Families of the King

'Families of the King makes a significant contribution to the field of Anglo-Saxon studies and offers important new discussions of major sections of the chronicle. It also serves as a corrective to those who have argued that there wasn't much sense of national identity in the Europe of the earlier Middle Ages.' -- Edward Donald Kennedy, Department of English, University of North Carolina 'What makes Families of the King stand out is a judicious blend of history and literature with a sensitive treatment of the nuances of the Anglo-Saxon language. Alice Sheppard's writing is excellent and clear, her approach original, and her interpretations convincing. I read this book with great pleasure and interest and learned much from it. ' -- Lister Matheson, Department of English, Michigan State University

In Families of the King, Alice Sheppard explicitly addresses the larger interpretive question of how the manuscripts function as history.

The annals of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle are fundamental to the study of the language, literature, and culture of the Anglo-Saxon period. Ranging from the ninth to the twelfth century, its five primary manuscripts offer a virtually contemporary history of Anglo-Saxon England, contribute to the body of Old English prose and poetic texts, and enable scholars to document how the Old English language changed.

In Families of the King, Alice Sheppard explicitly addresses the larger interpretive question of how the manuscripts function as history. She shows that what has been read as a series of disparate entries and peculiar juxtapositions is in fact a compelling articulation of collective identity and a coherent approach to writing the secular history of invasion, conquest, and settlement. Sheppard argues that, in writing about the king's performance of his lordship obligations, the annalists transform literary representations of a political ethos into an identifying culture for the Anglo-Saxon nobles and those who conquered them.