Alfredian Prologues and Epilogues
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:16th Nov '23
£137.50
Supplier delay - available to order, but may take longer than usual.
The Old English literary works traditionally associated with King Alfred are furnished with an array of prologues, epilogues, and other frame texts. These texts give fascinating glimpses into the ideas and contexts underlying the composition and reception of the Alfredian corpus. They draw attention to the ways in which authority and authorship interacted in the period and to contemporary perceptions of poetry and prose. This new edition addresses the contextual, critical, and theoretical issues raised by the frame texts, including their relationship to earlier traditions of prologue and epilogue, their engagement with English as a literary language, and their implications for the authorship debate. The texts are edited here for the first time in a single volume, with a facing-page modern English translation and a wide range of explanatory material.
This volume not only provides readers with fundamental information about the Alfredian prologues and epilogues, but also addresses various issues raised by them and shed new light upon these texts, the production and reception of Alfredian works, and the history of Old English frame texts in general. As the first complete edition of these texts, this volume is very useful in exploring them, and provides a firm basis for future studies. * Kazutomo Karasawa, SELIM Journal *
The high quality of the individual chapters makesthis volume a welcome addition to university libraries where medieval and early modern history is taught, although it is unfortunate that its focus could not extend to include the adoption of historical narrative in image form, which abounds across the period in manuscript illuminations, coinage, and cartography. * Mark Whelan, Medium Ævum Journal *
ISBN: 9780199692101
Dimensions: 223mm x 144mm x 23mm
Weight: 504g
310 pages