The humorless reputation of Anglo-Saxon England is well-known: it is generally perceived to have been a gloomy place, its literature often seen as grim, bloody, and above all somber in its treatment of Germanic warriors or Christian heroes. For students first encountering Old English literature in undergraduate survey courses, this reputation is solidified by the editorial introduction in the Norton Anthology of English Literature:

Perhaps even less likely to provoke the interest of many non-specialist readers is the following misguided comment from the most recent edition of the Norton Anthology of Literature by Women: ‘Anglo-Saxon culture, which predated Christianity in England, was oblivious of or hostile to women.’ If these views have become the canonical ‘rules’ about Old English literature, it is time to start examining the exceptions to those rules. This essay will suggest not only that a certain number of Old English prose texts incorporate both playful and serious humor to promote Christian doctrine, but also that they do so by means of strong, wise, witty, and eloquent women characters.