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Gaelic Influence in the Northumbrian Kingdom: The Golden Age and the Viking Age

Research output: Book/Report/ProceedingsBook

Published
Publication date15/12/2019
Place of PublicationWoodbridge
PublisherBoydell & Brewer
Number of pages322
ISBN (electronic)9781787445864
ISBN (print)9781783273362
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Publication series

NameStudies in Celtic History
No.40

Abstract

Northumbria was the most northerly Anglo-Saxon kingdom; its impressive landscape featured two sweeping coastlines, which opened the area to a variety of cultural connections. This book explores influences that emanated from the Gaelic-speaking world, including Ireland, the Isle of Man, Argyll and the kingdom of Alba (the nascent Scottish kingdom). It encompasses Northumbria's "Golden Age", the kingdom's political and scholarly high-point of the seventh and early eighth centuries, and culminates with the kingdom's decline and fragmentation in the Viking Age, which opened up new links with Gaelic-Scandinavian communities. Political and ecclesiastical connections are discussed in detail; the study also covers linguistic contact, material culture and the practicalities of travel, bringing out the realities of contemporary life. This interdisciplinary approach sheds new light on the west and north of the Northumbrian kingdom, the areas linked most closely with the Gaelic world. Overall, the book reveals the extent to which Gaelic influence was multi-faceted, complex and enduring

Bibliographic note

This book has been shortlisted as 'History book of the year' in Scotland's National Book Awards 2021 (the Saltire Society Literary Awards).