Conjuring the dead in St Erkenwald

Gordon, Stephen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7778-2555 2025. Conjuring the dead in St Erkenwald. The Review of English Studies 10.1093/res/hgaf097 Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

The Middle English poem St Erkenwald is one of the most well-known literary artefacts of late medieval England. Found uniquely BL, MS Harley 2250, the story concerns the discovery of a strangely preserved corpse in the foundations of St Paul’s cathedral and the dialogue that ensues between the corpse and the eponymous Erkenwald, the incumbent bishop of London. While previous scholarship has mainly focused on the poem’s final miracle, wherein the corpse—revealing itself to be that of a pagan judge—is baptised by Erkenwald’s tears, little attention has been given to the initial conjuration formula uttered by Erkenwald, in lines 179–184, that compels the corpse to speak. The aim of this article, then, is to explore the narrative and thematic significance of Erkenwald’s conjuration, contextualising the bishop’s speech act within the wider cultural practices of exorcism and apotropaic protection against demons and the dead. It will be argued that, rather than being a rote exclamation to move the narrative forward, Erkenwald’s conjuration augments the poem’s overarching theme of the efficacy of orthodox religious practice.

Item Type:	Article
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > English, Communication and Philosophy
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
ISSN:	1471-6968
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	3 December 2025
Date of Acceptance:	2 December 2025
Last Modified:	04 Dec 2025 14:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/182886

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