Old English. The Bodleian 614 manuscript, only in Latin, depicts 49 wonders. Lastly, the Nowell Codex, in Old English, contains only 32 images. The images parallel the text, and provide a picture of the described creatures. The Wonders of the East may be considered a pseudo-scientific text because of the illustrations. Therefore, the images are “possibly intended to lend a note of authority by making specific plants, animals, or monsters easier to recognize.” In addition, the images are simple and have one or two figures in each illustration. More specifically, “One of the most important characteristics of... their illustrations is that the races are seen in some sort of relationship to the viewer, rather than in isolation of an empty frame.” In Tiberius B. v, every section except for the gold digging ants are accompanied by an illustration. Christopher Monk argues the illustrations in The Wonders of the East of the Beowulf manuscript play an important role in studies of the creatures as representative of human sexuality and the act of "othering" femininity. See also Trees of Sun and Moon References Notes Sources Baker, Peter. “Beowulf.” Medieval England: Encyclopedia. Ed. Paul E. Szarmack, M. Teresa Tavormina, Joel T. Rosenthal. New York: Garland Pub., 1998. Fulk, R. D. The Beowulf Manuscript Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2010 Friedman, John Block. The Monstrous Races in Medieval Art and Thought. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1981. Jones, Timothy. “The Marvels of the East.” Medieval England: Encyclopedia. Ed. Paul E. Szarmack, M. Teresa Tavormina, Joel T. Rosenthal. New York: Garland Pub., 1998. Karkov, Catherine E. “Anglo-Saxon Art.” Medieval England: Encyclopedia. Ed. Paul E. Szarmack, M. Teresa Tavormina, Joel T. Rosenthal. New York: Garland Pub., 1998. Mittman, Asa Simon. Maps and Monsters in Medieval England. New York: Routledge, 2006. Monk, Christopher, "A Context for the Sexualisation of Monsters in The Wonders of the East", Anglo-Saxon England, 41: 79–99. Orchard, Andy. “Marvels of the East.” The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Ed. Michael Lapidge. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1999. Orchard, Andy. Pride and Prodigies: Studies in the Monsters of the Beowulf Manuscript. University of Toronto Press, 2003. Sisam, Kenneth. Studies in the History of Old English Literature. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1953. Wrenn, Charles Leslie. A Study of Old English Literature. London: George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd, 1967. External links Full digital coverage of Cotton Vitellius A. xv on the British Library's Digitised Manuscripts website The Wild Man: