The first full-scale, interdisciplinary treatment of the wide-ranging connections between the Gaelic world and the Northumbrian kingdom. Northumbria was the most northerly Anglo-Saxon kingdom; its impressive landscape featured two sweeping coastlines, which opened the area to a variety of cultural connections. This book explores influences that emanated from the Gaelic-speaking world, including Ireland, the Isle of Man, Argyll and the kingdom of Alba (the nascent Scottish kingdom). It encompasses Northumbria's "Golden Age", the kingdom's political and scholarly high-point of the seventh and early eighth centuries, and culminates with the kingdom's decline and fragmentation in the Viking Age, which opened up new links with Gaelic-Scandinavian communities. Political and ecclesiastical connections are discussed in detail; the study also covers linguistic contact, material culture and the practicalities of travel, bringing out the realities of contemporary life. This interdisciplinary approach sheds new light on the west and north of the Northumbrian kingdom, the areas linked most closely with the Gaelic world. Overall, the book reveals the extent to which Gaelic influence was multi-faceted, complex and enduring.
Author(s): Fiona Edmonds
Series: Studies in Celtic History, 40
Publisher: The Boydell Press
Year: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 322
City: Woodbridge
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgements ix
List of Abbreviations xi
Preface: An Eventful Voyage xv
1. Concepts and Historiography of the Northumbrian and Gaelic Worlds: Medieval to Modern 1
2. Exiles and Emperors: Gaelic-Northumbrian Political Relations in the Golden Age 23
3. Fragmentation and Opportunity: From the Eighth Century to the Viking Age 45
4. Pathways through the Past: Routes between the Gaelic World and the Northumbrian Kingdom 72
5. A Golden Age of Ecclesiastical Contacts 99
6. Saints and Seaways in the Viking Age 127
7. Medieval Multilingualism: Gaelic Linguistic Influence in the Northumbrian Kingdom 155
8 Movement and Material Culture in the Northumbrian and Gaelic Worlds 185
Conclusion: Individuals and Influences 219
Bibliography 223
Index 287