The Sword In Anglo Saxon England

Download or read book The Sword in Anglo-Saxon England written by Hilda Roderick Ellis Davidson and published by Boydell & Brewer Ltd. This book was released on 1998 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study concerns the importance of the sword in Anglo-Saxon and Viking society, with reference to surviving swords and literary sources, especially Beowulf.

Download or read book The Sword in Anglo-Saxon England written by Paul Mortimer and published by . This book was released on 2019-03 with total page 478 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The contributors to this book bring their practical and academic knowledge to an exploration of new ideas and information about the making and use of swords in the early Anglo-Saxon period. They provide an insight to the symbolism of swords, their decoration and place in society. Other items carried and worn by warriors are similarly treated. In addition to those who have written the essays there are many others who have contributed to the ideas, theories and discussions presented in this book. Illustrations - 180 colour; 76 black & white

Download or read book The Sword in Early Medieval Northern Europe written by Sue Brunning and published by Anglo-Saxon Studies. This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A wide-ranging study of the significance of swords throughout the whole Anglo-Saxon period, offering valuable insights into the meaning of and attitude towards swords. Swords were special in Anglo-Saxon England. Their names, deeds and pedigrees were enshrined in writing. Many were curated for generations, revealed by their worn and mended condition. Few ended their lives as casual discards, placed instead in graves, hoards and watercourses as part of ritualised acts. Contemporary sources leave no doubt that complex social meanings surrounded these weapons, transcending their use on the battlefield; but they have yet to transcend the traditional view that their primary social function was as status symbols. Even now, half a century after the first major study of Anglo-Saxon swords, their wider significance within their world has yet to be fully articulated. This book sets out to meet the challenge. Eschewing modern value judgements, it focuses instead on contemporary perceptions - exploring how those who made, used and experienced swords really felt about them. It takes a multidisciplinary and holistic approach, bringing together insights from art, archaeology and literature. Comparison with Scandinavia adds further nuance, revealing what was (and was not) distinctive of Anglo-Saxon views of these weapons. Far from elite baubles, swords are revealed to have been dynamic "living" artefacts with their own identities, histories and places in social networks - ideas fuelled by their adaptability, durability and unique rolein bloodshed. Sue Brunning is Curator of European Early Medieval Collections at The British Museum.

Download or read book The Serpent Sword written by Matthew Harffy and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2016-06-01 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE NEW BERNICIA CHRONICLES NOVEL FROM MATTHEW HARFFY, SHADOWS OF THE SLAIN, AVAILABLE TO PREORDER NOW! The first thrilling instalment in the Bernicia Chronicles. Adventure and agony, bloodshed and burning hatreds collide in the story of mighty young Anglo-Saxon warrior Beobrand of Ubbanford. 'HISTORICAL FICTION DOESN'T GET MUCH BETTER THAN THIS' ANGUS DONALD AD 633. Beobrand is a young man with a shadowy past. As an outsider in the kingdom of Bernicia, he is compelled to join his brother as a warrior in the household of King Edwin. He must learn to fight with sword and shield to defend the war-ravaged kingdoms of Northumbria. It is a period of great upheaval, and the land is rife with danger as warlords vie for supremacy and dominion. All Beobrand finds is despair, death and war. Amongst the blood and the betrayals, he learns of his brother's near-certain murder. Inexperienced but ruthless, Beobrand must form his own allegiances as a warrior. Driven by his desire for vengeance and a relentless pursuit of his enemies, he must face challenges which will transform him from a boy to a man who stands strong in the clamour and gore of the shieldwall. Can Beobrand mete out the retribution he craves, and avenge his brother, without sacrificing his honour... and even his soul? Reviews for Matthew Harffy 'Nothing less than superb' Historical Novel Society 'Beobrand is the warrior to follow' David Gilman 'A tale that rings like sword song in the reader's mind' Giles Kristian 'A brilliant characterization of a difficult hero in a dangerous time.' Christian Cameron 'A terrific novel. It illuminates the Dark Ages like a bolt of lightning' Toby Clements 'Battles, treachery, revenge and a healthy dose of Dark Age adventure' Simon Turney 'Matthew Harffy tells a great story' Joanna Hickson 'Harffy's writing just gets better and better... the rightful heir to Gemmell's crown' Jemahl Evans 'A genuinely superb novel' Steven A. McKay 'A breathtaking novel that sweeps the reader into a dark and dangerous world' Paul Fraser Collard

Download or read book Women of Power in Anglo-Saxon England written by Annie Whitehead and published by Pen and Sword History. This book was released on 2020-05-30 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The little-known lives of women who ruled, schemed, and made peace and war, between the seventh and eleventh centuries: “Meticulously researched.” —Catherine Hanley, author of Matilda: Empress, Queen, Warrior Many Anglo-Saxon kings are familiar. Æthelred the Unready is one—but less is written about his wife, who was consort of two kings and championed one of her sons over the others, or about his mother, who was an anointed queen and powerful regent, but was also accused of witchcraft and regicide. A royal abbess educated five bishops and was instrumental in deciding the date of Easter; another took on the might of Canterbury and Rome and was accused by the monks of fratricide. Royal mothers wielded power: Eadgifu, wife of Edward the Elder, maintained a position of authority during the reigns of both her sons. Æthelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, was a queen in all but name, while few have heard of Queen Seaxburh, who ruled Wessex, or Queen Cynethryth, who issued her own coinage. She, too, was accused of murder, and was also, like many of the royal women, literate and highly educated. Ranging from seventh-century Northumbria to eleventh-century Wessex and making extensive use of primary sources, Women of Power in Anglo-Saxon England examines the lives of individual women in a way that has often been done for the Anglo-Saxon men but not for their wives, sisters, mothers, and daughters.

Download or read book The Anglo-Saxons written by Marc Morris and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-05-25 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A sweeping and original history of the Anglo-Saxons by national bestselling author Marc Morris. Sixteen hundred years ago Britain left the Roman Empire and swiftly fell into ruin. Grand cities and luxurious villas were deserted and left to crumble, and civil society collapsed into chaos. Into this violent and unstable world came foreign invaders from across the sea, and established themselves as its new masters. The Anglo-Saxons traces the turbulent history of these people across the next six centuries. It explains how their earliest rulers fought relentlessly against each other for glory and supremacy, and then were almost destroyed by the onslaught of the vikings. It explores how they abandoned their old gods for Christianity, established hundreds of churches and created dazzlingly intricate works of art. It charts the revival of towns and trade, and the origins of a familiar landscape of shires, boroughs and bishoprics. It is a tale of famous figures like King Offa, Alfred the Great and Edward the Confessor, but also features a host of lesser known characters - ambitious queens, revolutionary saints, intolerant monks and grasping nobles. Through their remarkable careers we see how a new society, a new culture and a single unified nation came into being. Drawing on a vast range of original evidence - chronicles, letters, archaeology and artefacts - renowned historian Marc Morris illuminates a period of history that is only dimly understood, separates the truth from the legend, and tells the extraordinary story of how the foundations of England were laid.

Download or read book Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms written by Claire Breay and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Anglo-Saxon period stretches from the arrival of Germanic groups on British shores in the early 5th century to the Norman Conquest of 1066. During these centuries, the English language was used and written down for the first time, pagan populations were converted to Christianity, and the foundations of the kingdom of England were laid. This richly illustrated new book - which accompanies a landmark British Library exhibition - presents Anglo-Saxon England as the home of a highly sophisticated artistic and political culture, deeply connected with its continental neighbours. Leading specialists in early medieval history, literature and culture engage with the unique, original evidence from which we can piece together the story of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, examining outstanding and beautiful objects such as highlights from the Staffordshire hoard and the Sutton Hoo burial. At the heart of the book is the British Library's outstanding collection of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts, the richest source of evidence about Old English language and literature, including Beowulf and other poetry; the Lindisfarne Gospels, one of Britain's greatest artistic and religious treasures; the St Cuthbert Gospel, the earliest intact European book; and historical manuscripts such as Bede's Ecclesiastical History and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. These national treasures are discussed alongside other, internationally important literary and historical manuscripts held in major collections in Britain and Europe. This book, and the exhibition it accompanies, chart a fascinating and dynamic period in early medieval history, and will bring to life our understanding of these formative centuries.