Table Of ContentTREES IN THE
Trees were of fundamental importance in Anglo-Saxon material culture – but
they were also a powerful presence in Anglo-Saxon religion before and after the RELIGIONS
introduction of Christianity. This book shows that they remained prominent in
M T
early English Christianity, and indeed that they may have played a crucial role in
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E OF EARLY
mediating the transition between ancient beliefs and the new faith. It argues that
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certain characteristics of sacred trees in England can be determined from insular E
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E S
contexts alone, independent of comparative evidence from culturally related V I MEDIEVAL
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peoples. This nevertheless suggests the existence of traditions comparable to those A
found in Scandinavia and Germany. Tree symbolism helped early English L T
Christians to understand how the beliefs of their ancestors about trees, posts, and E H ENGLAND
N E
pillars paralleled the appearance of similar objects in the Old Testament. In this G
R
way, the religious symbols of their forebears were aligned with precursors to the L E
A L
cross in Scripture. Literary evidence from England and Scandinavia similarly
N I MICHAEL D. J. BINTLEY
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indicates a shared tradition of associations between the bodies of humans, trees,
D
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and other plant-life. Though potentially ancient, these ideas flourished amongst O
N
the abundance of vegetative symbolism found in the Christian tradition.
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MICHAEL D.J.BINTLEY is Senior Lecturer in Medieval Literature at Canterbury
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Christ Church University.
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ANGLO-SAXON STUDIES 26 Y
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an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd
PO Box 9, Woodbridge IP12 3DF (GB) and
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Anglo-Saxon Studies 26
TREES IN THE RELIGIONS
OF EARLY MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
Anglo-Saxon Studies
ISSN 1475–2468
General Editors
John Hines
Catherine Cubitt
‘Anglo-Saxon Studies’ aims to provide a forum for the best schol-
arship on the Anglo-Saxon peoples in the period from the end
of Roman Britain to the Norman Conquest, including compara-
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Professor John Hines, School of History, Archaeology and Reli-
gion, Cardiff University, John Percival Building, Colum Drive,
Cardiff, Wales, CF10 3EU, UK
Professor Catherine Cubitt, Centre for Medieval Studies, Univer-
sity of York, The King’s Manor, York, England, YO1 7EP, UK
Boydell & Brewer, PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, IP12
3DF, UK
Previously published volumes in the series are listed at the back of this book
TREES IN THE RELIGIONS
OF EARLY MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
Michael D. J. Bintley
THE BOYDELL PRESS
© Michael D. J. Bintley 2015
All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation
no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system,
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without the prior permission of the copyright owner
The right of Michael D. J. Bintley to be identified
as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
First published 2015
The Boydell Press, Woodbridge
ISBN 978-1-84383-989-7
The Boydell Press is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
and of Boydell & Brewer Inc.
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Contents
List of Illustrations vi
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
1. Holy Trees and Inculturation in the Conversion Period 25
2. Anglo-Saxon Holy Trees and their Northern
European Counterparts 69
3. Rewriting the Holy Rood in Anglo-Saxon Spiritual History 91
4. The Human Forest: People and Trees in Early Medieval
England and Scandinavia 129
Summary 153
Bibliography 161
Index 189
Illustrations
1. The Western Ring-Ditch Complex at Yeavering:
mortuary enclosure or shrine with associated inhumation
burials, centred by a freestanding wooden post
(Hope-Taylor, Yeavering, Fig. 52; © Crown copyright.EH) 30
2. The two alignments at Yeavering based on free-standing
wooden posts. Firstly, those which centred the Western
and Eastern Ring-ditches, and secondly the posts beside
building D2, structure E, and the A-area hall buildings
(Blair, The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society, Fig. 7;
by permission of John Blair) 31
3. Alignment of free-standing wooden posts AX and BX
at Yeavering. Post BX stood within the Great Enclosure.
(Hope-Taylor, Yeavering, Fig. 62; © Crown copyright.EH) 34
4. Building D2 at Yeavering, with free-standing wooden post
at north-west corner (upper left)
(Hope-Taylor, Yeavering, Fig. 41; © Crown copyright.EH) 36
5. Reconstruction of Structure E ‘amphitheatre’ and associated
free-standing wooden post, Yeavering
(Hope-Taylor, Yeavering, Fig. 57; © Crown copyright.EH) 38
6. Brian Hope-Taylor’s proposed alignment of the free-standing
wooden posts at Yeavering. The Western Ring-Ditch Complex
is at the bottom far left. The other wooden posts are marked
standing beside building D2, structure E, to the right of the
A-area hall buildings (post AX), and within the Great
Enclosure (post BX)
(Hope-Taylor, Yeavering, Fig. 63; © Crown copyright.EH) 40
7. Building B and post BX, Yeavering
(Plan by Michael Shapland, based on Hope-Taylor,
Yeavering, Fig. 33) 41
vi
8. Vine scroll on the Ruthwell Cross, Ruthwell, Dumfries (author) 50
9. The Bewcastle Cross, Bewcastle, Cumbria (author) 51
10. One of the ten Byzantine silver bowls from the Mound 1 ship
burial, Sutton Hoo, Suffolk
(© The Trustees of the British Museum) 61
11. The Sandbach Crosses in the marketplace of Sandbach, Cheshire
(author) 101
12. The ‘Ancestors of Christ’ panel on the southern Sandbach Cross,
detail (author) 102
The author and publishers are grateful to all the institutions and
individuals listed for permission to reproduce the materials in which
they hold copyright. Every effort has been made to trace the copyright
holders; apologies are offered for any omission, and the publishers
will be pleased to add any necessary acknowledgement in subsequent
editions.
vii
Acknowledgements
My thanks to all who have helped and supported me in various ways
throughout the writing of this book. I would especially like to thank
Richard North and Andrew Reynolds, who played an instrumental
part in its early development. Other teachers who helped to shape my
understanding of early medieval England and Scandinavia included
Susan Irvine, Martin Welch, David Ashurst and Winfried Rudolf.
My doctoral examiners Matthew Townend and Christopher Abram
offered advice and criticism where it was needed, and helped me to
better understand what I was trying to say. In 2009 I had the pleasure
of organising the ‘Woodlands, Trees, and Timber in the Anglo-Saxon
World Conference’ at the Institute of Archaeology with Michael Shap-
land, the proceedings of which we co-edited over the next few years,
learning a great deal along the way. I am especially grateful to Michael
for his sagacity and enthusiasm, and to Fiona and Matilda for lend-
ing him to me. I am also grateful to all who spoke at this conference
as well as those who later contributed to its proceedings, including
Oliver Rackham, Richard Darrah, Damian Goodburn, John Baker, Clive
Tolley, John Blair, Sarah Semple, Jane Sidell, Martin Comey, Jennifer
Neville, Pirkko Koppinen, and Della Hooke. Della, in particular, was
especially supportive in helping this monograph to publication, and
gently correcting some of its errors along the way. Clive Tolley proved
a formidable copy-editor, and pointed out many more. Jane Hawkes,
Meg Boulton, Clare Lees, Sue Brunning and Alaric Hall also contrib-
uted their wisdom and criticism at various points, and Caroline Palmer
at Boydell provided invaluable further encouragement. Thanks also
to other medievalists who have listened to me talk about trees for a
very, very long time, mostly without feeling the need to move abroad,
including Tom Williams, Martin Locker, Ciaran Arthur, Leonie Hicks,
Vicky Symons and Eric Lacey. Thanks also to all my other friends who
have done so with no vested professional interest. I would also like to
thank my students at Christ Church, Corpus, and University College
London, who have shared in or contributed to my thoughts about trees
along the way, and my new colleagues and friends in Kent. Naturally, I
accept responsibility for all errors, oversights, and speculations which
have survived in these pages. Lastly, I would like to thank my parents
and my brother for their boundless support. But most of all, thanks to
Helen for the endless miles spent walking in drizzle, sleet, and fog to
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