Author: Sandra Alvarez

Articles

Scottish Monastic Life

The first thing one has to remember is that most of these visible symbols are the symbols of the very last period of monasticism in Scotland. Monasteries in Scotland were peculiarly likely to suffer the ravages of siege and fire. If they lay on the borders or along the main routes from England into Scotland, they fell victim to the periodic invasion of the English.

Articles

St. Ninian of Whithorn

My interest here is in finding usable information regarding the centuries before Bede and in the way in which new data, especially the outstanding recent archaeological discoveries at Whithom in Wigtownshire (which is certainly the site of Candida Casal. might support and add to his picture of St. Ninian and the importance of his church at Candida Casa.

Articles

Beowulf: a regime of enforcement

I approach the Beowulf text as a discourse valuable in the process of constituting early Germanic kingdoms, specifically, Denmark and those which would give name to England. I will talk about the possible relationship between the poem and events in Denmark, then suggest how similar connections may have obtained in early Britain.

Articles

Snorri’s Trollwives

The list by Snorri or incorporated in his work, reproduced here in an appendix, comes after comparable lists of the names of legendary sea-kings, the names of—or for—giants, and is followed by a brief list of bynames for Þórr and then the names of the Æsir. These lists are an important part of the skaldic tool kit and are introduced by Snorri’s comments on word-play—homonymity—and the substitution of metonyms or homologues for more common words in poetry.

Articles

The Queen and her consort : succession, politics and partnership in the kingdom of Navarre, 1274-1512

This thesis draws attention to an exceptional group of sovereigns and demonstrates the important role that these women and their spouses played in the political history of Western Europe during the Late Middle Ages. It also highlights the particular challenges of female rule and offers new modes of analysis by focusing on unique areas of investigation which have not been previously examined