Editing Cockaigne (section)

==Descriptions==
[[Image:Schlaraffenland - no-nb krt 00932.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|''Accurata Utopiae Tabula'', an "accurate map of [[Utopia]]", [[Johann Baptist Homann]]'s map of Schlaraffenland published by [[Matthäus Seutter]], Augsburg 1730]]

Like [[Atlantis]] and [[El Dorado (myth)|El Dorado]], the land of Cockaigne was a [[utopia]]. It was a fictional place where, in a parody of paradise, idleness and gluttony were the principal occupations. In ''Specimens of Early English Poets'' (1790), [[George Ellis (poet)|George Ellis]] printed a 13th-century French poem called "The Land of Cockaigne" where "the houses were made of barley sugar and cakes, the streets were paved with pastry, and the shops supplied goods for nothing".<ref>{{Cite book | publisher = Wordsworth Editions | isbn = 9781840223101 | last = Brewer | first = Ebenezer Cobham | title = The Wordsworth Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | date = 2001-05-01 | page = 265 }}</ref>

According to [[Herman Pleij]], ''Dreaming of Cockaigne: Medieval Fantasies of the Perfect Life'' (2003):

{{blockquote|roasted pigs wander about with knives in their backs to make carving easy, where grilled geese fly directly into one's mouth, where cooked fish jump out of the water and land at one's feet. The weather is always mild, the wine flows freely, sex is readily available, and all people enjoy eternal youth.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-11702-9/dreaming-of-cockaigne |title=Dreaming of Cockaigne |publisher=Cup.columbia.edu |date= July 2003|access-date=2012-10-02|isbn=9780231529211 }}</ref>}}