Book Review: Christ The Golden-Blossom by Douglas Dales

Christ The Golden-Blossom: A Treasury of Anglo-Saxon Prayer by Douglas Dales

This book is a collection of various prayers and bits of biography from the Anglo-Saxon period of English history, roughly from AD 600 (missionaries from Rome arrive in Kent/Canterbury) to 1066 (the Norman Conquest ends the Anglo-Saxon rule). The book is split into several parts. The first part gives various prayers for the liturgical seasons of the year, from Advent to Trinity Sunday (a few weeks after Pentecost). The second part covers the feast days of Anglo-Saxon saints, following the calendar year. This section has more biographies (which makes sense), typically taken from Anglo-Saxon documents (like the writings of the Venerable Bede). A final section lists various sites where visitors/pilgrims can see period architecture, art, and tombs of saints. There's also an appendix with further readings.

The book makes for an interesting devotional. It would be easy to have two bookmarks to keep track of the two chronological tracks. I read the book straight through as part of my Lenten reading in 2021 and enjoyed it that way as well. Each prayer or story is short, less than a page long. The prayers seem very much like modern liturgical prayers. I had an easy time imagining the prayers being used during Mass on saints feasts or in the Divine Office. Every five or ten pages, the book has a piece of art from the period, often a page of an illuminated Bible manuscript. I am a big fan of those designs, so naturally I liked that a lot.

Recommended as a good prayer resource.

A sample of the art, the start of Psalm 102, a lament of the Suffering Servant, from a Psalter made in Canterbury circa AD 1015.

Click to enlarge

Book Review: The Anglo-Saxon World by Kevin Crossley-Holland

The Anglo-Saxon World: An Anthology by Kevin Crossley-Holland

This book is an anthology of writings from the Anglo-Saxon period of British literature. The texts run the range from allegories and sermons to heroic epics and legal documents. Of course, excerpts from The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle are included. The highlight is a full translation of Beowulf into modern English.

The period run from AD 400s (when the Romans departed from the British Isles) to 1066 (when the Normans made their conquest). The book is not in chronological order, however. Different topics are grouped together. The book contains plenty of non-fiction, including slightly boring legal documents which do give interesting insights into how people thought and what they expected in that time. Letters and histories also show what people were like. Poetry both heroic and Christian (though not always both at the same time) show the society's ideals of manhood and decent behavior. A bigger picture emerges from the variety of writings.

Several themes emerge from the texts. The Anglo-Saxons had an ongoing tension between their pagan roots and the Christian influence begun by Augustine of Canterbury, who started evangelizing in 597. The pagan notion of Fate, a fixed outcome for everyone's lives and for certain events, is put alongside divine providence, where the Judeo-Christian God lets people choose their actions freely but with the aid of grace. Beowulf is fated to fight Grendel, Grendel's vengeful mother, and a dragon, though he is empowered by his Christian faith to fight these demonic forces. Even with these elements, the epic poem is not Christian propaganda, just a rollicking good story of an amazing hero. The contrasting elements are held side-by-side and only make the story more intriguing. Legal documents invoke the Lord's blessing and ancient law and custom as they lay down legal precedents, land claims, and marriage contracts. The Anglo-Saxon society was a fascinating blend of cultures and ideas.

This book is a a great survey of primary sources from Britain's Anglo-Saxon period.

Highly recommended.