Research Catalog

Details

Description

1. x, 194 pages : illustrations; 25 cm

Summary

1. Trees were of fundamental importance in Anglo-Saxon material culture, but they were also a powerful presence in Anglo-Saxon religion before and after the introduction of Christianity. This book shows that they remained prominent in early English Christianity, and indeed that they may have played a crucial role in mediating the transition between ancient beliefs and the new faith. It argues that certain characteristics of sacred trees in England can be determined from insular contexts alone, independent of comparative evidence from culturally related peoples. This nevertheless suggests the existence of traditions comparable to those found in Scandinavia and Germany. Tree symbolism helped early English Christians to understand how the beliefs of their ancestors about trees, posts, and pillars paralleled the appearance of similar objects in the Old Testament. In this way, the religious symbols of their forebears were aligned with precursors to the cross in Scripture. Literary evidence from England and Scandinavia similarly indicates a shared tradition of associations between the bodies of humans, trees, and other plant-life. Though potentially ancient, these ideas flourished amongst the abundance of vegetative symbolism found in the Christian tradition.

Series statement

1. Anglo-Saxon studies ; 26

Uniform title

1. Anglo-Saxon studies ; 26.

Subject

1. Great Britain
2. Trees > England > History > To 1500
3. Trees > Religious aspects
4. History
5. Trees > England > Religious aspects
6. England
7. To 1500
8. Great Britain > History > Anglo-Saxon period, 449-1066

Genre/Form

1. History.

Contents

1. Holy trees and inculturation in the conversion period -- Anglo-Saxon holy trees and their Northern European counterparts -- Rewriting the Holy Rood in Anglo-Saxon spiritual history -- The human forest: People and trees in Early Medieval England and Scandinavia.

Call number

1. JFE 16-5348

Bibliography (note)

1. Includes bibliographical references (pages 161-187) and index.

Author

1. Bintley, Michael D. J.

Title

1. Trees in the religions of early medieval England / Michael D. J. Bintley.

Publisher

1. Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK ; Rochester, NY : Boydell Press, 2015.

Copyright date

1. ©2015

Type of content

1. text

Type of medium

1. unmediated

Type of carrier

1. volume

Series

1. Anglo-Saxon studies ; 26
2. Anglo-Saxon studies ; 26.

Bibliography

1. Includes bibliographical references (pages 161-187) and index.

Chronological term

1. To 1500

LCCN

1. 2015410436

ISBN

1. 184383989X
2. 9781843839897

Research call number

1. JFE 16-5348