Double Agents
Women and Clerical Culture in Anglo-Saxon England
Distributed for University of Wales Press
- Contents
- Review Quotes

Series Editor’s Preface
Preface
Acknowledgements, 2001
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1 Patristic Maternity: Bede, Hild and Cultural Procreation
2 Orality, Femininity and the Disappearing Trace in Early Anglo-Saxon England
3 Literacy and Gender in Later Anglo-Saxon England
4 Figuring the Body: Gender, Performance, Hagiography
5 Pressing Hard on the ‘Breasts’ of Scripture: Metaphor and the Symbolic
Bibliography
Index“Whether they are interrogating the scholarly narrative of Cædmon as the ‘father of English poetry,’ investigating the historical record for feminine literacy or considering the female saint’s body, both real and metaphorical, Lees and Overing apply crucial pressure to some of the most common assumptions about Anglo-Saxon culture.”
“Double Agents is an innovative and provocative study, adventurous in its choice of texts and stimulating in its lively and detailed engagement with them. The authors’ exploration of the complex relation of the feminine, orality and literacy will undoubtedly influence the direction of future critical enquiry.”
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