Carruthers, ed., The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: Illustrated and Annotated (Allen)

Bob Carruthers

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: Illustrated and Annotated

(Pen & Sword Books Ltd.: Barnsley, 2013) 372pp.  $24.95.  ISBN 9781781591482 

Carruthers ASC

Arguably the most important single work to our understanding of the Anglo-Saxon period of English history is The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Without this single document we would have huge swaths of historical periods between the retreat of Rome from the Island to the arrival of the Normans in 1066 which would be shrouded in complete darkness. It provides us with unparalleled knowledge of a number of different events, many through the ninth and tenth centuries, and dramatically increasing our understanding of the era. We are able to learn of everything from the invasion of the Danes to the events leading up to the Norman Conquest. It is not only important for its simple historical value but also for the fact that the document itself is one of the largest and best examples of early English writing, including both Old and Middle English. In Bob Carruthers new edition titled The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: Illustrated and Annotated we are able to engage with this important work yet again through this latest installment of the “History from Primary Sources” series.

This new edition of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle uses the well-known translation of Reverend James Ingram for its base, but also adds much more than just a straightforward reprinting. The first notable departure from Ingram’s translation is the memorable introduction which Carruthers provides. This section easily could survive as a stand-alone article on the importance of the Chronicle. Carruthers’ introduction covers the scope of the Chronicle, an in-depth look at each of the surviving copies of the work, and even a critique of the translation and annotations of the Ingram’s original text. Sprinkled throughout this introduction, which also continues through the translation itself, are a number of images of the different copies of the original manuscripts providing the reader with an important paleographic context of the work. The Carruthers introduction is followed by the 1823 Ingram introduction to the original translation. Carruthers includes this introduction for the sake of completeness but does an adequate job indicating the faults of not only Ingram’s introduction but his annotations as well. When it comes to the translation itself we see no single text represented but instead Ingram utilized a number of versions to offer as complete of a representation of the Chronicle as possible. In addition to the original Ingram translation, the reader will notice a number of entries marked by square brackets which denote supplementary entries from an 1847 edition by Dr. J.A. Giles. These additional entries, presumably from a copy of the Chronicle different from that used by Ingram, offer a look into how the workvaried from copy to copy and the level of importance attributed to events by each manuscripts original author.

When it comes to the text as a whole the translation is a standard offering of the Chronicle. The translation’s entries span from the 60 BC to 1154 AD but spends the vast majority of its time on the Anglo-Saxon period (c. 400-1100 AD). The entries themselves vary widely in style and length covering both events within England as well as from the Continent. The shorter records are nothing more than simple mentioning of important deaths or successions of bishops or kings such as: “A.D. 760. This year died Ethelbert, King of Kent, who was the son of King Wihtred, and also of Ceolwulf.”(86) The longer entries detail important events and are much more narrative in style including things such as political or religious developments, quotations attributed to important figures, or even justifications for different events. One also sees in these longer entries employed to presumably provide a justification for contemporary events. An example of this comes in the Investiture Controversy of the 11th and 12th centuries when King Ethalred was recorded as saying:

These lands I give St. Peter just as freely as I possessed them myself; and so, that none of my successors take anything therefrom. Whoso doeth it, have he the curse of the Pope of Rome, and the curse of all bishops, and of all those that are witnesses here. And this I confirm with the token of Christ.(73)

Throughout the work we also see a number of illustrations provided in coordination with the text itself. While some of these images are of medieval origin others are modern representations with a discernable romantic focus. Following the Ingram translation of the Chronicle one also finds a copy of the Parker (or Winchester) Manuscript in the original Old English. This is the oldest surviving Manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and contains consistent entries until the later part of the 10th century when large gaps become common.

Overall this work is a great resource for anyone approaching Anglo-Saxon England. It offers a very extensive translation, a distinguished introduction, and Old English copy of the Parker Manuscript. Despite all of these positives there are a few minor limitations which arise in this work. One issue, albeit a minor one, is the lack of time taken to edit the work from its original ebook version, noted by a number of references to the ebook.(15) While this does not greatly impact the text itself, it should have been corrected for the print edition. A more substantial issue is present in some of the illustrations used throughout the volume. While a number of them are either leafs of the surviving manuscripts or other medieval illuminations of events related to the work, we see a few images within the work which are unneeded. The most obvious of these irrelevant images is presented when the translation begins to discuss the Viking raids which contain a notation admitting that nothing within the illustration is historically accurate.(98) This completely degrades the legitimacy of the document and is something which is easily avoidable. Finally, while there is a small suggested reading list following Carruthers’ introduction its limited nature leaves something to be desired. The work would have benefited from a longer list which should have included recent scholarship on the Chronicle including more recent scholarship and editions such as Thomas A. Bredehoft’s Textual Histories: Reading in the “Anglo-Saxon Chronicle” or Janet Bately’s The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A Collaborative Edition Volume 3. [1]   In spite of these limited concerns, this edition is a great resource and one which should be utilized by anyone studying the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle or Anglo-Saxon Period.

 

Chadrick J. Allen M.A.
Des Moines Area Community College
[email protected]

 

[1] Thomas A. Bredehoft, Textual Histories: Readings in the “Anglo-Saxon Chronicle”, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2001); Jenet M.Bately ed., The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A Collaborative Edition Vol. 3 MS A, (Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 1986).

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