Becoming a Poet in Anglo-Saxon England
Cambridge Studies in Medieval Literature Series

Combining historical, literary and linguistic evidence from Old English and Latin, Becoming a Poet in Anglo-Saxon England creates a new, more complete picture of who and what pre-Conquest English poets really were. It includes a study of Anglo-Saxon words for 'poet' and the first list of named poets in Anglo-Saxon England. Its survey of known poets identifies four social roles that poets often held - teachers, scribes, musicians and courtiers - and explores the kinds of poetry created by these individuals. The book also offers a new model for understanding the role of social groups in poets' experience: it argues that the presence or absence of a poetic community affected the work of Anglo-Saxon poets at all levels, from minute technical detail to the portrayal of character. This focus on poetic communities provides a new way to understand the intersection of history and literature in the Middle Ages.

Introduction: how can we know about Anglo-Saxon poets?; 1. What was a poet?; 2. Who became poets?; 3. The poet in the community; 4. The poet alone; 5. Spectral communities; Afterword: a way of happening; Appendix I. A handlist of named authors of Old English or Latin verse in Anglo-Saxon England; Appendix II. Skalds working in Anglo-Saxon England; Bibliography.

Emily V. Thornbury is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at the University of California, Berkeley.