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fire, associated with the sky, which is hot and dry in nature; below the sky
resides the air, which is hot and moist; next comes water, which is cold and
moist; and furthest down is the earth, dry and cold in nature. all these are
presented as equally vital, and the function and interdependence of them
is explained in some detail. finally, it is recounted how God created adam
out of the four elements and therefore man embodies the likeness of them
all in the form of the four humours. Each humour resonates with one of
the elements – blood with fire, red bile with air, black bile with earth, and
phlegm with water – and has corresponding qualities.
The seasons and microcosm: “Enn minne heimr”
Echoes of quite a few of the ideas presented in Af natturu mannzins ok
bloði can be found in the writings of Bede (c. 673–735). Various works of
Bede have been identified as source texts of medieval Icelandic writings.25
However, Bede’s works are not the ultimate source of our treatise, but
rather a part of the same pool of ideas and knowledge. Bede associates the
four elements with different strata in a similar way to Af natturu mannzins
ok bloði: earth is heaviest and holds the lowermost place, water is lighter,
but heavier than air, and so forth.26 additionally, he discusses the link
between the elements, the humours and the seasons, and furthermore
connects the dominance of each humour to the ages of man.27 This inter-
relation appears in many medieval texts, such as in the short account at
the beginning of the anonymous eleventh-century De mundi constitutione
(i. 1–2).28 these writings represent the widespread medieval view of man
25 See “Beda Venerabilis” in Gottskálk Jensson (ed.), Islandia Latina, <http://islandialatina.
hum.ku.dk/>.
26 Bede, De natura rerum, iv, ed. by Charles W. Jones, Opera didascalica, 3 vols, Corpus chris-
tanorum, Series latina 123a (turnhout: Brepols, 1975), vol. I, 195–96. this clarification
can furthermore be found in other medieval texts, such as v. 1–2 in William of Conches,
Dragmaticon philosophiae, Summa de philosophia in vulgari, ed. by Italio ronca, Lola Badia,
and J. Pujol, Corpus christianorum, Continuatio mediaevalis 152 (turnhout: Brepols,
1997).
27 Bede, De temporum ratione, 35, ed. by Charles W. Jones, Opera didascalica, 3 vols, Corpus
christianorum, Series latina 123B (turnhout: Brepols, 1977), vol. II, 391–93. the character-
ology accompanying each humour as presented in the writings of Bede is discussed further
below in connection with the second part of Af natturu mannzins ok bloði – it is different in
fundamental aspects and cannot be the direct source.
28 this is the text that finnur Jónsson regarded as a possible source (see above). the relevant
text is in Burnett’s edition on page 18, see Pseudo-Bede, De mundi constitutione, Inc. “Sunt
HUMORAL THEORY IN THE MEDIEVAL NORTH