The work

Whoever has had the opportunity to associate with John McKinnell and appreciate his talents will have no difficulty in understanding the sense of the quotation from the Old English Physiologus chosen as the title for this collection of essays honouring him. Just as they will understand the reference made by the cover illustration, in which the panther from the Bestiary is portrayed in the act of attracting and gathering around him a variegated group of animals, all appearing to be intently and happily listening to him: allusion is thus made to the calm authoritativeness of his lectures, to the pleasantness of his academic and personal conversation. Of John McKinnell it might be said that ´symle ... he hafad sundorgecynd´ (The Panther, l. 30), that is, ´on every occasion ... he demonstrates his unmistakable character´: this is true not only as regards his amiability and common sense, but also in reference to his distinctive approach to medieval texts and, in particular, to the plots of Old Norse mythology.
This collection of essays is clearly only a partial one, starting from the fact that it does not claim to represent adequately the sphere of the medieval theatre, which indeed makes up one of John McKinnell´s principal interests. It also dedicates considerable space to contributions from Italian scholars, a choice dictated by the attempt to highlight some of the concrete results produced by John McKinnell´s contact with Italy. As regards the inclusion of some foreign colleagues in the project, it should be noted that they all share academic experience in Italy with the person being honoured.
(from the Preface by Maria Elena Ruggerini)