Abstract
AbstractThis paper examines the Old English words for sexual anatomy in the medical textMedicina de quadrupedibus(‘medicines made from quadrupeds’), a close translation of the LatinLiber medicinae ex animalibus. The Anglo‐Saxon translator used different terms for human genitalia and animal genitalia, specifically, the wordteorsfor a human penis andscytelfor an animal penis;herþan(and possiblyherþbylg) for human testicles andsceallanfor animal testicles; andinnoðfor human uterus andhriffor animal uterus. On the other hand, rather than showing differentiation, the polite termsgecynd‘nature; sex; genitals’ andgecyndlim‘genitals’ translate Latinnatura‘nature; sex; genitals’ for both human and animal genitalia. This apparent exception to the pattern of differentiation results from the semantic congruity of OEgecyndand Latinnatura. The principled differentiation of the various terms is probably not lexicalized as such in Old English, but rather represents a specific stylistic choice of the Anglo‐Saxon translator of theMedicina de quadrupedibusto emphasize the difference between humans and animals.
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