Writing the Welsh borderlands in Anglo-Saxon England

by Lindy Brady

Writing the Welsh borderlands in Anglo-Saxon England is the first study of the Anglo-Welsh border region in the period before the Norman Conquest, from the fifth to the twelfth centuries. It significantly alters our current picture of Anglo-Welsh relations by overturning the longstanding critical belief that interactions between these two peoples were predominately contentious. In fact, as the book shows, the region which would later become the March of Wales was not a military frontier but a distinctly mixed Anglo-Welsh cultural zone.

The book studies how the region of the Welsh borderlands before 1066 was depicted in a group of early medieval British texts which have traditionally been interpreted as reflecting a clear and adversarial Anglo-Welsh divide. Chapters focus on some of the most central literary and historical works from Anglo-Saxon England, including Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, Latin and Old English Lives of St. Guthlac, the Old English Exeter Book Riddles and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

A careful analysis reveals that these works depict the Welsh borderlands area differently than the rest of Wales - not as the site of Anglo-Welsh conflict but as a distinct region with a mixed culture. This suggests that the region was much more culturally coherent, and the impact of the Norman Conquest on it much greater, than has been previously realised.

Writing the Welsh borderlands in Anglo-Saxon Englandwill be essential reading for both students and scholars of early medieval literature and history.

216 pages, Hardcover

First published May 31, 2017

Reviews

[Peter Fox · Rating 2 out of 5]

Writing the Welsh borderlands in Anglo-Saxon England, by Lindy Brady, 2019, 170 pages including notes,


This book examines written accounts of the relationship between Anglo-Saxons and the Welsh in the borderlands; it's not actually a history of the area.


The Chapters include:
Introduction: The Dunsaete Agreement and daily life there
Penda and the Welsh in Bede's EH
The borderland in the Lives of St Guthlac
The Dark Welsh as slaves and slave raiders in the Exeter book riddles 52 and 72
The borderlands in the ASC
The transformation of the borderlands outlaw in the 11th century
Harold Godwinson, the last Anglo-Saxon in the borderlands


The introduction has some interesting stuff about the Dunsaete Agreement, but otherwise reads like the theoretical section of a thesis. This is something that can be said about a lot of the book. It generally reads like a thesis, rather than something for the general or even interested reader.


The main point of this work is that relations in the borderlands weren't always hostile and that it had its own distinct identity. The first point is well made. I can easily believe relationships were nuanced, as this is much like relationships between most other polities in the world at any time. Few regions are in permanent conflict with their neighbours. The distinct identity is also plausible, but again, like other regions, appears to conditional, rather than blanket. The conditional aspect isn't especially brought to the fore by Brady. For example, who else could 11th century Mercian Earls usefully ally with against Edward and the Godwinsons if not the Welsh? I see that as the rationale, rather than any unique regional identity.


There is a lot of in-depth analysis of texts and whilst this is probably of value to anyone with a deep fascination for them, it's not particularly interesting to read. The chapter on the lives of St Guthlac goes into the construction of the lives, but feels very tangential to the work in hand. The two riddles are used to show that slave raiding and trading, plus cattle trading went in both directions in this area. The ASC chapter talks about alliances made here against other polities, both Welsh and English. The Outlaw section discusses the situation after 1066 and the increasing view of the Welsh in this area as 'other'. Rather than looking at the actions of Earl Harold (this is dealt with in the ASC chapter), this one looks at a very suspect life of Harold that claims he survived Hastings and ended his days in the Welsh borderlands.


This book has end notes at the conclusion of each chapter, which is better than at the end of the book. When it comes to quotes, these are in the original language first and then the translation in brackets. I'd much rather it be the other way around as I found this to be very jarring as I would suddenly have to skip to the translation and this really broke the flow of the book.


Being brutally honest, I only found the Dunsaete Agreement and the chapter based on Bede's EH interesting. The rest were a struggle to keep invested in and a few times I asked myself why on earth I was still reading something that I wasn't that fussed about. This is a book that may appeal to you, but it's not an essential read.

[Ivan Monckton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apart from the rather silly, and for some, off putting title, this is an excellent book. Using a careful reading of a handful of original Anglo Saxon texts, the author argues that the usual perception of the Welsh border as a war zone, is incorrect and attempts to prove that in fact, it was a geographical zone where 2 cultures and peoples intermixed to their mutual benefit.
A fascinating read that opened up to me both the sources, and the detailed study of them that leads to our understanding of our early history.

[Liam Guilar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably essential reading for anyone interested in the subject. Only four stars because of the style, and because the section on Guthlac seemed to be stretching the point.

Stylistically, it reads like a thesis. On the other hand the thesis is fascinating. There isn't much evidence to go on and Brady milks what there is for what it's worth. The Introduction, with its discussion of the Dunsaete agreement is probably worth the price of admission.