Crossing Boundaries: Interdisciplinary Approaches To The Art, Material Culture, Language And Literature Of The Early Medieval World
by Eric Cambridge /
2017 / English / PDF
21.2 MB Download
Interdisciplinary studies are increasingly widely recognised as
being among the most fruitful approaches to generating original
perspectives on the medieval past. In this major collection of 27
papers, contributors transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries
to offer new approaches to a number of themes ranging in time from
late antiquity to the high Middle Ages. The main focus is on
material culture, but also includes insights into the compositional
techniques of Bede and the Beowulf-poet, and the strategies adopted
by anonymous scribes to record information in unfamiliar languages.
Contributors offer fresh insights into some of the most iconic
survivals from the period, from the wooden doors of Sta Sabina in
Rome to the Ruthwell Cross, and from St Cuthbert’s coffin to the
design of its final resting place, the Romanesque cathedral at
Durham. Important thematic surveys reveal early medieval Welsh and
Pictish carvers interacting with the political and intellectual
concerns of the wider Insular and continental world. Other
contributors consider what it is to be Viking, revealing how
radically present perceptions shape our understanding of the past,
how recent archaeological work reveals the inadequacy of the
traditional categorisation of the Vikings as ‘incomers’, and how
recontextualising Viking material culture can lead to unexpected
insights into famous historical episodes such as King Edgar’s boat
trip on the Dee. Recent landmark finds, notably the runic-inscribed
Saltfleetby spindle whorl and the sword pommel from Beckley, are
also published here for the first time in comprehensive analyses
which will remain the fundamental discussions of these spectacular
objects for many years to come.This book will be indispensable
reading for everyone interested in medieval culture.
Interdisciplinary studies are increasingly widely recognised as
being among the most fruitful approaches to generating original
perspectives on the medieval past. In this major collection of 27
papers, contributors transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries
to offer new approaches to a number of themes ranging in time from
late antiquity to the high Middle Ages. The main focus is on
material culture, but also includes insights into the compositional
techniques of Bede and the Beowulf-poet, and the strategies adopted
by anonymous scribes to record information in unfamiliar languages.
Contributors offer fresh insights into some of the most iconic
survivals from the period, from the wooden doors of Sta Sabina in
Rome to the Ruthwell Cross, and from St Cuthbert’s coffin to the
design of its final resting place, the Romanesque cathedral at
Durham. Important thematic surveys reveal early medieval Welsh and
Pictish carvers interacting with the political and intellectual
concerns of the wider Insular and continental world. Other
contributors consider what it is to be Viking, revealing how
radically present perceptions shape our understanding of the past,
how recent archaeological work reveals the inadequacy of the
traditional categorisation of the Vikings as ‘incomers’, and how
recontextualising Viking material culture can lead to unexpected
insights into famous historical episodes such as King Edgar’s boat
trip on the Dee. Recent landmark finds, notably the runic-inscribed
Saltfleetby spindle whorl and the sword pommel from Beckley, are
also published here for the first time in comprehensive analyses
which will remain the fundamental discussions of these spectacular
objects for many years to come.This book will be indispensable
reading for everyone interested in medieval culture.