Writing Power in W r i Anglo-Saxon England systems of power and patronage in t i Anglo-Saxon England are currently the n g focus of concerted scholarly attention. This book explores how power is shaped P TEXTS, HIERARCHIES, ECONOMIES o and negotiated in later Anglo-Saxon texts, w focusing in particular on how hierarchical, e vertical structures are presented alongside Catherine A. M. Clarke r patterns of reciprocity and economies i of mutual obligation, especially within n the context of patronage relationships, A secular, spiritual, literal or symbolic. n Through close analysis of a wide g selection of sources in the vernacular and l o Latin, including the Guthlac poems of the - S Exeter Book, Old English verse epitaphs, a the acrostic poetry of Abbo of Fleury, the x Encomium Emmae Reginae and Libellus o n Æthelwoldi Episcopi, the study examines how texts sustain dual ways of seeing and E King Edgar with Æthelwold and understanding power, generating a range n Dunstan, Regularis Concordia, BL of imaginative possibilities along with g MS Cotton Tiberius A.iii, fol. 2 v, l tensions, ambiguities and instances of a © British Library. n disguise or euphemism. It also advances d new arguments about the ideology and rhetoric of power in the early medieval period. CAthERInE A. M. CLARkE is Professor in C l English, University of Southampton. a r k Series: Anglo-Saxon Studies e GENERAL EDITORS: John Hines (Cardiff ), Catherine Cubitt (York) An imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd PO Box 9, Woodbridge IP12 3DF (GB) and 668 Mt Hope Ave, Rochester NY 14620-2731 (US) www.boydell.co.uk Anglo-Saxon Studies 17 Writing PoWer in Anglo-SAxon englAnd textS, HierArcHieS, economieS Anglo-Saxon Studies iSSn 1475–2468 generAl editorS John Hines and catherine cubitt ‘Anglo-Saxon Studies’ aims to provide a forum for the best scholarship on the Anglo-Saxon peoples in the period from the end of roman Britain to the norman conquest, including comparative studies involving adjacent populations and periods; both new research and major re-assessments of central topics are welcomed. Books in the series may be based in any one of the principal disciplines of archaeology, art history, history, language and literature, and inter- or multi-disciplinary studies are encouraged. Proposals or enquiries may be sent directly to the editors or the publisher at the addresses given below; all submissions will receive prompt and informed consideration. Professor John Hines, School of History and Archaeology, cardiff University, colum drive, cardiff, Wales, UK cF10 3eU dr catherine cubitt, centre for medieval Studies, University of York, the King’s manor, York, england, UK Yo1 7eP Boydell & Brewer, Po Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk, england, UK iP12 3dF Previously published volumes in the series are listed at the back of this book Writing PoWer in Anglo-SAxon englAnd textS, HierArcHieS, economieS catherine A. m. clarke d. S. BreWer © catherine A. m. clarke 2012 All Rights Reserved. except as permitted under current legislation no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system, published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the copyright owner The right of Catherine A. M. Clarke 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 2012 d. S. Brewer, cambridge iSBn 978–1–84384–319–1 d. S. Brewer is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer ltd Po Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk iP12 3dF, UK and of Boydell & Brewer inc. 668 mt Hope Avenue, rochester, nY 14620–2731, USA website: www.boydellandbrewer.com A ciP catalogue record for this book is available from the British library the publisher has no responsibility for the continued existence or accuracy of Urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Papers used by Boydell & Brewer ltd are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests Printed and bound in great Britain by cPi group (UK) ltd, croydon, cr0 4YY For my daughter, Ellen Contents Acknowledgements(cid:3) (cid:3)ix Abbreviations(cid:3) (cid:3)xi Introduction(cid:3) (cid:3)1 1 Order and Interlace: the Guthlac Poems of the Exeter Book(cid:3) (cid:3)11 2 Sites of Economy: Power and Reckoning in the Poetic Epitaphs of the 44 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle(cid:3) (cid:3) 3 ‘Absens ero … presens ero’: Writing the Absent Patron(cid:3) (cid:3)80 4 Power and Performance: Authors and Patrons in late Anglo-Saxon Texts(cid:3) (cid:3)112 5 Remembering Anglo-Saxon Patronage: the Libellus Æthelwoldi Episcopi 145 and its Contexts(cid:3) (cid:3) Afterword(cid:3) (cid:3)171 Bibliography(cid:3) (cid:3)175 Index(cid:3) (cid:3)187 Acknowledgements I wrote the majority of this book during a period of research leave supported by the Research Institute for Arts and Humanities, Swansea University, which gave me the time and freedom to focus on the project. I was also fortunate to be invited to participate in the AHRC-funded workshop series ‘Crossing Conquests: Literary Culture in Eleventh-Century England’, led by Elizabeth Tyler and Matthew Townend at the University of York, which gave me the opportunity to test and develop many of my ideas and engage with different perspectives. Many colleagues and friends have contributed to the completion of this book through their help, advice and support. In particular, I am grateful to my former colleagues at Swansea University, Liz Herbert McAvoy and Rachel Farebrother, for reading draft material and always grasping a question or problem with such clarity and imagination. Elizabeth Tyler provided very valuable advice and guidance, especially during my research for Chapter Four. The text and translation of the Libellus Æthelwoldi Episcopi in Chapter Five are from the forthcoming edition by Simon Keynes and Alan Kennedy, shared with me by Simon Keynes and used with kind permission. The editors of the Boydell Press ‘Anglo-Saxon Studies’ series, John Hines and Catherine Cubitt, have been supportive and encouraging throughout the development of this project and I am lucky to have benefited from their generosity as mentors and friends. It has been a real pleasure to publish with Boydell & Brewer again and particularly to work with Caroline Palmer, who matches her formidable skills as an editor with such a sense of humour. I would also like to express my thanks to the anonymous reader for Boydell & Brewer, who offered constructive insights and helped the book to find its final shape. Paul Vetch helped me once again to prepare the camera-ready copy, for which I’m hugely grateful. Whilst this book has benefited from the knowledge and insights of many other scholars, any errors or misapprehensions which remain are of course my own. The completion of this project coincided with the arrival of my baby daughter, Ellen. I could not have finished the book without the very practical help and support of my parents and my husband, Peter. And special thanks to Ellen, too, for doing her bit by being so good, and by turns giving me time to work and providing the best possible distraction.