Step into the strange, symbolic, and unsettling world of medieval monstrosity. Monstrous Signs: A Medieval Teratology is a university-level textbook that explores how the monstrous shaped—and was shaped by—medieval culture, belief, and imagination. From bestiaries and biblical visions to romances, chronicles, and dream allegories, this richly interdisciplinary volume examines how monsters served as mirrors of spiritual error, social anxiety, and divine mystery.
 
Divided into two major parts, the text first maps the conceptual frameworks of medieval teratology—drawing on theology, medicine, travel literature, and natural philosophy—before moving into close readings of primary medieval texts including Beowulf, Bede’s Ecclesiastical History, the Physiologus, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and more. Each chapter is accompanied by learning objectives, concise summaries, and a student quiz, making it ideal for classroom use or independent study.
 
Whether you're studying medieval literature, cultural theory, or the history of ideas, Monstrous Signs offers a fresh, compelling guide to the creatures that haunted the medieval mind—and the meanings they still carry today.