Harriet O'Brien

This is a book I've been wanting to read for a while. It covers the period of English history that intrigues me the most -- the period of the Danelaw and after -- and the people who intrigue me the most: Æðelræð, Emma/Ælfgifu (so many Ælfgifus!), Knútr, and Edward. This is the pivotal period where the conditions for the shift to Norman rule (just another foreign rule) are created. I am most interested in the creation of identities and multilingualism of the period. The author does a good job of teasing out a narrative from the limited documentary sources, but the book is flawed by gaffes that a non-medievalist would make, and she's got a real fixation on the limited/non-literacy of the period. Medievalists think about that differently now: there are many different literacies and strategies.… (mehr)

Queen Emma (called Aelfgifu by most of her subjects) was a strong-willed Norman who was queen of England twice over--first as the wife of Anglo-Saxon king Aethelred, then as the wife of the conquering Danish king Cnut. She had little impact in Aethelred's court, but was (according to O'Brien) very involved in revitalizing Cnut's reputation in Europe through conspicuous acts of piety and generosity. After Cnut's death, she fought long and hard to get one of her sons on the English throne. Cnut's two sons, Harold Harefoot (son of Cnut's first wife, also named Aelfgifu) and Harthacnut (Emma's son) each claimed the throne, but Harold died and Harthacnut was crowned King of England without having to fight. Emma's younger son by Aethelred then returned to England (he had been hiding in Normandy) and joined his half-brother Harthacnut as co-ruler. Harthacnut was a brutal and heavy-handed ruler, and few mourned when he died only a few years later. Edward, later called "Confessor", was then the sole ruler of England. Upon his childless death many years later, Emma's nephew William the Conquerer claimed the throne.

It's fascinating history, but there is frustratingly little known about Emma herself. Today, we only have a few clues, from The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the history she commissioned, the Encomium Emmae.… (mehr)