The Travels of Sir John Mandeville is Marvellous
A Historical Language Essay

The word ‘marvel’ is used selectively throughout the Travels of Sir John Mandeville. Marvel has been defined by the Oxford English Dictionary in many ways. It is a miracle performed by powers beyond human nature (“marvel”). It can be a wonderful or astonishing thing that can cause surprise, admiration or wonder (“marvel”). It can also be a tale, legend, or example of something wonderful (“marvel”). Mandeville places ‘marvel’ in particular places within his text to differentiate between its use as a noun and as an adjective. When used as a noun, ‘marvel’ exudes positive connotations that inspire admiration and fascination with the topic of conversation. In comparison, when used as an adjective, an approach of superiority and arrogance is used to convey his opinions. 

Mandeville uses ‘marvel’ as a noun when describing the tomb of Saint John.  He describes the ambiguity associated with Saint John’s burial as people believe that he could still be alive in the tomb since he enjoyed laying there for rest before his death. When describing this story, he says “and indeed there is there a great marvel, for men can see the earth of the tomb many a time stir and shift, as if there were a living thing underneath” (Mandeville 53).  The adjective ‘great’ is used to describe the ‘marvel’ that is the story of Saint John’s burial. In this instance, the definition of ‘marvel’ as a “wonderful tale or legend” fits well because Saint John’s story has endured time long enough for Mandeville to be fascinated by it, and also entice Mandeville’s readers (“marvel”). Therefore, marvel as a noun here has positive connotations of enchantment, greatness, and intrigue that inspire and motivate his readers to explore the legendary death of Saint John. 

Mandeville plays with phonetically similar words during his description of the statue of Justinian the Emperor. At the end of the chapter, he signifies that “this statue stands on a pillar of marble” (Mandeville 46). ‘Marble’ here sounds almost identical to ‘marvel’, and can be replaced by it as well leaving the interpretation of the sentence essentially the same. The usage of ‘marvel’ as a noun to describe enduring wonderous figures, tales, and events in instances as previously mentioned allows for the interchangeability between ‘marble’ and ‘marvel’. One definition of ‘marvel’ is that it is a “miracle” (“marvel”). A miracle is sub-defined as something supernatural and beyond human nature which works well for this instance because this statue represents a powerful figure standing on the grounds of a religious building (“miracle”). Although this sentence is not a usage of the word ‘marvel’ itself, because of the phonetic similarities the effect and intention of using ‘marvel’ as a noun to depict positive and inspirational messages are evident. 

Mandeville uses ‘marvel’ as an adjective to negatively describe Egypt’s climate. After briefly describing the appearances of the locals, he says “that country is marvellously hot, which makes its folk so black” (Mandeville 64). The definition of “surprise” and “astonishment” suits this particular use of ‘marvellous’ (“marvel”). However, there is an element of distaste in this description for two reasons. Firstly, the second half of this sentence reads as an afterthought to the first half, suggesting that the colour of the people living here is causal to the climate, and because their colour does not fit into the eurocentric beauty aesthetic, the climate is equally inadequate. This is reinforced prior to this statement where he describes the air as always “fair and clear” (Mandeville 63). This phrase is used to describe European beauty standards and the usage of this phrase to describe this particular element of the environment suggests that it is acceptable for Europeans, unlike the heat. 

Secondly, the tone in the adjective “marvellously” within this statement sounds sarcastic and condescending. The juxtaposition of the incompatible climate and skin colour along with the word ‘marvel’, that previously had positive connotations, suggests a sarcastic ‘eye-rolling’ description of the environment. This humour has an element of superiority and condescension because it creates the impression that despite how curious one may be about this land and the beauty and goodness within its people, it is not as good as Europe. After all, Europe’s climate does not produce people of colour. 

Another use of the adjective ‘marvellous’ with negative connotations is during his description of the half-human half-goat ‘beast’ in Egypt. At the end of this story, Mandeville says “the head of that beast, with the horns, is still kept at Alexandria as a marvellous thing” (64). In this instance, the same definition for marvel as used for Saint John is appropriate, that this is a “wonderful legend” (“marvel”). The stark difference between the two usages is that in this instance ‘marvellous’ is used to highlight how different Egyptian society is to European, in a bad way. By transforming a word which is normally used to describe something wonderful and legendary like Saint John into something that appreciates beastly characters is another instance of demonstrating the superiority of western society. One can almost hear Mandeville’s scoff at the sheer absurdity of displaying and monumentalising such a monstrous creature. Through this usage of ‘marvellous’, he supports his implicit narrative to convince his readers to explore, travel, and potentially conquer these lands to better them and make them more hospitable for European society. 

In conclusion, Mandeville carefully selects the placement of the word ‘marvel’ throughout his text. He employs ‘marvel’ as a noun when he wants to inspire, educate, and fascinate his readership about the wonders of the places and practices he encountered. In contrast, he operates ‘marvel’ as an adjective when he wants to convince his audience subtly about the incomprehensible and unfavourable lifestyle of other places he visited, which potentially can inspire colonial expansion and a rise of exploration. 

Disclaimer: This work is original and the property of Aroni Sarkar. It is not authorised for any use, copies or dissemination.

Works Cited

“Marvel, n.1” OED Online, Oxford UP, October 2020,

https://www-oed-com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/view/Entry/114503?rskey=TOmf7H&result=1#eid, Accessed 12 October 2020.

Mandeville, John. The Travels of Sir John Mandeville. Translated by C. W. R. D. Moseley, Penguin Books, 2005.

“Miracle, n.” OED Online, Oxford UP, October 2020,

https://www-oed-com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/view/Entry/119052 , Accessed 12 October 2020.