Palmer (pilgrim)
In the Middle Ages, a palmer (Latin: palmarius or palmerius) was a Christian Pilgrim, normally from Western Europe, who had visited the holy places in Palestine, and who, as a token of his visits to the Holy Land, brought back a palm leaf, or a palm leaf folded into a cross (The word is frequently used as synonymous with "pilgrim").[1]
One of the most prominent literary characters to have been a palmer was Wilfred of Ivanhoe, the protagonist of the eponymous book by Sir Walter Scott.[2] A palmer also plays a significant role representing Reason in Book II of Edmund Spenser's epic poem The Faerie Queene. [3]
Notes
- ↑ Chisholm 1911, p. 645.
- ↑ Cummings 2010.
- ↑ Woodhouse 1949.
References
- Cummings, Michael J. (2010) [2004], Ivanhoe, Cummings Study Guide
- Woodhouse, A. S. P. (1949), Nature and Grace in the Faerie Queene, The Johns Hopkins University Press
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Palmer". Encyclopædia Britannica 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 645.