Oskar Herrfurth (1862-1934)"Das Marchen vom Schlaraffenland",series of six postcards, Uvachrom. 354, no. 5086, pre-1934I. IntroductionThis article intends to examine literature on the landof Cockaigne, an imaginary country where food abounds, work is prohibited,sexuality is free, and their inhabitants are everlastingly young. Theliterature analysis is meant to provide base for a specific iconographyexamination, which is offered at the last part of the article. II. TheMythical land of Cockaigne The idyllic idea of a land where work is needless andfood is lavish was not created with Cockaigne. Several Greek-Roman authorsfancy similar utopian lands, such as Plato and Euripides in the 5thcentury b.C. The Bible tells us the story of the Garden of Eden where work andpain did not exist and fruit trees were plentiful. The Coram also promises apost-life heaven not only teemed with food, but also with free sexuality,guaranteeing 500 spouses and 4,000 virgins for each male. The medieval story ofThe Holy Grail inspires lifelong youth, and perhaps the Brothers Grimm wereinfluenced by Cockaigne when they described the witchs gingerbread house inthe famous fairy tale Hans and Gretel.Cockaigne has been part of peoples imaginary sincethe 12th century, from oral tradition, and since the 13thcentury, in literature, with the publishing of the French poem Le Fabliau de Cocagne. Since then,several other publications appeared in different Western European countries.Different versions offered distinct views on the magical land, and wereconsequently adapted to the cultural environment of the country where the storywas duplicated. In all versions, however, Cockaigne has always beendepicted as a utopian land with four main characteristics: the abundance offood at no effort, the lack of necessity to work, eternal life and youth, and freesexuality.The High Middle Ages were marked by famine, pest, andstruggle, especially among the least privileged classes. It is no wonder thatCockaigne gained so much space in the imaginary of the population as well as inliterature and iconography. At times of penury and severe moral restriction, commonersneeded an escape of fancy to forget their own struggles for survival and theirmiserable life.Interestingly, each version of Cockaigne was adaptedaccording to the local culinary culture. For instance, in France flans woulddrop like rain and sausages were picked up from trees. Italian poems portrayedhouses made of lasagna and mountains of Parmesan cheese. The culturaladaptation of each version provides paramount input to understand the localcuisines and food habits of each nation. The writings and iconography in Cockaigne, which havealways been intended to the lower classes, describe exactly the opposite ofwhat the population ate. One clear example is meat, one of the most presentfood items in the reports on Cockaigne. Roasted flying poultry and walkingbraised animals are central in the description of Cockaigne. It is well knowthat meat was a privilege of the high class, particularly roasted meat. Losingprecious animal fat to the flames of the oven was a luxury the poor coulddefinitely not afford. They had to do with small pieces of cubed meat, usually pork, mixed in their cabbage stews and soups. In addition to meat, Franco (2013) describes threeother food items that were omnipresent in the reports of the mythical land:fish, wine, and sweets. As