Families of the King: Writing Identity in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

278 Pages·2004·14.435 MB·English

by  Alice Sheppard

FAMILIES OF THE KING:
WRITING IDENTITY IN THE ANGLO-SAXON CHRONICLE
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ALICE SHEPPARD
Families of the King:
Writing Identity in the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS
Toronto Buffalo London
www.utppublishing.com
University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2004
Toronto Buffalo London
Printed in Canada
ISBN 0-8020-8984-4
Printed on acid-free paper
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Sheppard, Alice
Families of the king : writing identity in the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle / Alice Sheppard.
(Toronto Old English series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8020-8984-4
1. Anglo-Saxon chronicle. 2. Great Britain - Kings and rulers.
3. Great Britain - History - Anglo-Saxon period, 449-1066 -
Historiography. 4. Great Britain - History - Norman period, 1066-
1154 - Historiography. I. Title. II. Series.
DA150.S54 2004 942.01 C2004-903092-2
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its
publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario
Arts Council.
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support for its
publishing activities of the Government of Canada through the Book
Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP).
for Daniel
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Reading the Chronicle's Past 3
1 Writing Identity in Chronicle History 9
2 Making Alfred King 26
3 Proclaiming Alfred's Kingship 51
4 Undoing/Ethelred 71
5 Unmaking vEthelred but Making Cnut 94
6 Writing William's Kingship 121
7 Conclusion: After Lives 144
Notes 157
Bibliography 217
Index 251
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Acknowledgments
In graduate school, reading the prefaces to scholarly books was a ritual
that made me laugh: I never understood how so many people (and ani-
mals) came to be involved in one thing. The proverbial boot is now on
the other foot. As I reflect on the process by which this book came into
being, I realize that I might have written the words, but that the book
itself owes equally as much to those who in various ways have sur-
rounded me.
My dissertation committee, Tom Hill, Andy Galloway, Jay Jasanoff,
and Art Groos, allowed me to bite off more than I could chew and
guided me in the skills of swallowing properly. As they have contin-
ued to be insightful resources and sharp readers after my graduation, I
thank them for their double duty.
My friends and colleagues at Penn State - Carey Eckhardt, Bob
Edwards, Bob Frank, Kit Hume, Liz Jenkins, Jeanne Krochalis, Mark
Morrisson, and Laura Reed-Morrisson - have read and reread drafts
with unfailing enthusiasm and great generosity. To my friends and
family: I deeply appreciate your support and encouragement.
To my colleagues in the field - Richard Abels, Nicole Clifton, Tom
Hall, Nick Howe, Paul Hyams, Tom Noble, Katherine O'Brien
O'Keeffe, and Mary Ramsey - thank you for your intense commitment
to this project. I must also thank George Brown, Robert Polhemus, and
the library staff at Stanford University for making it possible for me to
work in Palo Alto. Eloise Blanchard's unflagging energy and patient
readings helped me understand the core of what I wanted to say
Chapter 3 was initially published in Philological Quarterly and parts
of chapters 4 and 5 were published in Via Crucis: Essays on Sources and
Ideas in Memory of J.E. Cross. For permission to republish this work, I