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IMC 2012: Sessions

Session 212: Ruling the Field: New Readings of Gerefa

Monday 9 July 2012, 14.15-15.45

Organiser:Jennifer Neville, Department of English, Royal Holloway, University of London
Moderator/Chair:Carl Kears, Department of English, King's College London
Paper 212-aRules and Tools: Authority, Social Status, and the Practice of Farming in Gerefa
(Language: English)
Debby Banham, Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic, University of Cambridge
Index terms: Daily Life, Economics - Rural, Language and Literature - Old English, Social History
Paper 212-bResisting Reciprocity: Asserting Authority in Gerefa
(Language: English)
Jennifer Neville, Department of English, Royal Holloway, University of London
Index terms: Language and Literature - Old English, Law, Political Thought, Social History
Paper 212-c'Ne forða musfellan ne': Gerefa and the Order of Things
(Language: English)
Pirkko Koppinen, Department of English, Royal Holloway, University of London
Index terms: Language and Literature - Old English, Mentalities, Philosophy, Social History
Abstract

Gerefa is a difficult text that has received considerable attention from lexicographers and agricultural historians, especially because of its list of farming implements. In this session, however, we will be looking at the text as both a functional and literary object. Thus we will discuss not only information regarding the 'chain of command' in Anglo-Saxon estate management and farming but also the principles of order that underlie the grouping of objects in the text and the projection of power and authority that dominates the early part of the text.