The Displacement of the Body in }}lfric's Virgin Martyr Lives [Hardcover]

The Displacement of the Body in ? lfric's Virgin Martyr Lives addresses 10th-century Old English hagiographical translations, from Latin source material, by the abbot and grammarian ? lfric. The vitae of Agnes, Agatha, Lucy, and Eugenia, and the married saints Daria, Basilissa, and Cecilia, included in ? lfric's s Old English Lives of Saints, recount the lives, persecution, and martyrdom of young women who renounce sex and, in the first four stories, marriage, to devote their lives to Christian service. They purport to be about the primacy of virginity and the role of the body in attaining sanctity. However, a comparison of the Latin sources with ? lfric's versions suggests that his translation style, characterized by simplifying the most important meanings of the text, omits certain words or entire episodes that foreground suppressed female sexuality as key to sainthood. The Old English Lives de-emphasize the physical nature of faith and highlight the importance of spiritual purity. In this volume, Alison Gulley explores how the context of the Benedictine Reform in late Anglo-Saxon England and ? lfric's commitment to writing for a lay audience resulted in a set of stories depicting a spirituality distinct from physical intactness.Contents: Introduction: the function of ? lfric's hagiography; The ideal of castitas and the environment of ? lfrics virgin martyr legends; Marital imagery, Marian allusion, and circumscribed virginity in ? lfrics Life of Agnes; Private lives and public contexts in ? lfrics Lives of Agatha and Lucy; Cross-dressing, sex-change, and womanhood in ? lfrics Life of Eugenia; Let us hold firmly to the beautiful treasure: teaching, learning and salvation in the Passio of Chysanthus and Daria; Conversion and marital vocation in the Passiones of Julian and Basilissa and Cecilia and Valerian; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.Alison Gulley is Associate Professor of English at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, USA.