Trees in Anglo-Saxon England: Literature, Lore and Landscape

Description

Trees played a particularly important part in the rural economy of Anglo-Saxon England, both for wood and timber and as a wood-pasture resource, with hunting gaining a growing cultural role. But they are also powerful icons in many pre-Christian religions, with a degree of tree symbolism found in Christian scripture too. This wide-ranging book explores both the "real", historical and archaeological evidence of trees and woodland, and as they are depicted in Anglo-Saxon literature and legend. Place-name and charter references cast light upon the distribution of particular tree species (mapped here in detail for the first time) and also reflect upon regional character in a period that was fundamental for the evolution of the present landscape. List of Illustrations and Tables vi Preface and Acknowledgements ix List of Abbreviations x PART I: Tree Symbolism Chapter 1. Trees and Groves in Pre-Christian Belief 3 Chapter 2. Christianity and the Sacred Tree 21 Chapter 3. Trees in Literature 58 Chapter 4. Trees, Mythology and National Consciousness: into the Future 96 PART II: Trees and Woodland in the Anglo-Saxon Landscape Chapter 5. The Nature and Distribution of Anglo-Saxon Woodland 113 Chapter 6. The Use of Anglo-Saxon Woodland: Place-Name and Charter Evidence138 Chapter 7. Trees in the Landscape 165 PART III: Individual Tree Species in Anglo-Saxon England Chapter 8. Trees of Wood-Pasture and 'Ancient Countryside' 191 Chapter 9. Trees of Wet Places in Early Medieval Records: Alder and Willow 222 Chapter 10. Trees of Open or Planned Countryside 232 Chapter 11. Other Trees Noted in Charters and Early Place-Names 245 Chapter 12. Trees not Readily Apparent in the Early Medieval Written Record 275 Epilogue 283 Bibliography 285 Index 303