Description
Book SynopsisThis acclaimed volume explores and unravels the contexts, readings, genres, intertextualities and debates within Anglo-Saxon studies.
- Brings together specially-commissioned contributions from a team of leading European and American scholars.
- Embraces both the literature and the cultural background of the period.
- Combines the discussion of primary material and manuscript sources with critical analysis and readings.
- Considers the past, present and future of Anglo-Saxon studies
Trade Review"The latest addition to Blackwell's comprehensive surveys of literature and culture, this volume offers an impressive array of essays by reputable scholars ... This
Companion will be a valuable introduction for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students and useful resource for faculty."
Choice "A Companion to Anglo-Saxon Literature is an impressive anthology of erudite essays written by scholars around the world on the topic of Anglo-Saxon literature, particularly that of the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries. Prose, poetry, religious, and secular literature are all discussed at length in this college-level analysis and presentation, which is very highly recommended for academic literary studies in general, and medieval studies in reference collections in particular."
The Midwest Book Review
"Many of the world's leading Anglo-Saxonists have contributed to this volume which provides a very useful overview of current preoccupations of those who study and teach Old English literature."
Literature and History
"Stimulating introductions that bring out the wider potential of their topics for understanding the Anglo-Saxon past ... much to offer the more experienced reader as well as the novice."
Literature and History
Table of ContentsContributors x
Preface xv
Acknowledgements xvi
Abbreviations xvii
Map 1 Late Anglo-Saxon England xviii
Part I Contexts and Perspectives 1
1 An Introduction to the Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Vernacular Literature 3
Elaine Treharne and Phillip Pulsiano
2 An Introduction to the Corpus of Anglo-Latin Literature 11
Joseph P. McGowan
3 Transmission of Literature and Learning: Anglo-Saxon Scribal Culture 50
Jonathan Wilcox
4 Authorship and Anonymity 71
Mary Swan
5 Audience(s), Reception, Literacy 84
Hugh Magennis
6 Anglo-Saxon Manuscript Production: Issues of Making and Using 102
Michelle P. Brown
Part II Readings: Cultural Framework and Heritage 119
7 The Germanic Background 121
Patrizia Lendinara
8 Religious Context: Pre-Benedictine Reform Period 135
Susan Irvine
9 The Benedictine Reform and Beyond 151
Joyce Hill
10 Legal and Documentary Writings 170
Carole Hough
11 Scientific and Medical Writings 188
Stephanie Hollis
12 Prayers, Glosses and Glossaries 209
Phillip Pulsiano
Part III Genres and Modes 231
13 Religious Prose 233
Roy M. Liuzza
14 Religious Poetry 251
Patrick W. Conner
15 Secular Prose 268
Donald G. Scragg
16 Secular Poetry 281
Fred C. Robinson
17 Anglo-Latin Prose 296
Joseph P. McGowan
Part IV Intertextualities: Sources and Influences 325
18 Biblical and Patristic Learning 327
Thomas Hall
19 The Irish Tradition 345
Charles D. Wright
20 Continental Germanic Influences 375
Rolf Bremmer
21 Scandinavian Relations 388
Robert E. Bjork
Part V Debates and Issues 401
22 English in the Post-Conquest Period 403
Elaine Treharne
23 Anglo-Saxon Studies: Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries 415
Timothy Graham
24 Anglo-Saxon Studies in the Nineteenth Century: England, Denmark, America 434
J. R. Hall
25 Anglo-Saxon Studies in the Nineteenth Century: Germany, Austria, Switzerland 455
Hans Sauer
26 By the Numbers: Anglo-Saxon Scholarship at the Century’s End 472
Allen Frantzen
27 The New Millennium 496
Nicholas Howe
Selected Further Reading 506
Index 511
