Research Catalog

King Alfred the Great

Title
King Alfred the Great / Alfred P. Smyth.
Author
Smyth, Alfred P.
Publication
New York : Oxford University Press, 1995.

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StatusFormatAccessCall NumberItem Location
TextRequest in advance DA153 .S68 1995Off-site

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Description
xxv, 744 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps; 24 cm
Summary
  • Warrior, law-giver, and scholar, Alfred the Great was an extraordinarily gifted and highly successful king, pushing back the Vikings to preserve what is now thought of as the heart of England. The author provides a detailed examination of the much-disputed medieval biography of King Alfred, attributed to the king's tutor, Asser. Professor Smyth argues that Asser's Life is a medieval forgery; a revelation with profound implications for our understanding of the whole of Anglo-Saxon history.
  • The book also contains major studies on the writings of this gifted king, on the controversial charters of his reign, and on the origins of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Professor Smyth shows the Chronicle to have been much more closely connected with the court of King Alfred than has hitherto been allowed, and suggests a new date for the completion of the earliest Alfredian section of the Chronicle.
Subject
  • Alfred, King of England, 849-899
  • Anglo-Saxons > Kings and rulers > Biography
  • Great Britain > History > Alfred, 871-899
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references (p. [703]-723) and index.
ISBN
0198229895 (alk. paper)
LCCN
95036713
OCLC
  • 503437841
  • ocn503437841
Owning Institutions
Columbia University Libraries