Sunday Observance and the Sunday Letter in Anglo-Saxon England
Title Details

268 Pages

23.4 x 15.6 cm

Series: Anglo-Saxon Texts

Series Vol. Number: 8

Imprint: D.S.Brewer

Sunday Observance and the Sunday Letter in Anglo-Saxon England

Edited by Dorothy Haines

Translated by Dorothy Haines

  • Description
  • Contents
  • Reviews
Edition and translation of Anglo-Saxon text, shedding light on Sunday observance and other issues.

Few issues have had as far-reaching consequences as the development of the Christian holy day, Sunday. Every seven days, from the early middle ages, the Christian world has engaged in some kind of change in behaviour, ranging fromparticipation in a simple worship service to the cessation of every activity which could conceivably be construed as work. An important text associated with this process is the so-called Sunday Letter, fabricated as a letter from Christ which dropped out of heaven. In spite of its obviously spurious nature, it was widely read and copied, and translated into nearly every vernacular language. In particular, several, apparently independent, translations were made into Old English.
Here, the six surviving Old English copies of the Sunday Letter are edited together for the first time. The Old English texts are accompanied by facing translations, with commentary and glossary, while the introduction examines the development of Sunday observance in the early middle ages and sets the texts in their historical, legal and theological contexts. The many Latin versions of the Sunday Letter arealso delineated, including a newly discovered and edited source for two of the Old English texts.

DOROTHY HAINES gained her PhD from the University of Toronto, where she is currently an instructor of Old English.
Preface
The Development of Sunday Observance in the Early Middle Ages
Sunday Observance in Anglo-Saxon England
The Latin Sunday Letter
The Old English Sunday Letters
Texts and Translations
Commentary
Appendices
Glossary
Bibliography
"In its scope and in its meticulous handling of the subject, Haine's book supersedes all other commentary on the Old English Sunday Letter. [...] Haine's scrupulous study and edition of this most interesting but somewhat conflicted medieval text opens the possibility for further work on its reception and use in Anglo-Saxon England and in the rest of medieval Europe." JOURNAL OF ENGLISH AND GERMANIC PHILOLOGY
"An interesting and reliable source for further research in this area." ENGLISH STUDIES

Hardcover

9781843842224

June 2010

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Ebook (EPDF)

9781846158148

June 2010

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Title Details

268 Pages

2.34 x 1.56 cm

Series: Anglo-Saxon Texts

Series Vol. Number: 8

Imprint: D.S.Brewer