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Old age in early medieval England : a cultural history / Thijs Porck.
Van Pelt Library HQ1064.E5 P67 2019
Available
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Porck, Thijs.
- Series:
- Anglo-Saxon studies ; 33.
- Anglo-Saxon studies ; 33
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Old age--England--History--To 1500.
- Old age.
- Aging--Social aspects--England--History--To 1500.
- Aging.
- Aging--Social aspects.
- History.
- Great Britain--History--Medieval period, 1066-1485.
- Great Britain.
- Old age in literature.
- English literature--History and criticism.
- English literature.
- Literature, Medieval--History and criticism.
- Literature, Medieval.
- England.
- Physical Description:
- x, 276 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 24 cm.
- Place of Publication:
- Woodbridge, Suffolk : The Boydell Press, 2019.
- Summary:
- How did Anglo-Saxons reflect on the experience of growing old? Was it really a golden age for the elderly, as has been suggested? This first full survey of the Anglo-Saxon cultural conceptualisation of old age, as manifested and reflected in the texts and artwork of the inhabitants of early medieval England, presents a more nuanced and complicated picture. The author argues that although senescence was associated with the potential for wisdom and pious living, the Anglo-Saxons also anticipated various social, psychological and physical repercussions of growing old. Their attitude towards elderly men and women - whether they were saints, warriors or kings - was equally ambivalent. Multidisciplinary in approach, this book makes use of a wide variety of sources, ranging from the visual arts to hagiography, homiletic literature and heroic poetry. Individual chapters deal with early medieval definitions of the life cycle; the merits and downsides of old age as represented in Anglo-Saxon homilies and wisdom poetry; the hagiographic topos of elderly saints; the portrayal of grey-haired warriors in heroic literature; Beowulf as a mirror for elderly kings; and the cultural roles attributed to old women.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN:
- 1783273755
- 9781783273751
- OCLC:
- 1047618927
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