Stafford Pauline - After Alfred: Anglo-Saxon Chronicles and Chroniclers, 900-1150

This book started life over two decades ago. In a late-night conversation at his home in Southampton, the much-lamented Tim Reuter asked me a question. What happened to the Anglo-Saxon chronicle after Alfred? It was a typically Tim question: apparently simple, but, as he knew, with huge implications in the light of recent European scholarship. At the time I gave a weak, late-night, narrowly English answer. I have been trying to improve on that ever since. This book presents the results to a wider public.

Versions of work preparatory to this book have been given to academic audiences in Glasgow, Leeds, York, Oxford, and London, and to the University of Wales medieval seminar, located in this instance in Bangor. My thanks are due to all those who commented, criticized, and questioned on these occasions. The resulting book benefited enormously from this exposure.

A number of Old English language scholars have been generous in discussion and advice on difficult or debatable points of language, namely Carole Hough, Susan Irvine, Sara Pons-Sanz, Thomas ODonnell, and Elizabeth Tyler. I hope I have not misrepresented their opinions.

Charles Insley read the first eight chapters; Elizabeth Tyler read and commented on the entire manuscript. I owe these busy peopleElizabeth in particulara great debt of gratitude. Rory Naismith gave his usual generous help in securing access to journal material. OUPs anonymous readers provided both encouragement and useful criticism. The production process at OUP involved a first-rate and scholarly Copy Editor in David Pelteret. I could not have hoped for better. He not only improved this book, he was one of its first readers and receivers. Any remaining errors are entirely my own.

Special thanks are due to a group of silent advisers, namely the editors of the recent editions of the chronicles which are the subject of this book: Simon Taylor, Katherine OBrien OKeeffe, George Cubbin, Susan Irvine, Peter Baker, Angelika Lutz, and, in particular, Janet Bately. Their editions have made all recent work on these chronicles possible. They have been my constant, if unconscious, companions and guides over these last decades. They may not always agree with my readings and conclusions. I hope my footnotes do justice to the extent to which I have built on their work and found myself in agreement with them.

I also owe a huge debt of gratitude to all staff of the British Library, the Parker Library, and the Bodleian Library who have worked to digitize manuscripts in these collections. Daily work on these manuscripts would not have been possible without the digitized versions freely available on the web. The Imaging Services of the British Library and Dr Anne McLaughlin of the Parker Library provided prompt and efficient help with the provision of illustrations.

contain some sections closely based on my Prothero lecture, published in the Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 6th ser., 27 (2017). They appear here by kind permission of the Society and Cambridge University Press.

My husband, Bill, read the whole manuscript in earlier drafts and made many suggestions which greatly improved its clarity. He knows how important he has been at every stage of this books production. Jinty Nelson and Susan Reynolds are two friends, academic but also personal, who have sustained and when necessary cajoled through the long years of its preparation. This book is, however, dedicated to three little boys. Their arrival on the scene during the period of its gestation did not help in any way; indeed undoubtedly delayed its birth. Je ne regrette rien.