Anglo Saxon, Celtic, and Norse

This paper documents a number of “wit”- and “tiw”-roots in the chapter Anglo-Saxon Genealogy in Grimm's Teutonic Mythology. “Wit”-roots refer to Woden and “Tiw”-roots refer to the god “Tiw”, “Tuw” or “Tue”.
The Saxon Chronicle says the Jutes occupied Kent and the Isle of Wight, the Saxons Essex, Sussex and Wessex, the Angles Eastangle, Mercia and Northumberland.
The names of Woden's posterity in the pedigrees for Kent (Wôden → Wecta / Wehta → Witta → Withgils) and Mercia (Woden → Withelgeatus → Waga → Wihtleagus) contain “wit”-cores.
Odhinn had three sons. One of these sons (Vegdeg) ruled over East Saxony; his son was called Vitrgils, and had two sons, Ritta (al. Picta, evid. Witta, Wicta).
Tuisco seems to be  cognate to Tiw, which may represent a reversed form of Wit. In Gothic dialect the god would be Thiudiska, in OHG. Diutisco, the offspring of the people (thiuda, diot) itself.

In Saxony the ruling dynasty seems to be based on the cores “Wit” and “Wet”.
The progenitor Widukind or Wittekind, was a leader of the Saxons from 777 to 785.
Wettin Castle is the ancestral seat of the House of Wettin, ruling dynasty of Saxony and Poland. Wettin was first documented as Vitin civitas in a 961 deed issued by German king Otto I.
Wittenberg was also the seat of the Elector of Saxony, a dignity held by the dukes of Saxe-Wittenberg, making it one of the most powerful cities in the Holy Roman Empire. Historical documents first mention the settlement in 1180 as a small village founded by Flemish colonists under the rule of the House of Ascania.
The power of the Kingdom of Saxony has been founded on the silver mining on the Rammelsberg (documented around 968; Ore mining started in Bronze Age) and at the silver rush of Freiberg (1186).
Officially the names Widukind and Wittekind are interpreted as "child of the wood" (i.e. a wolf), [dubious]. The name Wettin may be derived from the Old-Sorbian word vitin. Vitin is based on “vit”, which is interpreted as "Welcome".
The idea to consider vitin as an Old-Sorbian word is rather grotesque. Any occupying Saxon landlord will choose a Saxon title for his castle and the new settlement. A suitable root for Saxon names is “wit” (representing “Tiw”, “Vut”, “we two”, etc.).
The rulers therefore may have based the naming conventions for Wittekind, Wittenberg, Wettin, vitin (etc.) on the principal runes “ᚠᚢᚦ” (“Vuth” or “Wyth”).

Sotto il titolo convenzionale di Navigatio sancti Brendani va il racconto della lunga navigazione di Brendano alla ricerca della Terra repromissionis sanctorum. Brendano e i suoi compagni raggiungono la meta dopo aver navigato per sette anni, compiendo un periplo fondato sul calendario liturgico e celebrando la Pasqua sul dorso di Iasconio e il Natale nell'isola della comunità di sant'Ailbe. Giovanni Orlandi aveva dedicato a questa opera una monografia nel 1968 (Navigatio sancti Brendani I. Introduzione) e numerosi articoli tra il 1983 e il 2006; aveva lavorato assiduamente all'edizione della Navigatio, studiando e collazionando i suoi tanti testimoni. Alla sua morte, nel 2007, il materiale raccolto in quarant'anni di ricerca comprendeva la collazione di circa cento codici. Rossana Guglielmetti ha continuato a lavorare all'edizione, concludendo il lavoro di Orlandi. Il volume è quindi innanzitutto un modello di impegno e di scienza che ha portato a compimento un progetto così significativo, ma anche e specialmente un esempio di condivisione di ideali scientifici e di collaborazione nel senso più alto del termine. A Rossana Guglielmetti si deve la recensio di tutti i codici finora noti, 141 manoscritti che datano dal X al XV sec. Il progetto editoriale prevede che al volume del 2014, concepito come editio minor e destinato ad un pubblico più ampio, segua un altro volume con l'editio maior. Il libro si apre con una vasta introduzione (xiii-ccli) dedicata agli aspetti storico-letterari della Navigatio. I rapporti tra i codici e la loro classificazione in cinque famiglie sono affrontati con grande maestria e cura filologica, dando ragione dello stemma codicum proposto (cxxxii-ccxx) e motivando le scelte operate in sede di constitutio textus. La recensio dei codici dimostra come tutti discendano da un solo archetipo, ω, già contraddistinto da lacune e errori di omissione (cxcii-ccii). Il testo è accompagnato da una traduzione a fronte in italiano che, pur mantenendo lo stile dell'originale, risulta di gradevole lettura (1-112); seguono un commento (114-184) e gli indici (186-215). L'edizione conserva la divisione in capitoli di Selmer (1959) e il volume, che accantona definitivamente tale edizione, si caratterizza per la misura con cui ne confuta scelte editoriali e conclusioni. Il volume ribadisce-ma non mai a sufficienza-lo scarto temporale tra il contesto cui apparteneva Brendano e i primi testimoni della Navigatio che risalgono al X sec. In questo arco di tempo vanno tenuti distinti almeno quattro momenti: la figura storica di Brendano, la sua agiografia, la Navigatio e i primi codici che la conservano. Brendano, abate di Clonfert, è nato nell'ultimo quarto del V sec. e morto nel 577 (secondo gli Annali dell'Ulster); la vicenda della Navigatio riflette piuttosto la condizione dell'Irlanda dell'VIII sec., che vede una diversa forma di monachesimo e, sul piano letterario, uno sviluppo di generi letterari autoctoni che, nel contenuto, conservano tracce del paganesimo celtico.

The majority of known cross pendants from the Anglo-Saxon to Medieval periods are manufactured in metal, with a few
known in jet. During excavations at Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland, a cross pendant of antler/bone came to light. As
the excavation data did not provide firm dating evidence, further research was required to correctly place the pendant
chronologically. This paper presents the results of that research, as well as a brief discussion of the pendants material
and manufacture, and of the possible connections it suggests with the Insular church in Northumbria. Comparisons are
made with typologically similar examples in metal, stone, jet, ivory carvings and manuscript artwork in order to try and
offer a suitable timeframe for the pendant’s use. The results show that similar crosses in various media appear from the
seventh century onwards, but this simple example is better placed in the late Saxon period.

Chapter 16 in "The evidence of material culture: Studies in honour of Professor Vera Evison"

The global resurgence of fascist leaders, the violent terrorist attacks of white supremacists, and racist, homophobic, transphobic, misogynistic, and other hate-fueled rhetoric that has come to dominate our public and private forums of life makes it clear that we must collectively push back against institutionally sanctioned hate to help ensure the safety of our marginalized community members and to safeguard the futures we anticipate. White supremacist appeals to “purity” and fascist leaders’ grotesque captivation with national origin myths perpetuate ideologies of purgation. Mary Douglas’s early theorizations of purity and purgation in “Purity and Danger” were written against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement - the 1963 March on Washington, the Selma to Montgomery march of 1965, the formation of the Black Panthers in 1966, the Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court case of 1967. We are now in another position to reconsider the power of revolt and the revolting with its multifarious meanings.  Our calamitous times demand a call to action, and this 10th-anniversary double-issue of postmedieval can be our field’s megaphone. Early English Studies (formerly Anglo-Saxon studies) in particular has been resistant to engage with theoretical texts and criticism, especially with relation to critical race theory, and recent conversations among medieval scholars have accentuated this problem in Early English studies and beyond.  Thus, this special edition encourages contributors to engage in various theoretical discussions and approaches beyond white, Christian, Anglo-centric (or Eurocentric) methodologies. The goal of this special issue endeavors to delve into early English texts, history, art or related material and engage with scholarship that critiques the racism, homo- and transphobia, xenophobia, ableism, and misogyny long embedded in our scholarship and in our classrooms. 

To this end, this special issue seeks papers on topics that capsize the racist narrative to which Medieval Studies broadly and Early English Studies especially have been held captive. We ask for papers that embrace ideas and bodies discarded in traditional discourse and that rebels against scholarship that is both sterilized and sterilizing. This issue encourages contributions from various disciplines and methodologies within all of Medieval Studies but wish to highlight the urgent and decisive intersectional work within Early English studies. Through this collaborative endeavor, we hope to create a compilation of essays that will declutter centuries worth of traditionalist, elitist and racist politics in the field. We endeavor to include pieces from various disciplines within Early English studies including literary, history, archaeology, art history, etc. that can serve as a foundational source for scholars and students as well as a catalyst for further research. In particular, we encourage scholarly articles that embrace critical race theory, gender and sexuality studies, class studies, et al., and/or the possibilities for overlap and discussions of intersectionality. Other approaches that confront revulsion and cultivate revolution are welcome.

List of authors coming soon.

First mentioned in February 5, 1693/4, when it stood in the ruins of St. Dogmael’s Abbey, Pembrokeshire, Wales, St. Dogmael’s Stone – located today inside St. Thomas’s Church – was considered ‘The Ogham Rosetta Stone’ because it is a Bilingual Stone, which contains the same inscription in two different scripts: Roman Letters and Ogham. This article presents a systematization of the main information related to this monument and an analysis of it, pointing out its importance to the Ogham Studies.

Unlike the Old English Beowulf, whose Scandinavian characters and setting have engendered numerous debates about Scandinavian influence, no such critical conversation has explored the Middle English romance Havelok the Dane’s possible Scandinavian sources with the same vigor. Though some scholars have briefly flirted with ideas of Norse influence in the tale, the general consensus remains that Havelok is merely a Middle English re-working of an Anglo- Norman tale. Yet, the Middle English version contains an element unique from its older French counterparts (L’Estorie des Engles by Geoffrei Gaimar and Lai d’Havloc), the use of the name Birkebeyn for the Danish king. This name, while neither existing in native Anglo-Saxon tales nor in the French versions, finds exclusive use in Scandinavian history from a time preceding the Middle English version by approximately a century. With scholars placing this work as coming out of Lincolnshire, an area that lies deep in what was the Danelaw (the north and east regions of England previously controlled by the Scandinavians in the tenth and eleventh centuries), the Birkebeyn name then causes us to reevaluate the extent of possible Scandinavian links in Havelok the Dane.

This paper seeks to explore these links between Middle English romance Havelok the Dane and the Scandinavian historical figures and events of the Norwegian civil war period (ca. 1130–1240), most notably the birkebeiner-facton and Hákon Hákonarson. By evaluating the parallel presentation of history and the Havelok story, I suggest that we will see this tale in a new light, as a product of a mixed Anglo-Scandinavian culture whose connections to both identities were still as vibrant as ever.

Les titulatures reflètent l'étendue du pouvoir d'un roi, mais renvoient aussi l'image qu'il entend donner de lui-même. Dans une période de mutation politique rapide dans le monde insulaire, il est donc logique que ces titulatures évoluent elles aussi, pour mettre en lumière les conquêtes ou les annexions, tout en signalant les revendications territoriales. Au début du IX e siècle, l'hégémonie mercienne se traduisait par l'utilisation de titres impériaux ; à compter de la fin du siècle, les victoires décisives remportées par le Wessex permettent à ses rois d'assumer une titulature de plus en plus audacieuse. Rendant d'abord compte de l'incorporation dans un même royaume d'Angles et de Saxons, le roi Alfred se présente comme roi d'un nouveau royaume, celui des « Anglo-Saxons ». Reprenant ensuite l'étiquette ethnique unificatrice et salvificatrice créée par Bède, lui et ses successeurs se présentent progressivement comme les rois des Anglais. Cette capacité à dominer plusieurs royaumes que tout séparait quelques décennies plus tôt, l'efficacité de la lutte contre les vikings, les conquêtes réalisées et l'influence croissante du roi en-dehors de son royaume lui permettent progressivement de passer une nouvelle étape, en adoptant des titres plus clinquants. Si l'on en croit la communication politique du Wessex aux X e-XI e siècles, le royaume est devenu un empire, a minima pendant le règne des souverains les plus puissants, comme AEthelstan, Edgar ou Cnut.

Regnal styles reflect how broad the power of a king is, but they also show the image that he wants to project. During a period of intense political change in the British isles, the regnal styles are intended to change too, so that conquests and annexations may be highlighted, and territorial claims asserted. At the beginning of the ninth century, the Mercian hegemony was manifested by the use of such titles; at the end of that century, the crucial victories of Wessex allow their kings to assume increasingly audacious styles. As he had incorporated Angles in a Saxon kingdom, King Alfred appeared as the king of a new kingdom, the kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons. Then, he and his successors took up an unifying and redeeming ethnic label forged by the Venerable Bede, and they progressively became the Kings of the English. Because they were able to rule several kingdoms, that were yet divided a few decades earlier, to fight efficiently against the Vikings, to achieve conquests and to have a growing influence outside the kingdom, the kings of Winchester chose even more daring and showy regnal styles. If one believes the political communication of Wessex during the tenth and eleventh centuries, the kingdom had become an empire, at the very least during the reign of its most powerful rulers, such as AEthelstan, Edgar or Cnut.

Piscium quem vos haked nuncupatis. Communautés monastiques et imaginaire maritime dans l'Angleterre anglo-saxonne Withdrawal from the world and regular fasting have stimulated the foundation of monasteries in isolated and fishy areas, such as coastal regions, where land and sea mingle (islands, marshes, etc.). The economic expansion of several monasteries, like Ely or Ramsey, allowed them to cumulate rights and estates in places where they could control fishing activities and salt production. As a result, these religious institutions partly assumed the role of market for seafood, which made them central for interactions with the littoral communities. Thanks to this encounter between monks and littoral communities, elements from maritime culture were also preserved. Speeches about the sea and the littoral space, which had probably appeared in the maritime communities, were then the subject of original developments, whether in poetic collections, hagiographies, liturgical sources and even in the choice of personal names. It is this whole process that we wish to highlight in our communication, based on a varied documentation borrowing from both economic and cultural history.

The present thesis involves a study of the various ways in which the Northernmost regions of Fenno-Scandinavia and their inhabitants were depicted as being associated with the supernatural in pre-Modern literature. Its findings are based on an exhaustive study of the numerous texts engaging with this subject, ranging from the Roman era to the publication of the Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus of Olaus Magnus in 1555. The thesis presents and analyses the most common supernatural motifs associated with this Far- Northern area, which include animal transformation, sorcery and pagan worship, as well as speculating about their origins, and analyzes the ways in which such ideas and images evolved, both over time and depending on the nature of the written sources in which they appear. The author argues that Northern Fenno-Scandinavia was thought of as a wild, supernatural and pagan land because of the differences in languages, ways of living and magical practices of its inhabitants, an image partially mirrored in literary texts, some of which are of considerable antiquity. The thesis also notes the way in which the supernatural images associated with the Sámi and Finnic peoples seem to have also become attached to the other Germanic-related people living in the north of Norway, who are also often depicted as supernatural “others” equipped with supernatural or magical skills in the literature.