Siward the dragon-slayer: mythmaking in Anglo-Scandinavian England
<p>This article examines a legendary narrative about the life of the Danish-born Siward, Earl of Northumbria (d. 1055), which is preserved in a thirteenth-century manuscript from Crowland Abbey in Lincolnshire. This narrative, several elements of which have close parallels in Old Norse literat...
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer
2013
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| _version_ | 1797089253238243328 |
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| author | Parker, E |
| author_facet | Parker, E |
| author_sort | Parker, E |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <p>This article examines a legendary narrative about the life of the Danish-born Siward, Earl of Northumbria (d. 1055), which is preserved in a thirteenth-century manuscript from Crowland Abbey in Lincolnshire. This narrative, several elements of which have close parallels in Old Norse literature, has usually been treated as a fragmentary survival of an oral legend, accidentally preserved by an unwitting monk; however, when read within its institutional and manuscript context, it emerges as a narrative with a clear purpose, shaped by the interests of the community at Crowland in providing a history for the earldom held by their benefactor and patron, the martyred Waltheof. The article considers the evidence for interpreting the narrative within the wider context of other legends about Danish settlement known to have been circulating in the East Midlands between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, and suggests a new approach to understanding the development of the Siward narrative by placing it in this region.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T03:01:42Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:b12b192b-cfb7-430b-9454-e591b92cb164 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T03:01:42Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publisher | Springer |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:b12b192b-cfb7-430b-9454-e591b92cb1642022-03-27T04:02:01ZSiward the dragon-slayer: mythmaking in Anglo-Scandinavian EnglandJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:b12b192b-cfb7-430b-9454-e591b92cb164English and Old English literatureEnglish Language and LiteratureLanguages (Medieval and Modern) and non-English literatureEnglishOxford University Research Archive - ValetSpringer2013Parker, E<p>This article examines a legendary narrative about the life of the Danish-born Siward, Earl of Northumbria (d. 1055), which is preserved in a thirteenth-century manuscript from Crowland Abbey in Lincolnshire. This narrative, several elements of which have close parallels in Old Norse literature, has usually been treated as a fragmentary survival of an oral legend, accidentally preserved by an unwitting monk; however, when read within its institutional and manuscript context, it emerges as a narrative with a clear purpose, shaped by the interests of the community at Crowland in providing a history for the earldom held by their benefactor and patron, the martyred Waltheof. The article considers the evidence for interpreting the narrative within the wider context of other legends about Danish settlement known to have been circulating in the East Midlands between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, and suggests a new approach to understanding the development of the Siward narrative by placing it in this region.</p> |
| spellingShingle | English and Old English literature English Language and Literature Languages (Medieval and Modern) and non-English literature Parker, E Siward the dragon-slayer: mythmaking in Anglo-Scandinavian England |
| title | Siward the dragon-slayer: mythmaking in Anglo-Scandinavian England |
| title_full | Siward the dragon-slayer: mythmaking in Anglo-Scandinavian England |
| title_fullStr | Siward the dragon-slayer: mythmaking in Anglo-Scandinavian England |
| title_full_unstemmed | Siward the dragon-slayer: mythmaking in Anglo-Scandinavian England |
| title_short | Siward the dragon-slayer: mythmaking in Anglo-Scandinavian England |
| title_sort | siward the dragon slayer mythmaking in anglo scandinavian england |
| topic | English and Old English literature English Language and Literature Languages (Medieval and Modern) and non-English literature |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT parkere siwardthedragonslayermythmakinginangloscandinavianengland |