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Introduction
11
drendeserveaclosecriticalattentionduetotheirequivocalnature.The
ambivalenceisenhancedbytheovertonesofholinessthatexistinthose
representations:youngJesusfromtheApocryphaisagoodexampleof
whatcouldsomehowanachronisticallybeseenasmoralmonstrosity,if
itdidnotvergeonsainthood.ParticularlyintheGospelofThomasJesus
representsthetoposofpuersenex,violenttowardsallthosewhooppose
himandthusresemblingtheOldTestamentGodtheFatherratherthan
amildanddocilechild.7Themonstrositymightbereadinthecontextof
medievalculturefromtwoperspectives:Jesuswaseitheratypicalrepre-
sentativeofchildrenwiththeirincomprehensiblevice,asitwasthought
intheMiddleAges,orhewasexpectedtoactlikethevengefulLord.
HugolinLangkammeraddsanotherhypothesisaboutthesourceofsuch
mysteriousrepresentationswhenheindicatestheirpaganandGnosticori-
gin.Langkammerstatesthatthechild’sharmfulbehaviourmayoriginate
fromhisidentityofatheiosaner,themanofGod,whilehis“adult”pride
derivesfromthefactthat,inaGnosticmode,healreadykneweverything
oncehewasborn.8Whateverinterpretationweaccept,Jesus’behaviour,
conventionallyseenasimmoral,andholinessaccompanyeachotherin
thisrepresentationsocloselythatsimilarinstancesofmonstrosityfol-
lowedbyholinessinsuchtextsasSirGowthershouldnotsurpriseus
greatly.9Anotherexampleofsuchcombination,thistimeofamorelit-
eralmonstrositywithsainthood,appearsisThePrioress’sTale,where
Chaucer’s“litelclergeon”(VII:503)10becomesphysicallydeformeddue
7TheGospelofThomas,trans.StephenPattersonandMarvinMeyer,at:<http://
gbgm-umc.org/umw/bible/noncanon.stm>
8HugolinLangkammer,ApokryfyNowegoTestamentu[ApocryphaoftheNewTes-
tament](Katowice:Księgarniaśw.Jacka,1989),p.33.
9FurthercommentaryontheapocryphalJesus’behaviourmaybefoundin,forin-
stance,MarekStarowieyski’sintroductiontothetextstreatingofMary’sandtheSaviour’s
youth;seeMarekStarowieyski,“Wstęp”[Introduction]in:ApokryfyNowegoTestamentu.
Ewangelieapokryficzne[TheApocryphaoftheNewTestament.ApocryphalGospels],
vol.1,Fragmenty.NarodzenieidzieciństwoMaryiiJezusa[Fragments.TheBirthand
ChildhoodofMaryandJesus],ed.MarekStarowieyski(Kraków:WydawnictwoWAM,
2003),pp.19159.
10AllthequotationsfromTheCanterburyTaleswillcomefrom:TheRiverside
Chaucer,ed.LarryD.Benson(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,1988);thenoteswill
alsobetakenfromthatedition.
