Writing the Map of Anglo-Saxon England: Essays in Cultural Geography

294 Pages·2008·1.333 MB·English

by  Nicholas Howe

Writing the Map of Anglo-Saxon England

N I C H O L A S H O W E
Writing the Map of
Anglo-Saxon England
E S S AY S I N C U LT U R A L G E O G R A P H Y
Yale University Press
New Haven &
London
Published with assistance from the Louis Stern Memorial Fund.
Copyright ∫ 2008 by Nicholas Howe.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in
any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S.
Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written
permission from the publishers.
All photographs are by the author.
Set in Sabon Roman type by Keystone Typesetting, Inc,
Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania.
Printed in the United States of America by Thomson-Shore, Inc.,
Dexter, Michigan.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Howe, Nicholas.
Writing the map of Anglo-Saxon England : essays in cultural geography /
Nicholas Howe.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-300-11933-6 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Anglo-Saxons. 2. Great Britain—History—Anglo-Saxon period, 449–1066.
3. Civilization, Anglo-Saxon. 4. Civilization, Anglo-Saxon, in literature.
5. English literature—Old English, ca. 450–1100—History and criticism.
6. Great Britain—History—Anglo-Saxon period, 449–1066—Historiography.
7. Cultural geography—Great Britain. 8. Manuscripts, Medieval—England.
I. Title.
da152.2.h69 2008
942.01—dc22
2007016407
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the
Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on
Library Resources.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Georgina, as always

Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction: Book and Land 1
Part I. Local Places
1 Writing the Boundaries 29
2 Home and Landscape 47
Part II. Geography and History
3 Englalond and the Postcolonial Void 75
4 Rome as Capital of Anglo-Saxon England 101
5 From Bede’s World to ‘‘Bede’s World’’ 125
viii Contents
Part III. Books of Elsewhere
6 Books of Elsewhere: Cotton Tiberius B v and
Cotton Vitellius A xv 151
7 Falling into Place: Dislocation in Junius 11 195
Conclusion: By Way of Durham 225
Notes 233
Index 269