The past generation has seen enormous advances in all aspects of Anglo-Saxon studies. Archaeology has brought to light hundreds of sites and thousands upon thousands of artifacts (including countless coins, which often provide indispensable evidence for dating) and revolutionary new techniques have evolved to assist the analysis of this unfathomable wealth of evidence; architectural historians have identified innumerable new buildings, secular and ecclesiastical; refinements in pal-aeographical method have made it possible for the first time to identify, list, and date all the manuscripts likely to have been written or owned in Anglo-Saxon England; historians have developed and perfected new skills in analysing the surviving documentary evidence; many new Anglo-Latin authors and texts have been discovered; and even the relatively stable corpus of literature in Old English has undergone waves of reassessment as new critical approaches gain ascendancy. The burgeoning of knowledge - and ipso facto the vitality of the subject - are witnessed by that fact that each year some 1,000 publications are recorded in the annual bibliography, covering all aspects of the subject, which is printed in Anglo-Saxon England. The time has long passed when any professional scholar, let alone layman, could expect to control the whole of the field of Anglo-Saxon studies; and so vast is the secondary literature in any particular field that hardly anyone is in a position to keep up with it. Growing specialization in individual fields has meant that it is increasingly difficult to find even basic bibliographical orientation in ancillary disciplines.
The need for a single handbook which would provide such orientation has long been felt. Some fifteen years ago, Blackwell Publishers took steps to address the need by establishing an editorial committee under the direction of R. I. Page, with the aim of producing a single-volume companion to all aspects of Anglo-Saxon studies. The editorial board consisted (at various times) of R. I. Page as general editor, together with Catherine Hills, Christine Fell, Simon Keynes, Malcolm Godden, Fred Robinson, and myself. Many hours’ work went into devising a list of head-words, drawing up guidelines for contributors, drafting specimen entries, and commissioning articles from specialists. Although many invitations were sent out to contributors in 1984-5, and although a number of contributions were received, the project faltered, perhaps because of its comprehensive scope, perhaps because the editors had underestimated the amount of energy which would be required to see it to completion.
A number of years later, on the occasion of the ISAS meeting in Oxford (July 1993), I happened to find myself in conversation with John Davey (then chief editor of Blackwell Publishers, and one of the initiators of the original conception of a companion to Anglo-Saxon studies). We reiterated our mutual conviction that the conception of the s ingle-volume companion was an excellent one, and lamented that it had been abandoned. After some discussion I agreed to try to resuscitate the project, on the condition that a new editorial team could be appointed, which would have the singleminded determination necessary to see the project through to completion.
That the book stands complete is due to the determination and dedication of my three co-editors: John Blair, Simon Keynes, and Donald Scragg. It would be difficult to find three more energetic and dedicated scholars anywhere in the field of Anglo-Saxon studies. Although I have borne the responsibility for the general administration, in other respects the burden of editorial responsibility has been quadripartite, and the exhilaration of working together has been rewarding for all of us. We have had excellent support from Blackwell’s: in particular from John Davey, Tessa Harvey, Sarah Howlett, and Thelma Gilbert. We gratefully acknowledge our debt to the original editorial team: without their groundwork, the project would have been even more time-consuming than it has been. Lastly, we are grateful to all of the 150 contributors for their patience in dealing with our requests for clarification and revision: their unhesitating willingness to participate in a project of this kind is another sign of the vitality of the subject. We all - contributors and editors - want the book to serve the purpose for which it was conceived: that of providing orientation and guidance in ancillary disciplines within the field as a whole. We could not expect that an expert (say) on Anglo-Latin will find revolutionary new insights in the articles pertaining to Gildas or the Historia Brittonum; the more important criterion is whether an archaeologist might find helpful bibliographical orientation in these articles, and whether the expert in Anglo-Latin will be stimulated by articles on less familiar matters - agriculture, for example, or codicology, mining, surgery, or whatever. Taken as a whole, the book provides eloquent testimony to the range and interest of Anglo-Saxon studies today, and as editors we hope that it will maintain and stimulate the interdisciplinary approach which has invigorated the field for the past generation.
Michael Lapidge (for the Editors) January 1998
World History
