Anglo-Saxon lay society and the written word

Abstract

The study of literacy in Anglo-Saxon England in some ways resembles the hunt for a certain elusive type of sub-atomic particle: the direct evidence for its existence is negligible but the fact that it does exist can be inferred from its perceived effect upon its environment. When we scour the primary sources for references to reading and writing, to the literacy of individuals, to basic education and book-ownership, our haul is sparse indeed. Inferences drawn from scribal competency can be suggestive, but hardly provide a sufficient basis for general analysis of the quality and extent of Anglo-Saxon literacy. The conclusions that derive from this type of material are plainly limited; they tend to reinforce the traditional view that literacy was essentially an ecclesiastical preserve, for it is impossible to demonstrate that the occasional indication to the contrary is anything more than an exception. Fortunately, the argument can be amplified by considering the problem from a rather different perspective and studying the ways in which the Anglo-Saxons utilized the written word and the extent to which writing superseded speech and memory as the standard method of conveying and storing information. This approach leads us to a rather different conclusion, for it seems to show that by the end of the period, if not several centuries before, written documentation had an important place in secular society and was used in ways which could imply a degree of literacy among certain sections of the laity. Before we can assess the impact which literacy had on Anglo-Saxon society, it is necessary to try to establish a starting point for the investigation.

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