King Alfred the Great, his hagiographers and his cult : a childhood remembered / Tomás Mario Kalmar.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kalmar, Tomás Mario, 1942- author.

Series:

Hagiography beyond tradition.

Hagiography beyond tradition

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Alfred, King of England, 849-899--Influence.

Alfred.

Alfred, King of England, 849-899--Legends.

Hagiography.

Political leadership.

Great Britain--Kings and rulers--Biography.

Great Britain.

Great Britain--History--Alfred, 871-899.

Great Britain--History--Anglo-Saxon period, 449-1066.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (307 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam : Amsterdam University Press, 2023.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

This book situates Alfred the Great in his hagiographic context. For 150 years, the fables told in the ninth century about Alfred's childhood have posed interlocking disciplinary challenges to historians committed to evicting romance from history. Blending current Hagiography Studies with historical, literary, and biblical hermeneutics can help us forgo the anti-hagiographic commitments which motivated the scholars who purified the Victorian cult of Alfred by expunging his legends and salvaging his historicity. The book focusses on the typological functions of three Alfredian fables from the 'Old English Chronicle', the 'Old English Boethius', and Asser's 'Vita Ælfredii', analyses the plot common to all three, critiques the psychological conjecture that Alfred's childhood memory was their common source, and shows that synoptically they can help us see how Alfred shaped the curve of his own life's destiny and how he engaged in the formation of his own cult to last a thousand years.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Table of Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

I Cult and Canon: The Chronicle

Some Key Dates: 1849-1904

1 Kiss the Reliquary

2 Remember the Pope

3 Fix the Date

II Too Good to be True: The Life

4 Write the Life

5 Win the Book

III The Curve of Destiny: The Works

6 Cross the Border

7 Win the Crown

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 29 Nov 2023).

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

1-003-69850-6

1-04-079437-8

90-485-4499-8

9781003698500

OCLC:

1375411786