi in Flaithius”), states a woman boldly as her body is transformed from loathliness to loveliness in Echtra mac nEchach Muigmedóin (The Adventures of the Sons of Eochaid Muigmedóin), an eleventh-century Middle Irish prose narrative that intertwines sex, power, gender, and, it will be argued in this essay, the disease of leprosy. This woman is one version of the widely attested caillech, the “sovereignty figure” or “loathly lady” who embodies the rule of Ireland and who ultimately demonstrates that she is not just an object to be coveted or scorned. Rather, “Sovereignty,” as she frequently names herself, actively tests kingly candidates (often requiring them to kiss her or engage in sexual intercourse), endows her preferred male with power, disperses shrewd, politically enabling advice, and in some narratives even returns to reclaim power or “sovereignty” from an unfit king.
(source: Article abstract)
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Keywords
caillech sovereignty goddess
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Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
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February 2013, last updated: January 2019
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