Striking similarities between Anglo-Saxon and present-day notions of MEMORY and REMEMBERING can be discerned through close analysis of Old English representations of these phenomena. Where there are significant dissimilarities, these are manifested as culturally specific nuances rather than fundamental differences between the two forms of expression. In this thesis, Anglo-Saxon literary representations of MEMORY and REMEMBERING are considered in comparison with current interpretations of the concepts as revealed through idiomatic Modern English and also in scientific discourse. Although the Anglo-Saxons did not have the same understanding of MEMORY as is found in modern scientific accounts, these do provide a comparatively objective measure against which to gauge the remembering activities portrayed in Old English texts and Modern English idiom. A detailed exploration of the memory retrieval continuum, together with close examination of actual language use, allows for a degree of quantification not achievable through more impressionistic approaches to the field. This is achieved by analysing the contexts in which the Old English verb gemunan and noun gemynd are used: the figurative representations of MEMORY and REMEMBERING adopted by both Old English and Modern English speakers are also considered. Misconceptions about tenth-century MEMORY representation -- that Anglo-Saxon writers have no notion of 'self', or that nostalgia is the dominant aspect of REMEMBERING within Old English texts -- are challenged by my findings. In order to arrive at a definition for each specific occurrence of an Old English MEMORY term, a range of contextual factors needs first be considered: manuscript context and the type of text, who is remembering and what they are remembering, and what other mental or emotional activities are occurring concurrently. A better understanding of the role of MEMORY is attained through recognition of its critical place within the wider field of COGNITION.

This is a study of modern retellings of the Arthurian story, from Tennyson's Idylls of the King (1842-1891) to T.H. White's The Once and Future King (1938-1958). It has three main aims. First, while primarily a literary history, it attempts to form an integrated narrative of the modern Arthurian legend through the study of creative literature, scholarship, historiography, visual art, journalism and popular culture. Second, unlike earlier Anglo-American accounts of modern Arthuriana, this thesis concentrates exclusively on British literature, including previously-ignored retellings of the legend by Scottish, Irish, Welsh and Cornish writers and emphasises the influence of Celtic writing on contemporary English literature. Third, this thesis attempts to demonstrate how post-Tennysonian English literature is fundamentally different from earlier manifestations of the legend. The medieval and Victorian traditions, this study argues, were characterised by a series of literary revolutions, beginning with the creation of a paradigmatic text (Geoffrey's Historia, Malory's Morte Darthur, Tennyson's Idylls), which served the ideological needs of elite social groups. After the creation of such texts there followed lengthy periods of stable literary production which essentially reproduced and expanded the ideological franchise of the paradigm. Yet at certain points, due to major social and economic transition, the Arthurian paradigm no longer functioned effectively in its paradigmatic mould and underwent a period of crisis - only to emerge in a new paradigmatic formation. Yet the modern, post-Tennysonian tradition has not conformed to this hegemonic structure. In the absence of a paradigm, Arthurian literature since the 1920s has been characterised by a series of diverse and contradictory trends. Some of these have been nationalist in orientation, while others have developed directly out of scholarly approaches. Politically, they have been informed by a range of ideologies, from conservatism to feminism and from anarchism to clerical fascism. This thesis examines the causes of the breakdown of the paradigmatic structure in twentieth-century Arthurian literature, while chronicling the significance of the trends that developed in its place - shaping the Arthurian story into a much more British political narrative. Yet with the current breakdown in the conception of Britain as a political unit, the Arthurian story seems ready for another major shift in form and significance.

The Old English Orosius (OE Orosius) shares a significant relationship with the fifth-century Latin Historiarum adversum paganos libri septem (Historia) by Paulus Orosius – its principal source of information. But the OE Orosius is also an Anglo-Saxon history of the world on its own terms. This thesis aims to examine, firstly, how the OE Orosius is engaged actively with the historiography and historicity of the Historia and, secondly, how humans of temporal and geographical distance from Anglo-Saxon England are conceptualized. I approach the OE Orosius as a product of an Anglo-Saxon culture that is broadly conceived, considering the intersections of classical influences, Germanic traditions and Anglo-Saxon reception that can be located within the text. Each chapter of this thesis uses a different methodology to ‘read’ the OE Orosius. Chapter 1 interprets the geographical description of the first chapter of the text as a cartographical framework for Anglo-Saxon perspective, knowledge and historiography. Chapter 2 focuses on the role of gender in the establishment of models, bysena, and the movement of power, translatio imperii, using three parallels from the text (Ninus of Assyria and Semiramis and the Amazons, King Cyrus of Persia and the Scythian Queen Thamyris, Babylon and Rome) to appreciate how world and Roman history are rewritten according to Anglo-Saxon hindsight. Chapter 3 addresses how the ‘Matter of Rome’ is negotiated in the OE Orosius through representations of materiality, subject matter and materials. In Chapter 4, I use the theories of queer time and entanglement to explore responses to paganism in the schemes of Christian cosmology and world history. The arguments that are woven through my chapters add to our understanding of the OE Orosius as a piece of historiography. They might also contribute to our knowledge of the historical consciousness of the late Anglo-Saxons.

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This thesis aims at enhancing current understanding of the ideological dimension of war in early medieval England by investigating how war is represented and discussed in a number of Anglo-Saxon literary texts. In order to highlight how ideas and attitudes towards war evolved through time, this study comprises of three case studies arranged in chronological order. Chapter One considers the perception and representation of war in the Old English biblical poems Genesis, Exodus and Judith, showing how the Old Testament ideology of war was highly popular and influential throughout the Anglo-Saxon period. Chapter Two investigates ideas and attitudes towards war in a number of ninth-century texts produced in the context of King Alfred’s programme for the revival of literature and learning. This case study highlights how the coming of the Vikings prompted the ‘intellectual community’ operating under Alfred’s aegis to develop articulate and unprecedented reflection on the issue of war. Chapter Three focuses on the second Viking Age and explores how two notable late Anglo-Saxon authors, namely Ælfric of Eynsham and Wulfstan of York, responded to the violent return of the Scandinavian raiders.

The topic of blood in the later Middle Ages has acquired considerable critical attention over the last twenty years, but this literature consistently glosses over or completely ignores the Anglo-Saxon period. Much has been written on the feast of Corpus Christi and the worship of the Holy Blood in the later Middle Ages (c. 1200- 1500), and the mass is argued to be the most important cultural function of blood in medieval times. The Anglo-Saxon period (c. 550-1150), if considered at all in these studies, is thought of as a precursor to the more developed and significant symbolism of blood in the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries, to which it contributes nothing but the underdeveloped seeds of the ideas of later times. This thesis explores two critical issues: first, it redresses the lack of research into discourses of blood in Old English literature, and second, it explores whether or not this discourse has the same cultural meanings and symbolization as that of later periods of the Middle Ages. As the first detailed analysis of the meaning of blood in Anglo-Saxon literature, this thesis fills a critical gap in our knowledge of the early Middle Ages, contributing to the study of the historical semantics of the word ‘blood’ as well as the study of its meanings in religious, medical, and poetic discourses. Through close critical reading of Old English and Latin texts and analysis of the semantic fields of key words, this thesis explores the symbolism of blood from an Anglo-Saxon perspective and discusses where in Anglo-Saxon literature blood is actually described or articulated rather than where it is assumed or is implied to be. To understand blood’s significance in Anglo-Saxon culture, this thesis uses case studies from a range of genres, including poetry, homilies, hagiography, and leechbooks or medicinal texts.

This thesis examines the representations of Christ in the Old English homilies, by analysing as separate groups the homilies of Ælfric, Wulfstan, and the anonymous collections in the Blickling Homiliary and the Vercelli Book. The introduction outlines the background and contexts of the homilies, their significance, and previous work in the field. A definition of Christology is given for this context, as well as a brief examination of the Christology of other Old English texts. The chapters of the thesis follow rough chronological order, beginning with the Blickling Homiliary. Although this homiliary is incomplete and its homilies are anonymous, one can gain some sense of the compiler’s attitudes, and it is a valuable record of preaching at the time. The majority of the homilies are for penitential feasts, and due to this penitential purpose there is an emphasis on Christ’s future role as Judge, rather than a personal relationship with Christ. Christ is a fairly abstracted and inactive figure, more divine than human, and his involvement in the world is often represented by intermediaries, such as the saints. Nonetheless the image of Christ is on the whole a gently compassionate one, with the homilists’ overall goal being to encourage listeners to emulate Christ and his saints in order to be with them in Heaven. The collection’s anonymity and early date suggests a more popular conception of Christ than some of the later, more deliberate collections. The Vercelli Book, of which the content is also anonymous and roughly contemporary with the Blickling Book, exhibits perhaps the most uniform Christology of any of the Old English homily collections. Whereas the Blickling Homiliary follows the sequence of the Church’s calendar, the compiler of the Vercelli Book made what is effectively a florilegium and thus had greater freedom to choose texts to fit his intended message for the collection as a whole. The Vercelli Book focuses heavily, though not exclusively, on penance and judgement, and Christ is most often portrayed as an enthroned judge, whilst the judgement itself rests less upon him than on an individual’s actions and the petitioners’ pleas. There is little emphasis on Christ’s life, though the saints’ actions reflect his teachings. The poetry of the Vercelli Book is also examined where relevant. Ælfric’s portrayal of Christ is both comprehensive and consistent. With a strong focus on scripture, Christ takes more of a predominant role. Augustine’s heavy influence brings with it the notion of grace, which allows Ælfric to focus more on the Bible’s positive messages, and less on eschatology. Ælfric depicts Christ particularly as Redeemer, significant both for individuals and humankind; his portrayal has the same gentleness as that of the Blickling Homiliary. The homilies follow the liturgical calendar, hence their wide scope. Ælfric’s varied yet deliberate presentation of Christ exemplifies his broad theological aims and his use of a wide range of sources. His homilies aimed to evoke a response from his listeners, in penitential acts, praise of God, receiving the sacraments, and thus meriting salvation. Wulfstan’s relatively succinct corpus of homilies spends little time on the gospels, and emphasises far more the need to live a good Christian life, through education in prayer, the catechism and creed. God is usually the background authority figure, with the Antichrist often taking a more prominent and defined role than Christ. Even so, the legalistic and authoritative divinity can be associated with Christ, who must be appeased for fear of the end of the world and imminent judgement, and who also mirrors the earthly rulers with whom Wulfstan would have interacted on a regular basis. In conclusion, I have found that the depiction of Christ is a telling reflection of the intents and styles of each homilist or collator. Whilst the anonymous homilies may show contradictions, the overall trajectory is coherent, and both Wulfstan and Ælfric exhibit consistent and deliberate Christologies, usually distinct from their theologies. The depiction of Christ is by no means uniform, but reflects both a wide range of sources and images, and the abilities of the respective homilists to adapt them to their own purposes, settings and audiences.

This thesis examines representations of monstrosity in Old English literature. The literary studies herein examine the construction of monstrous individuals in Old English poetry, and I demonstrate that literary monstrous types converge and develop a tradition of monstrosity that informs the monsters of the Liber monstrorum and Anglo-Saxon Wonders of the East. I argue that, for Old English writers, a monster was not necessarily a deformed being located in the distant lands of the East; rather, the literary and linguistic evidence suggests that any man or woman had the potential to become a monstrous type within the conventional social order. The Old English works examined are Precepts, Maxims I and II, Vainglory, Judith, The Battle of Maldon and Beowulf because each text reveals that Old English writers utilised binary sex and gender differences to define the social roles and behaviours appropriate for the masculine and feminine. According to critical theory, gender is a performance and both men and women must therefore prove their gender identities by behaving in a certain way and fulfilling the roles deemed appropriate for their gender. In failing to conform to the expectations of their gender, a gender-monstrosity matrix works upon the social transgressors, excluding them from the social order and distorting their gender identities into a monstrously confused yet recognisable construct. In the literary works examined, the monstrous type is not only the antithesis to the idealised masculine and feminine, but is also a malevolent figure whose anti-social words and actions transgress gender expectations. I demonstrate that the danger posed by the monster is not only physical, but also psychological. The monster threatens the communal harmony of the social order because, in Old English literature, monstrosity emerges in the form of an uncontrolled riot that incites unrest and enmity in the hall, or as words and outward actions that are purposely deployed (or withheld) in order to demoralise, destroy, and even consume the masculine symbolic order in the pursuit of self-gratification.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the symbolic dimension of some Old English poems with a wide range of forms and styles: Beowulf, The Wanderer, The Seafarer, The Dream of the Rood, Exodus and The Phoenix. In the introduction, a consideration of two approaches to the Anglo-Saxon poetic tradition, the oral and the literary, leads to discussion of the difficulty involved in the definition of a tradition which is neither strictly oral nor literary. It is suggested that a fuller understanding of the symbolic dimension of the poetry could contribute to a more comprehensive definition of that tradition, and resolve at least some of the critical problems of interpretation in individual poems. The following chapters explore, within a general reading, the nature and role of symbolism in each poem. The conclusion sums up, in a form simplified for the purpose of comparison, the relationship of symbol to symbolized in the individual poems, and comment is made on the Anglo-Saxon symbolic sensibility, its poetic language and the language of its critics. The role of didactic tone and direct moral statement in symbolism is considered. It is concluded that traditional, apparently similar diction and imagery can be directed by connotation and structure to produce profoundly different total effects in different poems. Together with structure, ambiguity, non-differentiation of the literal from the figurative, and a sense of identification between subjects, rather than representation of one by another, plays a major part in the relationship of symbol to symbolized. Therefore critical terminology should not rely on a vocabulary of discrete classes of meaning.