The conference moves to Winchester

The final day of the conference – hosted by our wonderful colleagues at the University of Winchester. Despite a rather rocky start in the morning involving a missing coach and an undercover school bus, we made it to the university. Prof Barbara York of the University of Winchester gave us an introduction to the medieval city and its history, before we divided into three groups to explore further. One group was taken on a tour of Hyde Abbey by the community group Hyde 900, while the others were taken around Winchester Cathedral, the Great Hall, and various sites around the city. We reconvened for papers on Cnut’s status as an English king, falconry during his time, language during his reign, and an exploration of how the history of Cnut’s reign was used (and perhaps deliberately avoided) in Norwegian histories from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Prof Elaine Treharne of Stanford University concluded the conference with her wide-ranging and thoughtful plenary address.

We then moved to the Winchester City Museum to view archaeological finds from medieval Winchester – many thanks indeed to everyone who made us so welcome there! This was followed by dinner in the city centre, a somewhat hair-raising bus ride back, and eventually our arrival in London.

The organisers would like to thank everyone who made this conference possible, including our sponsors, the graduate student helpers, conference delegates and particularly the speakers. What an exciting, engaging and stimulating four days!

Cnut conference: Day 3

Day 3 was the final day of the conference in London. This day had more of a historical and literary bent than the others. We started off with a panel on the history of Cnut’s empire, especially in Eastern Europe, and the way in which it was chronicled in the historical sources. This was followed by papers on the material culture of Viborg in Denmark, the Encomium Emmae Reginae and Cnut’s ecclesiastical policy. The afternoon became fully literary, with papers on the poetic trope known as the ‘blood-eagle’ — and what that might actually mean — as well as papers considering the lives and deaths of Eadric Streona, Alfred the aetheling, and king Edward. The conference concluded with a stellar plenary address by Prof Roberta Frank of Yale University on the skaldic verse associated with Cnut and his court.

The conference in London having concluded, we proceeded on to Number Twelve Restaurant for a convivial conference dinner. A lovely time was (we hope) had by all!

Cnut conference: Day 2

Well, today was full but thoroughly interesting. We started off with a plenary address by Prof Andrew Reynolds of UCL Archaeology, looking at the layout and material culture of London during the early eleventh century. It was quite an archaeological morning, with the next several papers exploring coins, hoards, Old London Bridge, axes and much, much more. We took a literary turn in the afternoon, looking at Old English manuscripts, Beowulf, and the use of Old Norse myth and legend in Cnut’s England. The day concluded with a plenary address by Prof Andy Orchard of Oxford, who told us about his exciting new Old English digitalisation project.

But that wasn’t all. Thanks to the wonderful Claire Breay and Alison Hudson of the British Library, we then enjoyed a reception in the foyer of the Library in the company of Mr Claus Grube, the Danish Ambassador. We were invited to visit the Treasures Gallery and particularly enjoyed the special exhibition of 1016-related manuscripts Alison had curated for us. Many thanks to Mr Grube for his kind — and funny — comments about Anglo-Danish relations, and to Claire and Alison for making this such a special occasion!

 

Cnut Conference: Day 1

We had a great start to the conference today. The programme opened with a plenary address by Prof Simon Keynes of Cambridge on the latter years of Aethelred’s reign. Papers followed on a wide range of topics: Wulfstan, Cnut’s laws, skaldic poetry, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the archaeology of London, and even early modern representations of Cnut. We certainly had a lot to talk about by the time we moved to the Flaxman Gallery in UCL Library for the welcome reception and the launch of the project’s online exhibition. Looking forward to tomorrow!

 

‘The Siege of London’ – one day more!

We’re counting down the hours now until the start of our major international conference, ‘Aethelred II and Cnut the Great: A Millennial Conference to Commemorate the Siege of London in 1016’. The papers are written, the food has been ordered, and the Danish Ambassador has confirmed his attendance at our drinks reception at the British Library on Thursday. Today we’ll be making the conference packs and sorting out the final practical details. We’re particularly excited by the arrival of the conference bags – who doesn’t want to walk around London with this fashionable medieval accessory?

A Roundtable on England and Europe

Thanks to everyone who came to ‘England and Europe: the Medieval Perspective’, running as part of the UCL Festival of Culture last week. We had a great turnout and an interesting discussion about what medieval studies can contribute to current debates about government, immigration and Britain’s membership of the EU.

Cnut’s coronation as England’s king is a moment in history that tends to be upstaged by another, more famous conquest. 1066 and William of Normandy’s rule certainly changed forever Britain’s – especially England’s – relationship with her European neighbours.

Fifty years earlier, however, the year 1016 saw a Danish conquest of England and the coronation of the man who would eventually become king of Denmark, England and parts of Norway and Sweden. As a young man, Cnut had accompanied his father, Sveinn Forkbeard, on a series of raids in England. In 1013 they managed to force the Anglo-Saxon King, Aethelred the Unready, into exile, and Sveinn ruled briefly as king of England. But he died the following year and Cnut was forced back to Denmark. Cnut wasn’t finished with England, however. In September 1015 Cnut’s fleet appeared off the coast at Sandwich and the next several months saw a series of battles between the Anglo-Saxons and the invading Danish army. King Aethelred died in April of 1016. His son Edmund eventually agreed to divide the country with Cnut, but when Edmund died in November of the same year, Cnut succeeded to the entire kingdom.  He ruled England until his death in 1035.

Short-lived as it was, Cnut’s reign arguably set the stage for the Norman Conquest in 1066.  His rule drew England firmly into the Scandinavian political and cultural spheres, but his rule also had a marked international dimension. As king of England, Cnut had to manage not only a mixed, Anglo-Danish population at home, but also a complex political landscape in Europe. The upcoming EU referendum made the organisers of this project realise that our exploration of similar issues in the medieval period had potentially much to offer to current debate.

Erin Goeres (UCL) started off the discussion with a bit of background about the project and King Cnut in particular. Richard North (UCL) then spoke about the political situation in England on the eve of Cnut’s invasion, noting the importance of Scandinavian raiding, trading and settlement in England well before Cnut’s arrived, and setting Cnut’s conquest in the wider context of early medieval Europe. Alison Finlay (Birkbeck) gave us a flavour of how medieval Scandinavian sources portrayed Cnut, in particular the Cnut ‘brand’ promoted by the king’s poets and advisors. Timothy Bolton (Bloomsbury Auctions) spoke about what sort of leader Cnut was, and how he negotiated the changing political landscape at home and abroad. Finally, Carolin Esser-Miles (Winchester) considered the English sources and Anglo-Saxon writers’ representations of Cnut; she linked this to current discussions about immigration, multiculturalism and ‘English’ and ‘European’ identities.

Some members of the public were interested in the economic dimension of Cnut’s reign and wondered how this compared to the current status of Germany, for example, or of Greece. Other audience members wanted to know more about how Cnut’s rule had affected England in a local sense, asking questions about specific locations in Cheshire and around London. Although the roundtable was only scheduled to last for an hour, the debate continued for sometime afterwards at the drinks reception, no doubt helped in part by the delicious Hungarian brandy generously donated by our colleagues at the School for Eastern European and Slavonic Studies – many thanks indeed!

Creating Kennings at Birkbeck College

Yesterday saw our first public event: ‘D’ye ken King Knut? Devising Old English and Old Norse Kennings’, part of Birkbeck College’s Arts Week. Organiser Alison Finlay was joined by her colleague Steve Willey from Birkbeck’s creative writing programme, as well as UCL medievalists Richard North and Erin Goeres, to run an interactive workshop on the nature and use of kennings in Old Norse, Old English and modern poetry. Alison started by introducing the concept of the ‘kenning’ (a poetic circumlocution of two or more parts that creates a metaphorical description of an everyday object or concept.) Erin then gave some examples of kennings before Steve invited participants to come up with their own kennings for modern concepts. Some of our favourites were:

• bandage-building (hospital)
• hall of the unwashed (hostel)
• star water (champagne)
• moated pound sign, home of weeping clouds (Britain)

Richard then told the story of how the Norse god Odinn stole the mead of poetry from his adversaries, the giants, demonstrating that references to myth and legend lie at the heart of many kennings.

Steve then asked the group to rewrite simple narratives (newspaper headlines, life events) using kennings. Can you guess what’s happening here?

My goddess of life took her last lung-wave as I watched the bandage-building’s minute-marker.

It’s a sad story, but became somehow beautiful through the addition of kennings.

Finally, Steve spoke about the concept of ‘defamiliarisation’ and demonstrated how poets can help us to see the world through new eyes. As a final exercise, he challenged the group to replace words in canonical poems with kennings. Do you recognise his example?

I wandered lonely as a rain-factory

That floats on high o’er light-vats and sky-rafts

When all at once I saw a seedling of protest,

A comfort-guard, of golden soundless grass-trumpets

Beside the fish-jail, beneath the needle-spawners,

Fluttering and dancing in nature’s face-kiss.

Many thanks to everyone who took part in this highly enjoyable event! Join us next Thursday at UCL’s Festival of the Arts, where we’ll be discussing ‘England and Europe: the Medieval Perspective’.

Welcome to our new website!

2016 marks the anniversary of many notable people and events: 100 years since the Easter Rising, 200 years since the birth of Charlotte Bronte, 400 years since the death of Shakespeare, 950 years since the Battle of Hastings. And yet, too little attention has been paid to one of the most significant anniversaries of all: exactly a thousand years ago, England was racked by armed conflict as its Anglo-Saxon inhabitants sought to defend their land from invasion and conquest. Although Scandinavian settlers had long been part of medieval English life, particularly in the north of the country, 1016 saw the emergence of a new power onto the world stage, the young Danish king now known as ‘Cnut the Great’.

Appearing off the southern coast of England in the autumn of 1015, Cnut proceeded to harry the land throughout the winter. On 23 April, 1016, King Aethelred of England died and was succeeded by his son, Edmund Ironside. Shortly after, Cnut laid siege to the city of London and, after a series of battles across the south, forced Edmund to divide the country with him. When Edmund died on 30 November, 1016, the Danish King Cnut became sole King of England, changing forever the history of England, Denmark and Europe.

This website represents an AHRC-funded research network that explores the transition from Aethelred to Cnut, as well as the consequences of that transition in both the medieval and modern periods. Through a series of seminars, conferences, public workshops and a virtual exhibition, we aim to investigate the following questions:

• Were the Danes invaders who destroyed England or could we call them immigrants who enriched the country they settled in?
• How did government change when Cnut took over from Æthelred?
• What were the consequences of Cnut’s new regime for England’s relationship with Europe?

We hope this network will help to raise awareness of this fascinating period of history. Please join us!