3 Review(s)

Several unusual fields of study are extensively explored in this volume: a distinctive politico-religious cult, penitentials, inscriptions, the Sutton Hoo whetstone and medical knowledge; while treatments of more 'standard' subjects like late Anglo-Saxon law, King Alfred's Boethius and Beowulf, lead to unusual conclusions. A phenomenon special to Anglo-Saxon England is given a full and separate treatment in a careful and imaginative analysis of the ecclesiastical and political significance of the cults of murdered royal saints. Elizabeth Okasha's Hand-List which has been indispensable to any work on Anglo-Saxon non-runic inscriptions for some time has been refreshed by the description and illustration of twenty-six additional items and by other addenda and corrigenda. The usual comprehensive bibliography of the previous year's publications in all branches of Anglo-Saxon studies rounds off the book.