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Elves in Anglo-Saxon England : matters of belief, health, gender and identity /
Anglo-Saxon elves (Old English ælfe) are one of the best attested non-Christian beliefs in early medieval Europe, but current interpretations of the evidence derive directly from outdated nineteenth- and early twentieth-century scholarship. Integrating linguistic and textual approaches into an anthr...
| Clasificación: | Libro Electrónico |
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| Autor principal: | |
| Formato: | Electrónico eBook |
| Idioma: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK ; Rochester, NY, USA :
The Boydell Press,
2007
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| Colección: | Anglo-Saxon studies ;
8. |
| Temas: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Texto completo |
| Sumario: | Anglo-Saxon elves (Old English ælfe) are one of the best attested non-Christian beliefs in early medieval Europe, but current interpretations of the evidence derive directly from outdated nineteenth- and early twentieth-century scholarship. Integrating linguistic and textual approaches into an anthropologically-inspired framework, this book reassesses the full range of evidence. It traces continuities and changes in medieval non-Christian beliefs with a new degree of reliability, from pre-conversion times to the eleventh century and beyond, and uses comparative material from medieval Ireland and Scandinavia to argue for a dynamic relationship between beliefs and society. In particular, it interprets the cultural significance of elves as a cause of illness in medical texts, and provides new insights into the much-discussed Scandinavian magic of seidr. Elf-beliefs, moreover, were connected with Anglo-Saxon constructions of sex and gender; their changing nature provides a rare insight into a fascinating area of early medieval European culture |
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| Descripción Física: | 1 online resource (xi, 226 pages) : illustrations |
| Bibliografía: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 185-219) and index |
| ISBN: | 9781846155376 1846155371 |
| ISSN: | 1475-2468 ; |