This monograph is the result of my long-held interest in the histories and legends associated with the British Isles in the opaque period following the decline and fall of the western Roman empire. Working from a theological and literary perspective, I have attempted to illuminate aspects of this ‘dark age’ through the lens of the Bible and a ‘thick description’ of select textual witnesses. The former methodology has been aided by the collective wisdom held at Monash University; the latter methodology has been supported by the digitisation of medieval texts and the development of search engines and textual comparison software to complement these digitised collections.

There can be no doubt that the most important influence on this book has been Professor Constant Mews. Significant other influences include Associate Professor Lisa Bailey, Professor Megan Cassidy-Welch, Professor Peter Howard, Professor Bronwen Neil, Dr Lynette Olson, and Professor Jonathan Wooding. Special thanks to Emeritus Professor John Crossley for his comments, to Sonia Kretschmar for the art-work, and to Caroline Palmer for steering the publication process. I am also indebted to specialist scholars for support and advice: Associate Professor Doru Costache, Dr Cornel Dora, Dr Chris Doyle, Associate Professor Geoffrey Dunn, Associate Professor Roy Flechner, Associate Professor Andrew Gillett, Dr Julianna Grigg, Dr Anne Holloway, Professor Mark Humphries, Dr Edwin Hustwit, Associate Professor Jonathan Jarrett, Dr Luca Larpi, Professor Rosamond McKitterick, Dr Sven Meeder, Dr Kathleen Neal, Dr Sigbjørn Sønnesyn, Dr Clare Stancliffe, Dr Carol Williams, Professor Ian Wood, and the anonymous peer reviewers.

This book was facilitated by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship and an Australian Academy of the Humanities Publication Subsidy. I dedicate it to my late mother, Margaret, to my father, Jim, and to my wife, Michelle.