While the political and social spaces of Old English literature are fairly well understood, this project examines the conceptual spaces in Old English poetry. The Anglo-Saxons possessed a richly metaphorical understanding of the world, not merely in the sense of artistically ornamental metaphor, but in Lakoff and Johnson's sense of conceptual metaphor, which reflects the structures of thought through which a culture understands their world. Three domains exhibit developed systems of conceptual metaphor for the Anglo-Saxons: the self, death, and the world. First, the Anglo-Saxon self is composed of four distinct entities--body, mind, soul, and a life-force--which each behave independently as they compete for control in poems like The Wanderer, The Seafarer, and Soul and Body. Second, death for the Anglo-Saxon is expressed through a number of metaphors involving the status or placement of the body: removal to a distant place; separation of the body and the soul; location down on or within the earth; and the loss of life as a possession. Predominance of a particular metaphor contributes to the effects of individual poems, from The Fates of the Apostles and Beowulf to The Battle of Maldon and The Wife's Lament. Third, the Anglo-Saxon world is a large structure like a building, with its three primary components--heaven, hell, and earth--each themselves presented as building-like structures. Old English poetry, including native versions of Genesis, reveal heaven to be a protective Anglo-Saxon hall, while hell is a cold prison. The earth, in poems like Christ II and Guthlac B, is either a wide plain or a comforting house. Christ I connects these worlds through gates, including Mary, characterized as a wall-door. Finally, the apocalyptic Christ III employs metaphorical spaces for all three conceptual domains treated in this study but dramatizes their breakdown even as it reveals spatial enclosure the overarching structure of metaphorical concepts in Old English poetry.

This thesis gives an overreaching, detailed analysis of how the Anglo-Saxon cult of St Guthlac of Crowland developed from its modest origins in the eighth century to its summit in the early thirteenth century. It attempts to elucidate the reasons why and how an isolated fenland hermit became the object of widespread veneration instead of drifting into obscurity. In order to consider these reasons, fourteen materials have been chosen from the substantial and varied dossier of surviving Guthlacian materials, to elucidate particular phases or stages in this cult’s development. Ultimately, this thesis considers the function, dissemination, interaction and reception of materials indicative of each author’s adaptation of their subject matter for their patron(s) and audience, and in response to a changing ecclesiastical context. Its central argument is that the adaptability and popular appeal of the Guthlac narrative enabled this cult to benefit from lay support prior to the foundation of a monastic community at Crowland, possibly as late as three hundred years after the saint’s death. This thesis is organized into seven chapters which respectively contribute to a holistic analysis of cult development. Following the introduction, chapter two seeks to draw attention to the variety and import of the Guthlac dossier through an analysis of the historiography relating to their dating, origins and provenance. The purpose of this chapter is to establish a chronology and identify fourteen materials which will be used to define different developmental stages; the Origins, Vernacular Variations, Norman Developments and Longchamp Revival, in subsequent chapters. The third chapter uses a variety of sources to reconstruct Crowland’s historical geography and landscape in order to determine how this context initially and over time affected the development of the cult. It argues that there is no evidence to support that Crowland was chosen as anything other than a site for ascetic retreat within borderlands, both perceived and actual, and that this choice provided substantial challenges to our perception of a cult’s requirements, though none that were insurmountable. Chapter four will proceed onwards to the dossier itself in order to consider how the Guthlac narrative was adapted in response to the changing ecclesiastical contexts defined in chapter three. An analysis of the sources used by these authors and the alterations which they made indicate that there were elements to these texts that were best understood and appreciated by a literate audience, that was likely exclusively monastic. In fact, the authors who were creating new Latin compositions for abbots of Crowland in the years following the Norman Conquest were less and less concerned with creating a text which could be easily comprehended by those with sparse Latin abilities and source knowledge, than they were with meeting the changing needs of successive abbots at Crowland and their progressive designs for the cult. There were nevertheless, other atypical elements found within the origins and vernacular variations phases which are not resolved by this interpretation. Subsequently, chapters five and six explain the social relevance of the heroic and visionary aspects of the Guthlac legend according to contemporary attitudes and accounts. Overall, it will be shown that the cult of St Guthlac of Crowland benefitted from the popular appeal this legend garnered early on, for this enabled it to remain adaptable and relevant until Crowland could take over, with variable results, the propagation of the cult.

My thesis examines social conceptions framing rights and obligations by reviewing how possessions are used and exchanged in the poems of MS Junius XI. I identify several major additions to the scriptural source material of the poetic narrative where the poems present a unique treatment of possessions in a social environment. These poetic additions often feature novel combinations of events and even entirely new sub-stories. In reviewing these departures I focus specifically on possessions and examine how they frame the rights and obligations within social interactions. Focusing on objects of social exchange enables the discussion of the literary narrative to relate to secondary historical literature on possessions as well as social conceptions. This has not yet been done for the poems of Junius XI. This thesis is divided into four thematic chapters ordered from the most tangible to the most abstract: moveable objects, landed possessions, degrees of possession of people, and abstract notions of authority framing social interactions tied to holding and exchanging possessions. In chapter two moveable possessions will be discussed in relation to social status, cultural identity, exchange and hierarchy. The third chapter will examine the interplay between the allegorical and practical notions of land possession. The fourth chapter will discuss social hierarchy framed as a range of rights and obligations discussing to what degree people are themselves treated as possessions. The discussion will examine what types and levels of relative personal freedom is detectable in the Junius XI poems. The final chapter will amalgamate findings and issues of the previous chapters by examining how the exchange and treatment of possessions impact various types of authority which frame social interactions, hierarchies and values.

This dissertation investigates the Old English word field for the concepts of ‘pledges’ and agreements by analysing the words belonging to the field in their contextual environments. The particular focus is on the word wedd (‘pledge’), which is shown to have different connotations in different text types. The main subject of the study is the corpus of Anglo-Saxon legal texts in which pledges played an important part. Pledges occur in collocation with concepts such as oaths (að) and sureties (borg), but there are important differences in function and linguistic usage between the terms. One important aspect of the language of pledging is the formulaic word pair að and wedd which comes to stand for the entirety of legal interactions, as no single word for ‘legal agreement’ is used by authors of legal prose. Possibly in part influenced by this development, the meaning of wedd, which originally denoted an object given as a pledge, becomes more abstract. The study further argues that this development is facilitated by the influence of Christianity. Old English words were required to express unfamiliar aspects of the new religion. I analyse words used to translate biblical covenants in detail. Because of its specifically legal overtones, wedd was employed by Anglo-Saxon translators and commentators to take on the functions of Latin words with a wider range of meaning, such as foedus or pactum. In its narrower sense wedd is important in the theology of sacraments. I show that the Eucharist and baptism are modelled on types of pledges from the legal social world that would have been familiar to Anglo-Saxon homilists and their audience. That this is a conscious decision on the part of Anglo-Saxon authors is indicated by the fact that this aspect is often added to their adaptations of orthodox Latin sources. An analysis of pledging in Old English poetry shows that wedd was rarely used by Anglo-Saxon poets, even in the adaptation of biblical texts which were shown to employ wedd as a deliberate lexical choice in their prose versions. In poetry, the equivalent term is wær (‘agreement’ or ‘treaty’). I argue that this difference can be explained by the fact that wedd was a technical term, belonging to the register of legal language, where wær never occurs. It is argued that wedd, possibly because of its legal connotations, was not a common word for Old English poets and is only used occasionally, mostly for purposes of poetic variation. I suggest that this is connected to the early date of some of the poems and to the traditional and possibly slightly archaic nature of Old English poetic language.

This thesis brings together all that is currently known of early medieval grave reopening in northern and western Europe. It investigates in detail an intensive outbreak of grave-robbery in 6th-7th century Kent. This is closely related to the same phenomenon in Merovingia: an example of the import of not only material goods but also a distinctive cultural practice. Limited numbers of similar robbing episodes, affecting a much smaller proportion of graves in each cemetery, are also identified elsewhere in Anglo-Saxon England. Although the phenomenon of grave-robbery is well-attested in Merovingia, this research is the first study at a regional level. The aim is to advance the debate about early medieval robbery from general discussion of interpretative possibilities to evaluation of specific models and their compatibility with the archaeological evidence. The conclusions have significant implications for the interpretation of grave-robbery across early medieval Europe. In Kent robbing is at a level that must be considered in any discussion of cemetery evidence. The poor publication record has inhibited recognition and analysis of robbing in the county. However, by using extensive archive material, this thesis has shown that the practice of ransacking graves was on a similar scale in East Kent as in Merovingia. This research identifies over 200 reopened graves across Kent, with at least 15 sites affected. At the most intensely robbed sites, an average of over 20% of burials were disturbed. Robbing is likely to have had a significant impact on artefact finds, especially from the late 6th century onwards. Grave-robbery opens a window onto the wider meanings and values of grave-good types within the early medieval period. The analysis in this thesis demonstrates that the main motive for reopening was the removal of grave goods. However, straightforward personal enrichment was not the goal. A deliberate, consistent selection of certain grave-good types were taken from burials, while other apparently covetable possessions were left behind. The desired grave-goods were removed even when in an unusable condition. It is argued that the selection of goods for removal was related to their symbolic roles in the initial burial rite. Their taking was intended to harm living descendants by damaging the prestige and strength of the dead. In addition to the robbed graves, there is a small number of graves spread across the sites which were reopened for bodily mutilation or rearrangement of skeletal parts. These closely resemble the better known deviant burial rites which were applied to certain corpses at the time of initial burial and are interpreted as a reaction to fear of revenants. In modern Britain burial is a finite and final process: the definitive disposal of a dead body. The archaeological and ethnographic records contain many examples of more complex series of events to enable the dead to move on from the living. The material remains of such processes can be seen in revisited and reopened graves, and in myriad manipulations of human bodies. This case study is a detailed, contextualised investigation of the after-history of burial monuments focused on the early Middle Ages.

The leadership style of senior managers within the organisation can have adverse effects on the organisation. Doing business in Africa requires MNC’s to be aware of African business context that has the underpinnings of an African leadership style. This study examined the effects of culture on leadership style and looked at whether African leadership concepts are perceived as being relevant or effective for MNC’s operating in Africa. This study hypothesised that senior managers perceive African and Anglo-Saxon styles to be distinctly different, that African leadership perceived to be effective and relevant and that culture dictates how managers lead.This study was a quantitative research and data was collected through questionnaires. 57 senior managers completed the survey and this represented a response rate of 14.25%. Of the above, 46 completed the entire survey while 11 respondents only completed certain sections of the survey and were eliminated. Statistical analysis was done using both significance testing and Chi-square tests.Analysis of this study revealed that senior managers do not seems to place high importance on the influence of culture on leadership styles, nor on the distinctions of the two leadership styles, but placed very high value on the relevance of African leadership constructs and felt that it would be effective if applied to their organisations. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Title in English: Development of the English law between the 7th and 10th century on the example of the oldest Anglo-Saxon codes taking into account legal development in Danelaw Abstract in English This diploma thesis aims to describe the development of law in England between the 7th and 10th century, i.e. in the so-called Anglo-Saxon period of English history. During this period, especially in the 9th and 10th century, both the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and the Scandinavian conquerors came to power alternately. At the same time, this period is characterized by the creation of Legal Codes in the individual kingdoms, by which the kings of the time regulated the most problematic legal issues. In my work, I proceeded chronologically in terms of the law of Anglo-Saxons. Firstly, I made a historical introduction to Anglo-Saxon colonization using primary and secondary sources and provided an explanation of the most important institutions that occurred with minor variations in all Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Subsequently, I focused on individual kingdoms, in which written sources in the form of the original Legal Codes have been preserved. Based on these primary and also secondary sources, I analysed the Codes, where I dealt with the legal institutes contained in them, then I compared the codes with each other and pointed...

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Yes / Objective: This research introduces ‘The Bioarchaeology of Disability’ (BoD), a population-scale approach which allows for a comprehensive understanding of disability in past communities through a combination of palaeopathological, funerary, and documentary analyses. Methods: The BoD consists of three phases: 1) Contextualisation includes period-specific literature review; 2) Data collection consists of palaeopathological re-analysis of individuals with physical impairment and collation of mortuary treatment data; and 3) Analysis incorporates qualitative and quantitative comparison of the funerary treatment of individuals with and without physical impairment to explore contemporary perceptions of disability. Materials: The BoD is demonstrated through a case study investigation of disability in later Anglo-Saxon England (c.8th-11th centuries AD) which included four burial populations (Ntotal=1,543; Nimpaired=28). Results: Individuals with disability could be buried with normative or non-normative treatment (e.g., stone/clay inclusions, non-normative body positioning), and in marginal, non-marginal, and central locations. Conclusions: The overall funerary variation for individuals with disability was relatively slight, which may suggest that political and religious factors were influencing normative funerary treatment of disabled individuals. The funerary variability that was observed in disabled individuals was probably influenced by individual and community-specific beliefs. Significance: This research describes a population-scale approach to archaeological disability studies that can be replicated in other archaeological contexts. Limitations: Individuals with non-skeletal physical impairment (e.g., soft tissue, mental) cannot be analysed osteologically and are not considered by the BoD. Suggestions for further research: The BoD should be applied to different archaeological communities around the world to better understand disability in the past. / This work was supported by the Society for Church Archaeology who awarded a Research Grant to the lead author which funded analysis of the Priory Orchard and St. Peter’s Church collections. Research trips were also funded by the University of Bradford, School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences’ research funds for PhD students.

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