Hmmm

[tree_and_leaf]

I've been looking for books or articles on gift-giving in the Middle Ages, which is surprisingly difficult (though OLIS, our electronic catalogue, which I hate with the firey passion of a thousand suns, isn't helping), but anyway, oneof the subject headings it spat out was "Gifts: charming tails".

I have long suspected that the Bodleiean, not to mention some of the college libraries, has holdings of magic books, and now I finally have evidence. I can't access the record for the holding itself, of course (one of OLIS' quirks is that it will only show you certain records if you are on the right network or, have the right level of priviledges), which is a shame, as otherwise I'd quite like to inspect this.

It does sound strangely specific, though: possibly a gift for a fancy Kneazel breeder/ owner? or are you supposed to charm a tail for someone else? One dreads to think.

Comments

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

Could it be a magic tail that one gives to a person who can then use it as a device for charming other things?

During the grimmer parts of my MPhil, I distracted myself with what I thought was a rather nice idea for a film set in a university with holdings of Ancient Books, in which a group of students fed up with the history of the book came across a ‘magic book’ and decided to enliven things by having a go at the rituals described within, with predictable results*. Alas, I fear the market for such a flick is probably quite small.

*Predictable for fiction. In the real world, they’d just get caught trying to sneak red paint into the south wing.