Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- The writing and pronunciation of Old English
- I Teaching and learning
- II Keeping a record
- 7 Laws of the Anglo-Saxon Kings
- 8 England under Attack (from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: annals for 981–93, 995–8 and 1002–3)
- 9 Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People
- 10 The Battle of Brunanburh
- 11 The Will of Ælfgifu
- 12 The Fonthill Letter
- III Spreading the Word
- IV Example and Exhortation
- V Telling Tales
- VI Reflection and lament
- Manuscripts and textual emendations
- Reference Grammar of Old English
- Glossary
- Guide to terms
- Index
12 - The Fonthill Letter
from II - Keeping a record
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- The writing and pronunciation of Old English
- I Teaching and learning
- II Keeping a record
- 7 Laws of the Anglo-Saxon Kings
- 8 England under Attack (from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: annals for 981–93, 995–8 and 1002–3)
- 9 Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People
- 10 The Battle of Brunanburh
- 11 The Will of Ælfgifu
- 12 The Fonthill Letter
- III Spreading the Word
- IV Example and Exhortation
- V Telling Tales
- VI Reflection and lament
- Manuscripts and textual emendations
- Reference Grammar of Old English
- Glossary
- Guide to terms
- Index
Summary
The ‘Fonthill Letter’ is a record of the evidence submitted to King Alfred's son and successor, Edward the Elder (899–924), by the prominent nobleman Ordlaf in connection with the disputed ownership of a piece of land at Fonthill, south of Warminster in the southern county of Wiltshire, part of Wessex. Ordlaf was ealdorman of Wiltshire from 897. We can deduce that the events related occurred between 897 and 901, and that the undated letter was probably written between about 920 and 924. It is preserved on a single sheet of parchment now in the library of Canterbury Cathedral (Dean and Chapter, Chart. Ant. C. 1282 [Red Book, no. 12]), which appears to be an original document. As such, it offers us a unique first-person account of the working of Anglo-Saxon law at the end of the ninth century and the beginning of the tenth, revealing the extent to which Alfred had been personally involved in its administration. All the places named in the letter are in Wiltshire.
The matter of the letter, following the opening address to King Edward, is complex, and may be summarised as follows.
Ordlaf wants to give the Fonthill estate to the bishop of Winchester in exchange for another piece of land, but his entitlement to Fonthill is being disputed by one Æthelhelm Higa, among others. To obtain King Edward's confirmation of the arrangement, therefore, Ordlaf must explain the complex way in which he himself acquired the land. […]
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- The Cambridge Old English Reader , pp. 96 - 102Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004
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