Anglo-Saxon England (No. 7)

What scientific observations is Bede likely to have brought to bear on the Easter controversy? What interest did the Anglo-Saxons take in precious stones and what did they know about them? Are heroic values rejected in one of Cynewulf’s poems? What was Anglo-Saxon carpentry like? These are among the questions taken up in this volume. Observations to determine the day of the equinox in Bede’s Northumbria; Anglo-Saxon lapidary knowledge (particularly in the Old English Lapidary); lists of saints’ resting-places as an aspect of the cult of saints in the intellectual and social life of Anglo-Saxon England; the symbolism of the Pacx/Pax/Paxs coin legend; the construction of some wooden roofs, walls, floors, window-frames, doors and, especially, the frame of a spire: these topics are subjected to keen examination – the last an often neglected line of enquiry. In the field of vernacular poetry there are analyses of the Beowulf poet’s artistic point of view when treating his hero’s relationship to the Wæmundings, and of Cynewulf’s when treating pagan heroic society in Juliana.

List of illustrations; 1. Easter cycles and the equinox in the British Isles Kenneth Harrison; 2. Lapidary traditions in Anglo-Saxon England: part I, the background; the Old English Lapidary Peter Kitson; 3. Lists of saints\' resting-places in Anglo-Saxon England D. W. Rollason; 4. Beowulf, Wiglaf and the Wægmundings Norman E. Eliason; 5. Cynewulf\'s devaluation of heroic tradition in Juliana Claude Schneider; 6. The genesis of The Battle of Maldon N. F. Blake; 7. Affective language, especially alliterating qualifiers, in Ælfric\'s Life of St Alban Ruth Waterhouse; 8. Leland\'s transcript of Ælfric\'s Glossary Ronald E. Buckalew; 9. An interpretation of the Pacx, Pax and Paxs pennies Simon Keynes; 10. The Anglo-Saxon origins of Norwich: the problems and approaches Alan Carter; 11. Anglo-Saxon carpentry Cecil A. Hewett; 12. Self-contained units in composite manuscripts of the Anglo-Saxon period P. R. Robinson; 13. Manuscripts containing English decoration 871–1066, catalogued and illustrated: a review Linda L. Brownrigg; 14. Bibliography for 1977 Carl T. Berkhout, Martin Biddle, T. J. Brown, Peter A. Clayton and Simon Keynes.