Apocalypse and Atonement in the Politics of Æthelredian England
This paper discusses contemporary responses to the events of the reign of King Æthelred II (“the Unready”) of England (978–1016). It focuses on two particularly well-evidenced interpretations of the tribulations of the age: the penitential view of these as divine punishment, which might be lifted by an appropriate form of atonement; and the apocalyptic view of them as signs of the approaching Last Judgement and end of time. These have traditionally been treated as distinct and mutually exclusive lines of interpretation; however, it is argued here that they were, in fact, intimately related. On this basis, it is suggested that a closer connection existed between penitential and eschatological thought in the early and central Middle Ages than has hitherto been appreciated.
Judith as Spiritual Warrior: Female Models of Monastic Masculinity in Ælfric’s Judith and Byrhtferth’s Enchiridion
ABSTRACT This article identifies a passage in Byrhtferth’s Enchiridion as referencing monastic discussions of Judith based on Aldhelm’s Carmen de virginitate and Prudentius’s Psychomachia. In this passage, Byrhtferth imagines himself as Judith leading an army of virgins against the forces of lechery. The context of Byrhtferth’s identification with Judith has many resonances with Ælfric’s translation of Judith, which Ælfric explains allegorically as spiritual warfare in the epilogue to the homily. The article suggests that one audience of Ælfric’s Judith would have been monks, who may have identified with her leading the army of virginity just as Byrhtferth did. By associating monasticism with Judith, as a virago, fighting in an invisible battle against spiritual adversaries, Byrhtferth, Ælfric, and their fellow monks are able to reclaim masculinity lost by their proscription from battle during the Viking invasion of the late tenth and early eleventh-century.
Discourse Forms and Processes in Indigenous Lowland South America: An Areal-Typological Perspective
▪ Abstract In indigenous lowland South America there are several discourse forms and processes that are shared by groups of people of distinct genetic linguistic affiliations; this leads us to posit this large region, which we label greater Amazonia, as a discourse area, a concept that parallels the notion of linguistic area. The discourse forms and processes we examine are ceremonial dialogue, dialogical performance, templatic ratifying, echo speech, ceremonial greeting, ritual wailing, evidentiality, speech reporting practices, parallelism, special languages, and shamanistic language use. We hypothesize that in lowland South America, discourse is the matrix for linguistic diffusion, i.e., that linguistic areas emerge within discourse areas. What we propose then is a discourse-centered approach to language change and history, parallel to a discourse-centered approach to language structure and use. Our survey includes a plea for a careful archiving of recorded and written materials dealing with lowland So...