| Summary: | In the literature of medieval Christian Europe, the moon often signifies brokenness and
limitation. No clearer is this than in two Middle English texts: the prose text Ancrene Wisse
and the alliterative poem Pearl, two texts which are rarely studied alongside one another. In
both these texts, the moon signifies the changeability of life on earth, the loss or
woundedness that is born from such mutability, and devotional deficiency. Such signification
is underpinned by scripture, particularly in vital references from the biblical Book of
Revelation in both texts. But through the Eucharistic emphases in Pearl, the moon also
gestures towards the fullness and stability of communion. Readings of the moon in Ancrene
Wisse and Pearl may be further enhanced by touching on a Latin analogue in the recorded
visions of Juliana of Cornillon (c. 1192/93 - 1258), another text with Eucharistic devotion at
its core.
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