| Synopsis: |
"The Anglo-Saxon World" introduces the Anglo-Saxons in their own words - their chronicles, laws and letters, charters and charms, and, above all, their magnificent poems. Most of the greatest surviving poems are printed here in their entirety: the reader will find the whole of "Beowulf", "The Battle of Maldon", and the haunting elegiac poems. Here is a word picture of a people who came to these islands as pagans, subscribing to the Germanic heroic code, and yet within 200 years had become Christian to such effect that England was the centre of missionary endeavour and, for a time, the heart of European civilisation. Kevin Crossley-Holland places the poems and prose in context with his skilful interpretation of the Anglo-Saxon world; his translations have been widely acclaimed, and of "Beowulf", Charles Causley has written 'the poem has at last found its translator'. The many illustrations draw on the splendours of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts and jewellery and a wealth of archaeological finds.Kevin Crossley-Holland is a poet and writer who takes a particular interest in the middle ages and in traditional tale: in addition to his translations from the Anglo-Saxon, he is also the author of versions of the Norse myths. |