The popular notion that sees the Anglo-Saxon era as “The Dark Ages” perhaps has tended to obscure for many people the creations and strengths of that time. This collection, in examining many aspects of pre-Norman Britain, helps to illuminate how Anglo-Saxon society contributed to the continuity of knowledge between the ancient world and the modern world. But as well, it posits a view of that society in its own distinctive terms to show how it developed as a synthesis of radically different cultures.
The Bayeux Tapestry is examined for its underlying political motivations; the study of Old English literature is extended to such works as laws, charters, apocryphal literature, saints’ lives and mythologies, and many of these are studied for the insight they provide into the social structures of the Anglo-Saxons. Other essays examine both the institution of slavery and the use of Germanic warrior terminology in Old Saxon as a contribution towards the descriptive analysis of that society’s social groupings. The book also presents a perspective on the Christian church that is usually overlooked by historians: that its existence was continuous and influential from Roman times, and that it was greatly affected by the Celtic Christian church long after the latter was thought to have disintegrated.
Authors
- Bibliography, etc. Note
- Includes bibliographical references and index
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- 942.01
- Dewey Decimal Edition Number
- 19
- General Note
- Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- Geographic Area Code
- e-uk-en
- ISBN
- 9780889205505 0889201668
- LCCN
- DA152.2
- LCCN Item number
- M53 1985eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- CaBNVSL
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (xii, 177 p.)
- Published in
- Canada
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)jme00326886 (OCoLC)144144624 (CaOOCEL)402281
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Transcribing agency
- CaBNVSL
Table of Contents
- Contents 8
- Preface 10
- Abbreviations 12
- Introduction 14
- 1 The Bayeux Tapestry: History or Propaganda? 24
- 2 The Boundaries of Old English Literature 40
- 3 Beowulf, Bede, and St. Oswine: The Hero's Pride in Old English Hagiography 50
- 4 Domestic Peace and Public Order in Anglo-Saxon Law 62
- 5 Two Early Anglo-Saxon Holy Men: Oswald and Cuthbert 76
- 6 The Celtic Church in Anglo-Saxon Times 90
- 7 Anglo-Saxon Use of the Apocryphal Gospel 106
- 8 The Image of the Worm: Some Literary Implications of Serpentine Decoration 118
- 9 Slavery in Anglo-Saxon England 130
- 10 Germanic Warrior Terms in Old Saxon 148
- Bibliographical Essay 164
- Index 184
- A 184
- B 184
- C 185
- D 186
- E 186
- F 186
- G 186
- H 187
- I 187
- J 187
- K 187
- L 187
- M 188
- N 188
- O 189
- P 189
- R 189
- S 189
- T 190
- V 190
- W 190
- Y 190
