This acclaimed volume explores and unravels the contexts, readings, genres, intertextualities and debates within Anglo-Saxon studies.

Brings together specially-commissioned contributions from a team of leading European and American scholars.

Embraces both the literature and the cultural background of the period.

Combines the discussion of primary material and manuscript sources with critical analysis and readings.

Considers the past, present and future of Anglo-Saxon studies

"The latest addition to Blackwell's comprehensive surveys of literature nd culture, this volume offers an impressive array of essays by reputable scholars [...] This companion will be a valuable introduction for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students and useful resource for faculty."

Choice

"A Companion to Anglo-Saxon Literatureis an impressive anthology of erudite essays written by scholars around the world on the topic of Anglo-Saxon literature, particularly that of the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries. Prose, poetry, religious, and secular literature are all discussed at length in this college-level analysis and presentation, which is very highly recommended for academic literary studies in general, and medieval studies in reference collections in particular."

The Midwest Book Review

"Many of the world's leading Anglo-Saxonists have contributed to this volume which provides a very useful overview of current preoccupations of those who study and teach Old English literature."

Literature and History

"Stimulating introductions that bring out the wider potential of their topics for understanding the Anglo-Saxon past. [...] "much to offer the more experienced reader as well as the novice."

Literature and History

This acclaimed volume explores and unravels the contexts, readings, genres, intertextualities and debates within Anglo-Saxon studies.

Phillip Pulsianois late Professor of English at Villanova University. He authored numerous articles on Old and Middle English poetry and prose, and co-edited the Garland Encyclopaedia of Medieval Scandinavia(with Paul Acker and Kirsten Wolf). He had completed the first volume ofThe Old English Psalters (for Toronto University Press), and had undertaken significant research on Latin female saints' lives from the medieval period, and (with Joseph P. McGowan) the prose texts in the Beowulf-manuscript: work that will be published posthumously.

Elaine M. Treharneis Reader in Medieval Literature at the University of Leicester. She is author of The Old English Life of St Nicholas with the Old English Life of St Giles(1997), and co-editor ofAnglo-Saxon Manuscripts and their Heritage(with Philip Pulsiano), Rewriting Old English in the Twelfth Century(with Mary Swan), past editor of The Year's Work in English Studiesand editor of Old and Middle English: An Anthology (Blackwell, 2000). She is Chair of the English Association.

Preface.

Acknowledgements.

1. Contexts and Perspectives.

2. Readings: Cultural Framework and Heritage.

3. Genres and Modes.

4. Intertextualities: Sources and Influences.

5. Debates and Issues.