<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Monsters can be divided into two categories: human-like and non-human. Non-human monsters tend to be chthonic beings that are associated with the earth and natural forces. Humanoid monsters represent metaphorical transformations of humanity itself, and as such reveal basic cultural values, such as sociability, while displaying their opposite. Humanoid monsters are the more terrifying, precisely because we recognize ourselves in them, although in an uncanny refraction. In the epic poem <italic>Beowulf</italic> and in myth and ritual of the Kwakiutl and Heiltsuk cultures of the Northwest Coast, manlike monsters play a central role.</p>
</abstract>

Monsters can be divided into two categories: human-like and non-human. Non-human monsters tend to be chthonic beings that are associated with the earth and natural forces. Humanoid monsters represent metaphorical transformations of humanity itself, and as such reveal basic cultural values, such as sociability, while displaying their opposite. Humanoid monsters are the more terrifying, precisely because we recognize ourselves in them, although in an uncanny refraction. In the epic poem Beowulf and in myth and ritual of the Kwakiutl and Heiltsuk cultures of the Northwest Coast, manlike monsters play a central role.

Of Anthropophagy and Anthropology: Monsters and Men in <italic>Beowulf</italic> and Northwest Coast Myth and Ritual

Ethnologia Actualis

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Of Anthropophagy and Anthropology: Monsters and Men in  and Northwest Coast Myth and Ritual

Monsters can be divided into two categories: human-like and non-human. Non-human monsters tend to be chthonic beings that are associated with the earth and...

Of Anthropophagy and Anthropology: Monsters and Men in Beowulf and Northwest Coast Myth and Ritual

Published Online: Nov 20, 2021

Page range: 11 - 24

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/eas-2021-0018

Keywords
anthropology, anthropophagy, Beowulf, monsters, myth, Native Americans, Northwest Coast, ritual

© 2021 Michael E. Harkin, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Of Anthropophagy and Anthropology: Monsters and Men in Beowulf and Northwest Coast Myth and Ritual

Published Online: Nov 20, 2021

Page range: 11 - 24

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/eas-2021-0018

Keywordsanthropology, anthropophagy, Beowulf, monsters, myth, Native Americans, Northwest Coast, ritual

© 2021 Michael E. Harkin, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
anthropology, anthropophagy, Beowulf, monsters, myth, Native Americans, Northwest Coast, ritual