A Guide to Late Anglo-Saxon England

Donald Henson
ISBN 1­898281­21­1
10" x 7" 255mm x 180mm, 6 maps & 3 family trees 180 pages

This book has been prepared with the aim of providing school teachers, undergraduates and general readers with both an overview of the period and a wealth of background information. Facts and figures are presented in an easy to find way that make this a useful reference handbook.

Contents include: The Origins of England; Physical Geography; Human Geography; English Society; Government and Politics; The Church; Language and Literature; Personal Names; Effects of the Norman Conquest. All of the kings from Alfred to Eadgar II are dealt with separately and there is a chronicle of events for each of their reigns. There are also maps, royal family trees and extensive appendices.

The Hallowing of England
A guide to the saints of Old England and their places of pilgrimage

Father Andrew Phillips
A5 ISBN 1-898281-08-4 96pp

In the Old English period we can count over 300 saints, yet today their names and exploits are largely unknown. They are part of a forgotten England which, though it lies deep in the past, is an important part of our national and spiritual history. An alphabetical list of 260 saints cross referenced to an alphabetical list of over 300 places with which the saints are associated; brief biographical details of 22 patriarchs of the English Church; a calendar of saint's feast days.

A Handbook of Anglo-Saxon Food
Processing and Consumption

Ann Hagen
A5 ISBN 0-9516209-8-3 192pp

For the first time information from various sources has been brought together in order to build up a picture of how food was grown, conserved, prepared and eaten during the period from the beginning of the 5th century to the 11th century. No specialist knowledge of the Anglo-Saxon period or language is needed, and many people will find it fascinating for the views it gives of an important aspect of Anglo-Saxon life and culture. In addition to Anglo-Saxon England the Celtic west of Britain is also covered. Subject headings include: drying, milling and bread making; dairying; butchery; preservation and storage; methods of cooking; meals and mealtimes; fasting; feasting; food shortages and deficiency diseases.

A Second Handbook of
Anglo-Saxon Food & Drink Production & Distribution

Ann Hagen
A5 ISBN 1-898281-12-2 432pp

This second handbook complements the first and brings together a vast amount of information. Subject headings include: cereal crops; vegetables, herbs and fungi; fruit and nuts; cattle; sheep; goats; pigs; poultry and eggs; wild animals and birds; honey; fish and molluscs; imported food; tabooed food; provision of a water supply; fermented drinks; hospitality and charity. 27 page index. Food production for home consumption was the basis of economic activity throughout the Anglo-Saxon period and ensuring access to an adequate food supply was a constant preoccupation. Used as payment and a medium of trade, food was the basis of the Anglo-Saxons' system of finance and administration.

An Index of Theme and Image to the Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church

Robert DiNapoli
A5 ISBN 1-898281-05-X 128pp

Comprising the Homilies of Ælfric, Wulfstan, and the Blickling and Vercelli Codices

For many decades the Old English homilies have been carefully studied for their theological, linguistic and historical content, but they have yet to receive their full measure of attention as literary artefacts (however odd the notion might have seemed to their authors), in part because of the extraordinary labours involved in getting acquainted with them fully. This is an index and does not contain the texts of the homilies. It is a practical and useful guide to the homilies of Ælfric, Wulfstan, and the Blickling and Vercelli codices, allowing both the researcher and the general reader to range more freely across the mental landscape of these crucial texts than has been possible before.

An Introduction to the Old English Language and its Literature

Stephen Pollington
A5 ISBN 1-898281-06-8 64 pp

The purpose of this general introduction to Old English is not to deal with the teaching of Old English but to dispel some misconceptions about the language and to give an outline of its structure and its literature. Some basic knowledge about the origins of the English language and its early literature is essential to an understanding of the early period of English history and the present form of the language. This revised and expanded edition provides a useful guide for those contemplating embarking on a linguistic journey.

An Introduction to Early English Law

Bill Griffiths
A5 ISBN 1-898281-14-9 96pp

Much of Anglo-Saxon life followed a traditional pattern, of custom, and of dependence on kin-groups for land, support and security. The Viking incursions of the ninth century and the re-conquest of the north that followed both disturbed this pattern and led to a new emphasis on centralised power and law, with royal and ecclesiastical officials prominent as arbitrators and settlers of disputes. The diversity and development of early English law is sampled here by selecting several law-codes to be read in translation - that of Ethelbert of Kent, being the first to be issued in England, Alfred the Great's, the most clearly thought-out of all, and short codes from the reigns of Edmund and Ethelred the Unready.

Leechcraft
Early English Charms, Plantlore and Healing

Stephen Pollington
9¾" x 6¾" (248mm x 170mm) hardback,
approximately 544 pages

ISBN 1–898281–23–8

This new book by Stephen Pollington, author of Wordcraft and The English Warrior, covers the early English tradition of healing with plants, with amulets, with charms, and with prayers. Drawing on original translations of three key OE texts, Pollington explores the many aspects of the rich and ancient tradition of herbal healing in England. Sections cover the identification of plants; the uses to which they were put; the naming systems of Old English; the nature and structure of the invocations which released their power; archaeological evidence for amulets and talismans; the lore of trees; evidence for the English læce or healer; the nature of gods, elves and dwarves in English mythology; Anglo-Saxon witchcraft. Far from a narrow examination of English ethnobotany, this new work attempts to synthesise the vast range of evidence for the English healing tradition, and to present it in a clear and readable format.

The three OE texts – Bald’s Third Leechbook, The OE Herbarium, Lacnunga – are given in full with new modern English parallel translations.

28 illustrations

Looking for the Lost Gods of England

Kathleen Herbert
A5 ISBN 1-898281-04-1 3 maps 64pp

Kathleen Herbert sifts through the royal genealogies, charms, verse and other sources to find clues to the names and attributes of the Gods and Goddesses of the early English. The earliest account of English heathen practices reveals that they worshipped the Earth Mother and called her Nerthus. The names Tiw, Woden, Thunor, and Frig have been preserved in place names and in the names given to days of the week. The tales, beliefs and traditions of that time are still with us and able to stir our minds and imaginations; they have played a part in giving us A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Lord of the Rings.

Our Englishness

Edited by Tony Linsell
9½" x 6¾" (245mm x 170mm)
ISBN 1–898281–24–6 128pp

The contributions to this book come from seven authors who are positive about Englishness and their English identity. In their various ways they argue for the existence of an English nation defined in terms of history, culture and community.

Here is a sketch of Englishness as it has evolved over nearly 2000 years. Topics touched on include: the origins of the English; the continuity of the English language; an English identity rooted in the early Christian Church; a personal discovery of Anglo-Saxon cultural threads; the nature of nations and nationalism; the tendency of current ideological orthodoxy to degrade and suppress Englishness; the identity crisis faced by an English-American. The seven authors are: Kathleen Herbert, Stephen Pollington, Fr. Andrew Phillips, Tony Linsell, The Rev. John Lovejoy, Geoffrey Littlejohns and Gárman Lord.

Peace-Weavers & Shield-Maidens: Women in Early English Society

Kathleen Herbert
A5 ISBN 0-898281-11-4 64pp

The recorded history of the English people did not start in 1066 as popularly believed but one thousand years earlier. The Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus noted in Germania, published in the year 98, that the English (Latin Anglii), who lived in the southern part of the Jutland peninsula, were members of an alliance of Goddess-worshippers. The author has taken that as an appropriate opening to an account of the earliest Englishwomen, the part they played in the making of England, what they did in peace and war, the impressions they left in Britain and on the continent, how they were recorded in the chronicles, how they come alive in heroic verse and jokes.