Writing the Barbarian Past : Studies in Early Medieval Historical Narrative.

Intro -- Writing the Barbarian Past -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Abbreviations -- 1: Introduction -- The Barbarian Past and Early Medieval Historical Narrative -- Barbarians and Romans, Christians and Pagans: Cultural Contact in Late Antiquity -- Historical Writing in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages -- 2: The Gothic Histories of Jordanes and Isidore -- The Goths and Rome: Historical Background -- The De origine actibusque Getarum of Jordanes: Background and Summary -- Jordanes's Sources: Oral or Written? -- Paganism and Arianism in the Getica -- Goths and Romans: The Purpose of the Gothic Past in the Getica -- Isidore of Seville's Historia Gothorum: Background, Summary, and Sources -- Religious Identities in Isidore's Historia Gothorum -- Goths, Romans and Barbarians in Isidore's Historia Gothorum -- The Function of Gothic History: Isidore and Jordanes Compared -- 3: The Origins of the Franks -- The Historical Background to Frankish Historiography -- Gregory, Fredegar, and the lhf: Background and Summaries -- The Trojan Origin of the Franks -- The Sources for the Trojan Myth -- The Function of the Frankish Distant Past -- 4: Paul the Deacon and the Ancient History of the Lombards -- The Early History of the Lombards: Background and Sources -- Paul the Deacon and his Historia Langobardorum -- Lombard Oral Tradition in the Historia Langobardorum -- Catholics, Romans, and Lombards in the Historia Langobardorum -- 5: A 'Germanic' Hero in Latin and the Vernacular: Waltharius and Waldere -- Waltharius and Waldere: Authorship, Content, and Historical Background -- Christianity in Waltharius -- Waltharius and Germanic Oral Tradition -- The Distant Past and its Function: Heroic Narrative as Light Entertainment -- 6: Looking Back to a Troubled Past: Beowulf and Anglo-Saxon Historical Consciousness.

Anglo-Saxon England: Origins, Narratives, and Literary Culture -- Christianity in Beowulf: The Pagan Past as a Problem -- Beowulf, Germanic Tradition, and the Anglo-Saxon Past -- 7: Vernacular Oral Tradition and The 'Germanic' Past -- Oral Vernacular Historical Material -- "Fashionable Gothicism"? The Value of the 'Germanic' Past -- 8: Conclusions -- Bibliography -- Index.

This book provides studies of narratives concerning the distant, 'barbarian' past, composed c.550-c.1000, ranging from Latin 'national' histories to Latin and vernacular epics and lays, and examines the place of this past in early medieval historical consciousness.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.