Anglo-Saxon Attitudes

Letter from the Editor	Articles	The Forum	Electronic Medievalia
The Independent Scholar	Archaeology Digest	Book Reviews	Next Issue Highlights

A Letter from the Editor
Articles Shaping Anglo-Saxon Lordship in the Heroic Literature of the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries. by John Hill, US Naval Academy   Abstract: Most scholars of Anglo-Saxon heroic story think of that literature as embodying conventional virtues (generosity, bravery, boasting), obligations (to kin and lord) and conflicts of loyalty. This overview of a contrary view stresses the political nature of those stories -- whether in prose or poetry -- and argues, essentially, for the reformation of traditional codes and obligations. That reformation has the strengthening of lordship and, ultimately, of kingship in mind. The reshaping of traditional codes begins in the literary record during the period of Alfred's father and grandfather, early to mid-eighth century, and continues down to the end of the eleventh century. [2 files]   From Caesarea to Eynsham: a Consideration of the Proposed Route(s) of the Admonition to a Spiritual Son to Anglo-Saxon England by M.A. Locherbie-Cameron, University of Wales, Bangor. Abstract: Though Ælfric's Admonition to a Spiritual Son is not amongst his best-known works (H. W. Noeman's 1848 edition is currently the only published text) the existence of the Old English translation testifies to the currency in the medieval period of its Latin original. Ælfric and others attributed its authorship to St Basil, and this attribution probably accounts for the survival and transmission of its contents. I suggest two routes by which Ælfric may have learnt of the text, and demonstrate its currency by a handlist of the manuscripts in British libraries in which it occurs.[ 3 files ]
The Forum The Canonicity of Two Edgar Poems by J. C. Weale, University of Wales, Bangor   Abstract: Very often one encounters debate as to exactly which texts can best be tailored to a beginner's course in Anglo-Saxon, and dissatisfaction with the teaching canon as it is presently defined by the available readers. Introductory Old English courses must consider not only the language of the texts, but their cultural resonance and their usefulness as tools to illustrate and refer to the wider corpus of Old English literature. Whilst the texts available in readers do allow this, teachers of Anglo-Saxon often wish to use extra-canonical texts to illustrate cultural or literary points which particularly interest them. This short piece offers an extremely brief sketch of a lecture which uses two passages of heightened rhetoric from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to illustrate to students the political interplay of Church and State during this period. [2 files]
The Independent Scholar Musings Out Loud by Brad Eden, University of Nevada
Electronic Medievalia Humanities and the Web: From Whence We Came by Jim Marchand   Web Site Reviews   Anglo-Saxon Reviews by Christopher Burgess Wordhord Bede.net Readings in Old English Poetry More Reviews by L.J. Swain "Tennessee Bob Peckham's" Famous French Links The Babylonian Talmud Saint Kentigern Arild Hauge's Homepage LacusCurtius
Archaeology Digest The Vikings and Picts Leif Ericsson Anniversary Celebrations Norse Artifacts found in Southern Ireland Viking-Era Harbors on Gotland and the Fröjel site Pictish and Viking South Uist, Scotland Continuity in Shetland Pictish Barrow Cemetary at Redcastle The Romans Catterick under the Romans and Early Angles Roman Era Temples The Anglo-Saxons Battle of Hastings Re-enactment Update: Lakenheath Cemetary East Anglian Fenland Village Discovered The Romano-British Post-Roman North Wales and Byzantium Wroxeter's Roman and Post-Roman Harbor
Book Reviews Nonfiction Clonmacnoise Studies Edited by Heather A. King Dúchas, 1998 Reviewed by Helen Conrad-O'Briain   Ireland and her neighbors in the seventh century by Michael Richter, 1999 Reviewed by Dominic Janes, London   The Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages Edited by Norman F. Cantor, 1999 Reviewed by Clarissa Aykroyd, University of Victoria, BC   Alba of the Ravens: In Search of the Celtic Kingdom of the Scots by John Marsden, 1997 Reviewed by Michelle Ziegler, Belleville, IL   The Oldest Irish Tradition: A Window on the Iron Age by Kenneth Hurlstone Jackson, 1999. Reviewed by Michael Foster, Community College of Southern Nevada   Fêreyinga Saga: or the Tale of Thrond of Gate translated by F. York Powell, 1995. Reviewed by Joseph Carroll, Rhode Island College     Fiction Dawnflight  by Kim Headlee. Reviewed by Karen Hollis   Lord of Sunset by Parke Godwin, 1998 Reviewed by Michelle Ziegler, Belleville, IL
Next Issue Highlights: Anglo-Celtic Relations in the Early Middle Ages


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The Heroic Age, Issue 3

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Staff for this Issue

 

Issue Editor: J.C. Weale

Editor-in-Chief: Michelle Ziegler

Editors: Brad Eden, John Hill, L.J. Swain, J.C. Weale

Reviews Editor (Books and Film): Brad Eden

Electronic Medievalia Editor : L.J. Swain

Copy Editing: J.C. Weale, L.J. Swain, Brad Eden,

Tim Clarkson, Diana Allen

Web Design: Michelle Ziegler

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