
Introducing the Medieval Snail
Julia Pineau(Author)
University of Wales Press
Will be published approx. on 15. June 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
144 pages
978-1-83772-372-0 (ISBN)
Description
When one thinks about medieval animals, snails rarely come to mind. Just as history has long had its biases, so has the study of animals - both have long focused on the 'crowned heads'. A focus on the seemingly insignificant, on the small and the frail, offers a fresh point of view. This book studies the uses and representations of medieval snails, spanning material culture, medicine and gastronomy as well as a great variety of texts and images - taking into consideration bestiaries, sermons, poems and insults, as well as marginalia, sculpture, paintings and painted ceilings. Observing the Middle Ages from the viewpoint of a snail can be surprising, and lead us to delve into material everyday life as well as the core of culture-building. This study concludes with a novel reading of the famed 'snail-combat motif', in which a knight cowers faced with a ferocious mollusc, making a connection between Gothic marginalia and a new, most malleable cultural expression: the meme.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Wales
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
Not illustrated
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-83772-372-0 (9781837723720)
DOI
10.1234/b12230
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Julia Pineau
Introducing the Medieval Snail
E-Book
approx. 06/2026
1st Edition
University of Wales Press
€19.49
Available for download
Person
Julia Pineau currently teaches literature, translation, and medieval studies at the Sorbonne.
Content
Preface
List of illustrations
Introduction
1 - What is a snail? A slippery scope
2 - Concrete uses: waste not, want not - from frugality to luxury
3 - Snails in texts: meanings most malleable
4 - Snails in visual art: devil in the detail
5 - Molluscs in Marginalia: the snail-combat motif
6 - Success and posterity: introducing the "Memedieval"
Conclusion
Bibliography
Endnotes
List of illustrations
Introduction
1 - What is a snail? A slippery scope
2 - Concrete uses: waste not, want not - from frugality to luxury
3 - Snails in texts: meanings most malleable
4 - Snails in visual art: devil in the detail
5 - Molluscs in Marginalia: the snail-combat motif
6 - Success and posterity: introducing the "Memedieval"
Conclusion
Bibliography
Endnotes