Dying and Death in Later Anglo-Saxon England

by Victoria Thompson

Pre-Conquest attitudes towards the dying and the dead have major implications for every aspect of culture, society and religion of the Anglo-Saxon period; but death-bed and funerary practices have been comparatively and unjustly neglected by historical scholarship. In her wide-ranging analysis, Dr. Thompson examines such practices in the context of confessional and penitential literature, wills, poetry, chronicles and homilies, to show that complex and ambiguous ideas about death were current at all levels of Anglo-Saxon society. Her study also takes in grave monuments, showing in particular how the Anglo-Scandinavian sculpture of the ninth to the eleventh centuries may indicate not only the status, but also the religious and cultural alignment of those who commissioned and made them.

Genres: History, Medieval

246 pages, Paperback

First published June 21, 2004

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Victoria Thompson undertook her postgraduate work in English and Medieval Studies at the University of York and currently lectures in medieval history for New York University's London Program.

She also writes fiction as V.M. Whitworth and Victoria Whitworth.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough, though 'brief survey' on the practices, ideals, and beliefs in tenth- and eleventh-century England. While the analysis was solid and the examples were numerous, I found myself wondering about general society; this book focuses more on Christian practices and the clergy, rather than everyday life.

[Peter Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dying and Death in later Anglo-Saxon England by V Thompson, 2002, 208 pgs


This is a very well written and fascinating book that really gets into the Anglo-Saxon attitude to dying and death. It is extremely detailed and for the reader with an interest in Anglo-Saxon England, rather than dying and death specifically, the level of detail is such that it isn't always an easy read.


Chapters include:

Introduction

Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians

Dying and death in a complicated world

Dying with decency

The body under siege in life and death

The gravestone, the grave and the Wyrm

Judgement on earth and in heaven

Conclusion


There is a lot to take in with each paragraph, but there is also a lot of incidental little details that are interesting in themselves, such as complaints about those who were to watch over a corpse engaging in drinking and horseplay.


Thompson brings out the lack of Christian doctrine concerning burial and how much of it was governed by practice. You come away with there being no such thing as a Christian burial per se, but lots of things which displayed Christian influenced beliefs (even if on questionable doctrinal authority), surrounding the area.


The chapter on Aethelflaed and what we can learn from her funerary arrangements is the standout, but all had interest for me, even if on occasion the detail was a bit much to take in, such as that concerning Laud 482 and the different influences in various stone carvings. The leprosy section was good and gilds and death was fascinating. It's a real shame we only have the regulations of so few gilds, as we could learn a lot from their study.


This book is clearly laid out and Thompson gives the OE word in translation and then uses it, which is nice and it helps you become familiar with some of the language. One issue I had with this printing was that the odd word wasn't printed that sharply, being quite faint and these would appear at random.


This is a good book that delivers more than you'd expect from the title, but the level of detail could make it a quite involved read for the non-specialist student of the topic. I'm very glad that I read it.

[Redmond Gurney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not sure if I’m going to start reviewing everything I read for my Long Essay, but this was genuinely very engagingly written and interesting. I’m amazed that Christian attitudes to death and burial in this country basically haven’t changed since the Anglo-Saxons. As academic books go this was great, but I’d hardly recommend it unless you plan on writing an essay about it.