In the comical vignette from the Annals of St Denis, the Norse warrior Rollo refused to bow to kiss his liege lord Charles’ foot, and instead lifted the king’s foot to his mouth, “causing the king to tumble over backwards” to the ringing laughter of the crowd. As Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss, so did Lancelot and Guinevere betray Arthur. Sources spread across the genres give us a glimpse into what kissing meant to medieval people: Danish king Hrothgar “kissed Beowulf and embraced his neck” when the hero departed after slaying Grendel. Multifaceted, the kiss could represent honor, loyalty, legality, veneration, adoration, passion, treachery, and opportunities for misbehavior. Indeed, most public kisses involved men kissing other men for reasons that had little or nothing to do with sentiment. For medieval people, a kiss represents far more than the romantic.įrom the Old English “to touch with the lips,” the kiss in history went far beyond its modern association with love in all its forms.
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