Ælfrician Texts and Contexts

Sponsoring Organization(s)

Special Session

Organizer Name

Rachel Elizabeth Grabowski

Organizer Affiliation

Georgetown Univ.

Presider Name

Rachel Elizabeth Grabowski

Paper Title 1

A Source for Ælfric's First Series Christmas Homily in the Bavarian Homiliary

Presenter 1 Name

Stephen Pelle

Presenter 1 Affiliation

Univ. of Toronto

Paper Title 2

Ælfric's Latin Style

Presenter 2 Name

Tristan Major

Presenter 2 Affiliation

Qatar Univ.

Paper Title 3

Characterizing Ælfric

Presenter 3 Name

Katrina M. Wilkins

Presenter 3 Affiliation

McNeese State Univ.

Paper Title 4

Chanting the End at Christ Church, Canterbury

Presenter 4 Name

Jason Stubblefield

Presenter 4 Affiliation

Univ. of Tennessee-Knoxville

Start Date

12-5-2019 8:30 AM

Session Location

Bernhard 211

Description

During this panel, the presenters will explore new avenues of research and advance the study of the tenth century, early English monk Ælfric. The first presenter will establish a ninth-century Bavarian Homiliary as a source for one of Ælfric’s Christmas Homilies, refining scholars understanding of Ælfric’s library and his working methods and raising questions about his understanding of anonymous texts. The next presenter will address the comparative lack of scholarly attention given to Ælfric’s Latin texts by examining his use of alliteration, rhythm, and rhyme to demonstrate his investment in rhetorical ornament and connection to the Latin style of the school of Winchester. The third presenter will apply cognitive stylistics to the prose summary version of the book of Esther and show how this modern field of study enables the reader to glimpse the real-world Ælfric and to attribute particular characteristics to him. This presentation will explore how cognitive stylistics deepens our understanding of the people and culture that produced them and our reception of such texts in the modern era. The final presenter will interpret the Parker Library’s MS 411—a continental psalter held at Christ Church, Canterbury—arguing that it was in liturgical use at Christ Church. This presenter will also provide an investigation of the interlinear gloss, calling attention to themes, including the employment of anti-Judaic rhetoric and militant imagery, and demonstrate what these typological glosses reveal about the communal identity of the monks who owned them and what their presence in a liturgical psalter suggests about the meaning of the liturgy at Christ’s Church. This panel will be of interest not only to those whose work explores the life and writings of Ælfric but also to those who study religion and identity in early medieval England including the Benedictine reform, the practice of monasticism, and the use of the Bible in England, those focused on the use of Latin in England and translation theory, and those interested in the transmission of knowledge and sources in the early medieval world, particularly in connections between Carolingian and English writers. Those who focus on the reception of medieval texts and who are interested in new approaches to the study of the Middle Ages will also find material of relevance to their work.

Rae Grabowski

Georgetown University

Panel organizer and presider

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May 12th, 8:30 AM

Ælfrician Texts and Contexts

Bernhard 211

During this panel, the presenters will explore new avenues of research and advance the study of the tenth century, early English monk Ælfric. The first presenter will establish a ninth-century Bavarian Homiliary as a source for one of Ælfric’s Christmas Homilies, refining scholars understanding of Ælfric’s library and his working methods and raising questions about his understanding of anonymous texts. The next presenter will address the comparative lack of scholarly attention given to Ælfric’s Latin texts by examining his use of alliteration, rhythm, and rhyme to demonstrate his investment in rhetorical ornament and connection to the Latin style of the school of Winchester. The third presenter will apply cognitive stylistics to the prose summary version of the book of Esther and show how this modern field of study enables the reader to glimpse the real-world Ælfric and to attribute particular characteristics to him. This presentation will explore how cognitive stylistics deepens our understanding of the people and culture that produced them and our reception of such texts in the modern era. The final presenter will interpret the Parker Library’s MS 411—a continental psalter held at Christ Church, Canterbury—arguing that it was in liturgical use at Christ Church. This presenter will also provide an investigation of the interlinear gloss, calling attention to themes, including the employment of anti-Judaic rhetoric and militant imagery, and demonstrate what these typological glosses reveal about the communal identity of the monks who owned them and what their presence in a liturgical psalter suggests about the meaning of the liturgy at Christ’s Church. This panel will be of interest not only to those whose work explores the life and writings of Ælfric but also to those who study religion and identity in early medieval England including the Benedictine reform, the practice of monasticism, and the use of the Bible in England, those focused on the use of Latin in England and translation theory, and those interested in the transmission of knowledge and sources in the early medieval world, particularly in connections between Carolingian and English writers. Those who focus on the reception of medieval texts and who are interested in new approaches to the study of the Middle Ages will also find material of relevance to their work.

Rae Grabowski

Georgetown University

Panel organizer and presider