Winterbottom, Michael, ed., "Life of St. Ethelwold" in Three Lives of English Saints (Canada: The Hunter Rose Company, 1972). ISBN: 888444508
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Text name(s): Life of St. Ethelwold

Number of pages of primary source text: 34

Medieval Author(s): Wulfstan

Dates: 996 - 1023

Archival Reference: MS Cotton Tiberius D.iv

Original Language(s): Latin;

Translation: Original language included.

Translation Comments:

Geopolitical Region(s): England;

County/Region: Wessex; Hampshire; Cornwall; Winchester; Glastonbury; Abingdon

Apparatus: Glossary Bibliography Introduction

Comments:

Wulfstan’s Life of St. Ethelwold is the longer of the two versions included in this text. Ethelwold was a Benedictine monk who served in the royal court of King Athelstan in the mid-10th century. He was involved in the monastic reforms of the era and was responsible for the instruction of young King Edmund. Previously the abbot of Abingdon, Ethelwold became the bishop of Winchester in 963. He was noted for his (mild) ascetic practices and practical talents, such as cooking and masonry. Wulfstan, who composed the more elaborately constructed version of the Life, was a cantor at Winchester. He also wrote poems, a book on music (which is now lost) and possibly other musical arrangements, such as hymns. Textual Notes also included.

Introduction Summary:

Introduction includes brief discussion on the political environment during the times of Sts. Ethelwold and Edmund and the Danish invasions, background information on the two men, location of the manuscripts and some notes on the use of Anglo-Saxon letters in the text.

Cataloger: KMU