Becoming a Poet in Anglo-Saxon England / Emily V. Thornbury.
Material type: TextSeries: Cambridge Studies in Medieval Literature ; 88 | Cambridge Studies in Medieval Literature ; 88.Publisher: Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2014Description: 1 online resource (338 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)ISBN:- 9781107280304 (ebook)
- 829/.1009 23
- PR203 .T46 2014
Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 04 Apr 2016).
Combining historical, literary and linguistic evidence from Old English and Latin, Becoming a Poet in Anglo-Saxon England creates a new, more complete picture of who and what pre-Conquest English poets really were. It includes a study of Anglo-Saxon words for 'poet' and the first list of named poets in Anglo-Saxon England. Its survey of known poets identifies four social roles that poets often held - teachers, scribes, musicians and courtiers - and explores the kinds of poetry created by these individuals. The book also offers a new model for understanding the role of social groups in poets' experience: it argues that the presence or absence of a poetic community affected the work of Anglo-Saxon poets at all levels, from minute technical detail to the portrayal of character. This focus on poetic communities provides a new way to understand the intersection of history and literature in the Middle Ages.
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