The word “marvel/marvelous” conjures up diverse meanings: in the 1300s, it would have meant a marvelous event outside of human power and nature and thus believed to be supernatural/divine. But it can also mean something wonderful or astonishing that causes someone to feel surprise, admiration or wonder (Oxford University Press). Something which is marvelous is all these things, and in an obsolete sense has supernatural qualities (Oxford University Press). Sir John Mandeville’s travels to foreign places and his viewing of the marvels and astonishing things there lead him to discover more about his own Christian faith and culture and appreciate it. He describes marvels which take place in the Biblical places which he visits. He interprets pagan symbols in a Christian way. Even in the most remote places in the world he sees Christian values and symbols.

Mandeville describes some marvels in Biblical places. One of them is Ephesus, the city where Saint John died and was buried in a tomb behind the altar. John says that some people do not believe that Saint John died in the tomb but rests there until the Day of Judgement. He also describes “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). Since this is a travel narrative, it can be inferred that Mandeville saw this himself. There is also the pleonasm here in “great marvel” which clearly expresses how he felt about what he saw at Saint John’s tomb. Clearly the use of the word “marvel” here is as a miracle. The use of the word “indeed” here adds to the previous sentence where Mandeville is describing the belief in Saint John still being alive. Mandeville very likely believes this himself, or at least understands that the possibility is very real. He also describes in Egypt a field where balm grows on bushes. Also, in that field “are seven wells, where Christ in His youth used to play with other children; and there He showed several marvels” (Mandeville 66). The seven wells are significant because the number seven is important in Christianity as a symbol of completeness: God created the world in seven days, there are seven virtues and deadly sins which contrast with them. Water is also a symbol of life and in one part of the New Testament where Jesus is talking to a Samarian woman next to a well, Jesus says that whoever drinks from the water he gives will never feel thirst.  So, it makes sense that Jesus would choose that place. This is what Mandeville finds in Biblical spots.

Pagan symbols and things are reinterpreted by Mandeville in a Christian lens. One example is the phoenix in Egypt. He calls it “a symbol of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in as much as there is but one God, who rose of the third day from death to life”. Despite being a pagan bird, the metaphor can be seen easily. The crest on the head of the phoenix, larger than a peacock, can also be interpreted as the Crown of Jesus. Mandeville says that in the sunlight the phoenix “seems marvelously beautiful, for these are the colors that shine most fairly” (Mandeville 65). The phoenix can be said to symbolize a rainbow, although it does not have all of the colors. In the Genesis chapter of Bible, the rainbow is God’s promise not to destroy the world ever again. So, the phoenix, when flying, can also be seen as a representation of this message, which can give an additional meaning of “marvelously” as a miracle rather than just something wonderful. Mandeville also talks about a monstrous beast, almost certainly a satyr from a description, which a holy hermit met in the desert of Egypt. The hermit asks the satyr who he is in God’s name, and the creature replies by asking the hermit to pray to God and Jesus for his mercy. “The head of that beast, with the horns, is still kept at Alexandria as a marvelous thing” (Mandeville 64).  It is likely that this is an allegory for Christianity’s superiority over paganism and the latter’s submission to the former, as even pagan creatures such as the satyr worship the Christian God. It can by extension represent an integration of paganism with Christianity, as long after the Christianization of the West paganism has still been seen as important by intellectuals and used in genres such as literature and interpretation of human psychology. Perhaps the satyr’s conversion to Christianity was the reason for it’s head being kept in Alexandria and regarded as a “marvelous” thing, not just marvelous in the sense that obviously looking at the head of a satyr is extraordinary, but also since the creature is a Christian it has been saved. Also, if the satyr had not been Christian, the head may have been destroyed rather than saved since after Christianization paganism was suppressed as heretical. These are the Christian messages Mandeville gets from pagan symbols.

Even in non-Christian places and cultures Mandeville sees Christian connections. In the land of Calanok, possibly Indochina, Mandeville describes a marvel: different types of fish in the sea come close to the shore and lie there for three days, allowing people to take them. This goes on until all types of fish have done it. Mandeville believes it is a miracle that all the fish would be willing to go there, obviously because it is impossible for every type of fish to go there and especially for them to offer themselves up to be eaten. His rationale is the King’s many wives and children, fulfilling God’s command to Adam and Eve to “increase and multiply and fill the earth, and be lords of the fishes in the sea” (Mandeville 133). An additional reason for Mandeville to see the fish this way is that they stay there for three days, and three is also a significant number in the Bible signifying wholeness. There is also a parallel: just as the King fills the world and multiplies, he and his people get to feast on multiple types of fish. Mandeville also recounts Alexander’s visit to Oxidrace, where he asked the people there what they wanted most, with them replying that they wanted everlasting things. When the king answered that he could not because he was mortal, they replied that he would take nothing out of this world. Alexander marveled at these words, was filled with shame and went away. Mandeville connects this story to his belief that “Even if there are many different religions and different beliefs in the world, still I believe God will always love those who love Him in truth and serve Him meekly and truly, setting no store by the vainglory of the world – just like these folk and Job”. He cites the Prophets Isaiah and Peter to justify this. He even says that they predicted the Incarnation of Christ 3000 years earlier (Mandeville 180). Mandeville repeats this idea in the very end, where he says that “there is no people who does not hold some of the articles of our faith”. This can be seen as a marvel for Mandeville. But what differentiates them in his eyes are that they do not know the Trinity, the Son, nor the Holy Ghost, and in a hendiadys, he also criticizes “their idolatry and their error” (Mandeville 188).

In conclusion, the true marvel of Mandeville’s trip is that he was able to discover and appreciate more about his own Christian faith, by seeing marvels in Biblical places, pagan symbols, and even in the most remote far-off places in the world. Despite being a devout Christian, he concludes with tolerance for other faiths and a recognition that they do have some similar moral articles of the Christian faith and can lead other peoples to the truth. Mandeville ends by praying for all who read the book that they may be filled with grace. He wants the book’s readers to be strengthened in faith the way that he has been.

Works Cited

Mandeville, John. The Travels of Sir John Mandeville. Penguin Books, 2005. Digital Scan.

Oxford University Press. “marvel, n.1.” September 2020. OED Online. 23 October 2020.

—. “marvellous | marvelous, adj., adv., and n.” 2020. OED Online. 23 October 2020.