Katherine OBrien OKeeffe - Stealing Obedience: Narratives of Agency and Identity in Later Anglo-Saxon England

STEALING OBEDIENCE:
NARRATIVES OF AGENCY AND IDENTITY IN LATER ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND

Narratives of Agency and Identity in Later Anglo-Saxon England

KATHERINE OBRIEN OKEEFFE

University of Toronto Press 2012

Toronto Buffalo London

www.utppublishing.com

Printed in Canada

ISBN 978-0-8020-9707-1

Printed on acid-free, 100% post-consumer recycled paper with vegetable-based inks

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

OKeeffe, Katherine OBrien

Stealing obedience : narratives of agency and identity in later
Anglo-Saxon England / Katherine OBrien OKeeffe.

(Toronto Anglo-Saxon series)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-8020-9707-1

1. Wulfstan, of Winchester, fl. 1000. Life of St. Aethelwold. 2. English literature Old English, ca. 450-1100 History and criticism. 3. Obedience in literature. 4. Agent (Philosophy) in literature. 5. Identity (Philosophical concept) in literature. I. Title. II. Series: Toronto Anglo-Saxon series

PR173.O34 2012 829.09 C2011-907912-7

University of Toronto Press gratefully acknowledges the financial assistance of the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto in the publication of this book.

University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council.

University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for its publishing activities.

To my family:
You know who you are

It is a pleasure to record my thanks to individuals and institutions that have in so many ways made possible the years of research and writing underlying this book. Work on the book was materially supported by a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, which made possible sustained reading in manuscript collections in England and provided vital time for writing and thinking. A research leave at the University of Notre Dame and discretionary funds from the Timothy OMeara Chair in English, which I was honoured to hold there, made possible necessary access in this country and abroad to major research libraries and provided support for travel and books. I am grateful to the College of Letters and Science at the University of California, Berkeley, for a research leave in fall 2009 to complete the writing of the book and a COR grant to prepare the manuscript.

I am deeply indebted to a number of libraries in the United States and in the United Kingdom for their kindness in permitting me access to their collections. In the United States: the University of California, Berkeley, Library; the Flora Lamson Hewlett Library of the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley; the Widener Library of Harvard University, and the Theodore Hesburgh Library at the University of Notre Dame. In Cambridge, England: the University Library, the Parker Library of Corpus Christi College, and the Wren Library of Trinity College. In London, the British Library. For many years the Library of the Medieval Institute at the University of Notre Dame supported my work with its dedicated librarians and its superb collection for Medieval Studies. That support is visible in every page of this book.

During the process of constructing the arguments in the individual chapters, I was fortunate to have audiences and interlocutors at different universities to which I was invited to present my work. I should like to thank the Anglo-Saxon Studies Colloquium at Columbia University, the Harvard University Graduate Colloquium, the Dartmouth Medieval Colloquium, and the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at the University of Cambridge for inviting me to present different parts of the book in progress. The conversations generated in these colloquia and lectures allowed me to refine my thinking and strengthen my arguments. I should also like to record my thanks to the two anonymous readers at the University of Toronto Press for their helpful comments.

An earlier version of in my 2008 Chadwick Lecture, Stealing Obedience: Narratives of Agency in Later Anglo-Saxon England. This was printed by the Department of Anglo-Saxon Norse and Celtic, University of Cambridge as H.M. Chadwick Memorial Lectures 19. For permission to publish plate 1 and the cover art I should like to acknowledge the kindness of the British Library Board. I am grateful to the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto, for financial assistance in the publication of this book.

Without the support of friends and colleagues this book could not have been written. Julia Crick, Patricia Dailey, Thomas N. Hill, Nicholas Howe, Christopher A. (Drew) Jones, Peter Jackson, Rachel Koopmans, Elizabeth C. Teviodale, and Emily V. Thornbury have read arguments, answered queries, and offered helpful suggestions. Benjamin Saltzman expertly prepared the bibliography and the index for the book. I am grateful to Vincent Gillespie, Nicholas Watson, and Robert E. OBrien S.J. for memorable and thought-provoking conversations about topics in the book. Rosalind C. Love generously made available to me her searchable text of the Liber confortatorius and sped my work in following Goscelin and Eve. I am grateful to Daniel Donoghue for his kindness in arranging access to the Widener Library during my research semester in Cambridge, MA. Over the years of writing this book, Michael Lapidge has shown me such intellectual generosity, not least in making available some of his unpublished work, that I am lost for words. I am grateful for his help and advice on two continents. Miranda Wilcox has been a faithful interlocutor for the central arguments of this book, taking precious time from her own work to read mine and help me think through my premises. Graham Hammill has heard more about the book than perhaps he cared to; he has always listened and always offered good advice. Maura Nolan has been there from the beginning, as reader, prodder, and coach. I couldnt ask for a better reader or a greater inspiration. And to my husband, Paul E. Szarmach, I owe everything.