ASNØC ~ Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic

The Myth of the Feud in Anglo-Saxon England

The Myth of the Feud in Anglo-Saxon England John Niles The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, Vol. 114, No. 2 (April 2015), pp.163-200. “Every student of the Anglo-Saxons accepts the existence of feud as afeature of society before the Norman Conquest,” writes Paul Hyams in his 2003 book Rancor and Reconciliation in Medieval England. Emphasiz-ing that “feud was quite central to Anglo-Saxon…

The Beginning Of Scandinavian Christianization Mission And Its Interpretation In Adam De Bremen’s Gesta Hammaburgensis

The Beginning Of Scandinavian Christianization Mission And Its Interpretation In Adam De Bremen’s Gesta Hammaburgensis Lukas Gabriel Grzybowski Revista Signum, 2016, vol. 17, n. 1 This paper intent to launch a new view on the problem of the Christianization of Scandinavia in the Early Middle Ages. It is not a new topic under the historians of this period, but it continues to promote vivid debate…

SKALDIC TECHNIQUE IN BRUNANBURH

 SKALDIC TECHNIQUE IN BRUNANBURH John D. Niles Scandinavian Studies, Vol. 59, No. 3, Anglo-Scandínavían England (SUMMER 1987),pp. 356-366. According to established wisdom, the Scandinavian settlements in England left little imprint on the language of Anglo-Saxon literature even though English and Norse were long spoken side by side. As H. R. Loyn puts it, “Traditional literary Anglo-Saxon,…

Chaucer and Old Norse Mythology

Chaucer and Old Norse Mythology Rory McTurk School of English, University of Leeds In a paper currently awaiting publication I have argued that the story in Skáldskaparmál of Óðinn’s theft of the poetic mead is an analogue to the story told in Chaucer’s House of Fame, for three main reasons. First, both stories may be said to involve an eagle as a mediator between different kinds of poetry: in…

The Lost Literature of Medieval Iceland

The Lost Literature of Medieval Iceland: Sagas of Icelanders Judith Jesch PhD Thesis, University College London (1984).   Click here to read this thesis at Academia.edu

The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms 600–900 and the beginnings of the OldEnglish state

The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms 600–900 and the beginnings of the OldEnglish state Barbara Yorke There has, of course, been much debate about the validity and desirability of using the term ‘state’ in amedieval context. Measurements of medieval statehood against definitions of the modern ‘nationstate’ inevitably fail – even classical ‘states’ fail to measure up to such modern definitions. Earlier states…

Scyld Scyldinga: Intercultural innovation at the interface of West and North Germanic

Scyld Scyldinga: Intercultural innovation at the interface of West and North Germanic Carl Edlund Anderson   While many agree that Scyld in Beowulf was back-formed from Scyldingas, the context in which thisoccurred is rarely discussed. It seems frequentlyassumed that Scyld was created in Denmark andexported to England along with the name Scyldingas. However, the way that names and terms…

The Varangian legend: testimony from the Old Norse sources

The Varangian legend: testimony from the Old Norse sources Sverrir Jakobsson In the eleventh century there existed, within the great army of the Byzantine empire, a regiment composed mainly o soldiers from Scandinavia and the Nordiccountries. This regiment was known as the Varangian Guard (tagma tōn Varangōn).The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact the existence of this regiment had…

Old English Literature: A Guide to Criticism with Selected Readings

Old English Literature: A Guide to Criticism with Selected Readings John D. Niles This review of the critical reception of Old English literature from 1900 to the present moves beyond a focus on individual literary texts so as to survey the different schools, methods, and assumptions that have shaped the discipline. Examines the notable works and authors from the period, including Beowulf, the…

Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England Up to 1100. Helmut Gneuss and Michael Lapidge Toronto Anglo-Saxon Series Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts is the first publication to list every surviving manuscript or manuscript fragment written in Anglo-Saxon England between the seventh and the eleventh centuries or imported into the…

Old English Psalms Edited and translated by Patrick P. O’Neill Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 42 The Latin psalms figured prominently in the lives of the Anglo-Saxons, whether sung in the Divine Office by clerics, studied as a textbook for language learning by students, or recited in private devotion by lay people. They were also translated into Old English, first in prose and later in verse.…

Nations and National Identities in the Medieval World: An Apologia

Nations and National Identities in the Medieval World: An Apologia Rees Davis Journal of Belgium History, XXXIV, 2004 (4) Medieval historians tend to find themselves in a tricky position when there is any discussion of nations and national identities. They are painfully aware that they may be regarded as unwelcome and even improper guests at such a discussion. If the topic can be extended to…

Andreas: an Edition Edited by Richard North and Michael Bintley This is the first edition of Andreas for 55 years, also the first to present the Anglo-Saxon, or rather Old English, text with a parallel Modern English poetic translation. The book aims not only to provide both students and scholars with an up-to-date text and introduction and notes, but also to reconfirm the canonical merit of…

Medieval Oral Literature Karl Reichl (editor) Medieval literature is to a large extent based on oral tradition and permeated by various forms of orality: literary texts were commonly read aloud, up into the late Middle Ages; popular literature was often transmitted orally and performed by public entertainers; and a number of literary forms were shaped by an oral background. Although questions of…

Brazilian journal SIGNUM, issue 16.3: "Readings on Medieval Scandinavia" [Port. & Eng.]...

Leituras da Escandinávia Medieval [Readings on Medieval Scandinavia] Lukas Gabriel Grzybowski (org.) Signum v. 16, n. 3 (2015) Special issue of the journal of ABREM – Associação Brasileira de Estudos Medievais / Brazilian Association of Medieval Studies. Click the title of the article or click the image to read this issue of Signum. Articles: A ESCANDINÁVIA NA IDADE MÉDIA EM SUAS MÚLTIPLAS…

The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms 600–900 and the beginnings of the Old English state

The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms 600–900 and the beginnings of the Old English state BARBARA YORKE Der fruhmittelalterliche Staat, ed. W. Pohl and V. Wieser (Vienna 2008), 73-88 There has, of course, been much debate about the validity and desirability of using the term ‘state’ in a medieval context. Measurements of medieval statehood against definitions of the modern ‘nationstate’ inevitably fail – even…