The Chronicle of Æthelweard

by Alistair Campbell (Editor)

Genres: Anglo Saxon

200 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1962

Reviews

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Æthelweard was an Anglo Saxon historian from the tenth century who wrote a chronicle in four books. Æthelweard was descended from Æthelred of Wessex the brother of Alfred the Great. Æthelweard wrote his chronicle on request of his cousin Mathilde, the abbess of Essen Abbey and granddaughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Otto the first.

Æthelweard's Chronicle is essentially a Latin translation of a lost version of the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, supplemented with selections from Bede. The chronicle contains a number of interesting deviations and additions to the standard versions of the Anglo Saxon Chronicle such as Æthelweard's expanded account of Scyld Sheafing, the reign of Alfred, his wars against the Danish Vikings and the inclusion of the Norse god Víðarr in the genealogical sections.

Alistair Campbell's edition of this obscure but important chronicle is the only modern scholarly edition ever published and contains an extensive introduction, the Latin text and a modern English translation.