Medieval tales gave ordinary Saracens supernatural regeneration abilities

Evidence

Warwick is an example of a supernatural creature that was “hard to kill.” As the text warns, “For if he looked on you with anger, sternly with his black eyes, so grim he is to see that no matter how bold you have been in the past, you don’t dare wage battle on him, nor fight against him.” Even Saracens who are not giants have monstrous qualities, such as the ability to regenerate. According to medieval tales, “[w] e cannot kill so many of them but what we find another,” and, “[f]rom their tents they come forth like rain driven by the wind.” — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 183

Categorization

• QUESTION: The regeneration motif suggests a fear of inexhaustible Muslim numbers — worth tracing whether this maps onto any demographic anxiety.