Fall 2021 Special Topic & Course Details: Women, Wyrd, and Warriors in Old English Literature

From the time that the Roman Imperial legions left British shores until the Norman army of William the Conqueror took the field at Hastings, the lands that we now call the United Kingdom were filled with vibrant, interconnected communities whose history has been too little studied. This course offers a detailed overview of the literature of these diverse peoples— Angles, Saxons, Danes, Picts, Vikings, Britons, Celts, Africans, and Arabs— who called the British Isles home, contextualized within the history of the period. In particular, we will use changing ideas about gender as the lens through which we analyze this period that once was erroneously called the “Dark Ages;” we will examine how ordinary men and women reinvented themselves and the world they knew in the face of ever growing threats of violence and invasion.  Cross-listed with Women’s and Gender Studies

This course satisfies a Pre-1800 literature requirement for English Department majors. 

This course may be taken for Capstone credit by English majors; please fill out a Capstone Declaration Form. Contact the ENGL Main Office for assistance: 603-862-1313.

Reminder: 700-level classes taken to fulfill the English Major Capstone MAY NOT be double counted towards other major requirement areas.