New titles

The Life and Times of Hengest 
Bryan Evans
 
Here is the tale of Hengest set against the end of Roman rule in Britain and the beginning of the Anglo-Saxon conquest.

The book begins with an overview of the wider European stage. Then, events in Britain are looked at through the words of Gildas, Bede, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Historia Brittonum. What information can be gleaned from them and how reliable are they? What impact have modern genetic studies had on our understanding of the age of migration? The main arguments concerning the extent of Anglo-Saxon migration are conveniently summarised.

Part two provides a cultural setting for Hengest and includes information about warcraft and beliefs. An account of early English poetry outlines of some of the tales that formed part of the matter of the poet: the tales of Offa of Angeln, Heoden and Hild, Welund, Waldere.

Part three includes the Finnsburg Fragment, the Anglo-Saxon poem that tells of Hengest. Using clues from this and other sources the author has wrought two 'Anglo-Saxon' poems, telling the tale of Hengest.

Includes 7 maps and 10 drawings by the author.

£14.95    280 pages  Approx. 170 x 244mm - 6¾  x 9½ inches

Old English Sea Terms 
Katrin Thier
 
This study covers the early medieval period up to c.1300 and includes information about seafaring, ships and their construction. It contains an extensive dictionary. Each entry has its own etymology and quotations, and is briefly analysed using evidence from the fields of archaeology, art history, history, philology, and linguistics.

It is a reference work for the use of anyone interested in the language, archaeology, and history of ships in early medieval England. It is based on the author's 2002 monograph on Old English terminology for ships and parts of ships before 1100, which was published in German. The author has reorganised, revised and added to that work so as to make the results of her research accessible to readers from varying disciplines and a wider audience.

In addition to the dictionary there are lists of source texts, a nautical glossary and a catalogue of images and finds.

£19.95    100 black & white illustrations. Paperback.  208 pages
               Approx. 8 x 11 inches - 216 x280mm

Anglo-Saxon Tools
Dennis Riley

The tools used in Anglo-Saxon England where much like those found elsewhere in Europe at that time. They have been found in graves and buried tool-hoards. Others seem to be accidental losses or to have been discarded due to wear or damage. Most are surprisingly like those in use today.

Many excavated tools are chunks of rust which provide little visual information, so the pictures used here are of reconstructions that draw on archaeological evidence. Some are accurate reproductions of specific tools and others are ‘generic reproductions’ in which the general style of the tool is captured. The author looks at the design and construction of the tools and their social importance.

The reconstructions show the tools as they may have originally looked. Because of their likeness to the originals, the reconstructions can be put to practical use and insights gained into their efficiency, durability and ease of use. This elevates the artefacts from rusty museum exhibits into functional tools that allow the user to experience the problems and pleasures of Anglo-Saxons craftsmen.

The tools included here were used for working with wood, leather, bone, horn, metals, pottery and textiles. They were used in farming, digging and building.

£14.95     80 colour & 5 black & white illustrations. 160 pages
                170 x 244mm - 6¾  x 9½ inches



The Cædmon Poems  
A Verse translation of Anglo-Saxon Christian Poetry
Damian Love
 
Cædmon is the first English poet whose name survives; thus he stands at the beginning of our literature. In Bede’s famous account, Cædmon’s nine-line Genesis hymn brought traditional oral poetry into the realm of writing some time in the latter half of the seventh century. Over the next four hundred years, a series of anonymous poets took up his challenge, producing the richest corpus of literature to emerge from early medieval Europe. High among their achievements are the works of those who followed Cædmon’s example and rewrote the stories of the Old Testament for their own time, combining Germanic tradition with the Christianity of the Mediterranean world to create vivid new renditions of the great Bible narratives. In Exodus, Genesis B, and Judith they produced masterpieces that rank beside Beowulf as monuments of the era.

This book is the first to represent the Old Testament genre comprehensively in modern English verse translation, making it available to students and non-specialist readers in a form that captures much of the vigour and rhythmic texture of the original poems.

An extensive Introduction and Explanatory Notes aid access to these unique artefacts of the early medieval world.

See a list of our titles on 'Book List' or go to 'Subject list' to search for books by their subject matter, for example 'Burial Mounds', 'Food & Feasting', 'Ships and Sea Power', 'History'. View our latest publications on the 'Recent Titles' page.

The Old English Audio section (O.E. Audio) has audio answers to exercises given in 'Learn Old English with Leofwin' .

Ordering and paying  can either be done online or by post.

Some Anglo-Saxon websites and assorted sites of interest can be found in 'Links' .