In the words of its own historians, pre-Norman Britain held five languages and four peoples. Yet in modern scholarship, Old English is too often studied separately from the other languages that surrounded it. This Element offers a comprehensive synthesis of the evidence from the pre-Norman period that situates Old English as one of several living languages that together formed the basis of a vibrant oral and written literary culture in early medieval Britain. Each section centres around a key thematic topic and is illustrated through a series of memorable case studies that encapsulate the extent to which multilingualism appeared in every facet of life in early medieval Britain: religious and scholarly; political and military; economic and cultural; intellectual and artistic. The Element makes an overall argument for the dynamic extent of transcultural literary and linguistic culture in early medieval Britain before the arrival of the Normans.
| ISBN: | 9781009275859 |
| Publication date: | 12th October 2023 |
| Author: | Lindy Brady |
| Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 75 pages |
| Series: | Elements in England in the Early Medieval World |
| Genres: |
Bilingualism and multilingualism Ancient Greek and Roman literature Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval |