ISAS Essays in Anglo-Saxon Studies, Vol. 1

Anglo-Saxons and the North: Essays Reflecting the Theme of the 10th Meeting of the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists in Helsinki, August 2001

Edited by Matti Kilpiö and Leena Kahlas-Tarkka
2009 | 200 + viii pp. | 32 ills. | Hardcover | 6 x 9 in | 978-0-86698-412-6 | MRTS 364
$44 | £32

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Anglo-Saxons and the North is a wide-ranging collection of essays by acknowledged experts in the field of Anglo-Saxon studies. In his reassessment of the Rök Stone, Harris reveals close links between Scandinavia and Western Europe, and Frisia in particular. Battaglia examines the culture of early Scandinavia, locating the replacement of lakes and bogs as ritual sites by buildings in ca. 500 A.D. Three papers make comparisons between vernacular literatures, Wilcox exploring the applicability of Steblin-Kamenskij’s saga theory to Old English literature, and Russom and Roper comparing Old English meter to Eddic and Finnic meters respectively. Brown gives a state-of-the art account of studies on the “Leningrad Bede.” The paper by Yorke reviews how the Victorians used stories of Alfred and the Vikings to political ends. The final papers reflect on Anglo-Saxon vis à vis Scandinavian material culture, Thier discussing ship terminology and Banham innovations in agriculture.

Table of Contents

  • Matti Kilpiö: Introduction

  • Joseph Harris: The Rök Stone through Anglo-Saxon Eyes

  • Frank Battaglia: Not Christianity versus Paganism, but Hall versus Bog: The Great Shift in Early Scandinavian Religion and its Implications for Beowulf

  • Geoffrey Russom: Why There are Three Eddic Meters

  • Jonathan Roper: On Finnic and English Alliterative Metres

  • Jonathan Wilcox: The Ghost of M.I. Steblin-Kamenskij: Interpreting Old English Literature through Saga Theory

  • George Hardin Brown: The St. Petersburg Bede: Sankt-Peterburg, Publichnaja Biblioteka, MS. lat. Q.v.I.18

  • Barbara Yorke: The ‘Old North’ from the Saxon South in Nineteenth-Century Britain

  • Katrin Thier: Ships and their Terminology between England and the North

  • Debby Banham: Race and Tillage: Scandinavian Influence on Anglo-Saxon Agriculture?