The ideology of military kingship in Anglo-Saxon England: Conversion narratives in Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica and Cynewulf’s Elene

• Autorzy: Jacek Olesiejko

Abstrakty

EN

Ideologies of kingship in Anglo-Saxon England, whether theorised from ecclesiastical perspectives or perpetuated by the oral/literary practices of Old English vernacular poets, were conducive to the promulgation of Christianity among the aristocratic military classes. This article reads Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum and Cynewulf’s Elene in an attempt to locate these works in the political and cultural landscape of conversion in early Anglo-Saxon England, on the one hand, and Viking invasion and settlement of the tenth and eleventh century, on the other. While earlier criticism has looked to biblical literary models in order to elucidate Bede’s and Cynewulf’s portrayals of Edwin and Constantine, the present article argues that the portrayal of military kings therein can be better understood in the context of the secular ethos of kingship and warfare argued by ecclesiastical writers, whose ideas emanated from a shared ideological framework.

Słowa kluczowe

EN

Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum; Cynewulf’s Elene; kingship; Anglo-Saxon literature; Old English poetry

• Wydawca: Polska Akademia Nauk
• Czasopismo: Kwartalnik Neofilologiczny
• Rocznik: 2016
• Numer: 4
• Strony: 507-522

Daty

wydano

2016

Twórcy

autor

Jacek Olesiejko

Identyfikatory

Biblioteka Nauki

2076898