For the Anglo-Saxons, Latin was a language of choice that revealed a multitude of beliefs and desires about themselves as subjects, believers, scholars, and artists. In this groundbreaking collection, ten leading scholars explore the intersections between identity and Latin language and literature in Anglo-Saxon England. Ranging from the works of the Venerable Bede and St Boniface in the eighth century to Osbern's account of eleventh-century Canterbury, 'Latinity and Identity in Anglo-Saxon Literature' offers new insights into the Anglo-Saxons' ideas about literary form, monasticism, language, and national identity.
Latin prose, poetry, and musical styles are reconsidered, as is the relationship between Latin and Old English. Monastic identity, intertwined as it was with the learning of Latin and reformation of the self, is also an important theme. By offering fresh perspectives on texts both famous and neglected, 'Latinity and Identity' will transform readers' views of Anglo-Latin literature.
Author(s): Rebecca Stephenson, Emily V. Thornbury (eds.)
Series: Toronto Anglo-Saxon Series, 22
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Year: 2016
Language: English
Pages: 264
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 3
Boniface’s Epistolary Prose Style: The Letters to the English / Michael w. Herren, York University
'Interpretatio Monastica': Biblical Commentary and the Forging of Monastic Identity in the Early Middle Ages / Scott DeGregorio, University of Michigan, Dearborn
Æthilwulf 'poeta' / Emily V. Thornbury, University of California, Berkeley
The 'Old English Martyrology' and Anglo-Saxon Glosses / Christine Rauer, University of St Andrews
Sequences and Intellectual Identity at Winchester / Jonathan Davis-Secord, University of New Mexico
Saint Who? Building Monastic Identity through Computistical Inquiry in Byrhtferth’s 'Vita S. Ecgwini' / Rebecca Stephenson, University COLLEGE, DUBLIN
Hebrew Words and English Identity in Educational Texts of Ælfric and Byrhtferth / Damian Fleming, Indiana University–Purdue University, Fort Wayne
Oswald’s 'versus retrogradi': A Forerunner of Post-Conquest Trends in Hexameter Composition / Leslie Lockett, The Ohio State University
German Imperial Bishops and Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture on the Eve of the Conquest: 'The Cambridge Songs' and Leofric’s Exeter Book / Elizabeth M. Tyler, University of York
Writing Community: Osbern and the Negotiations of Identity in the 'Miracula S. Dunstani' / Katherine O’Brien O’Keeffe, University of California, Berkeley
Bibliography 219
Index of Manuscripts 245
General Index 247
