Assess women as women, as they actually appear in the laws, in works written by women, and in canonical literature. This book contains essays that address, correct, and round out the nineteenth-century Anglo-Saxon critical tradition. It also explores the women in Old English literature.

Alexandra Hennessey Olsen, Associate Professor of Old and Middle English at the University of Denver, is author of "Guthlac of Croyland: A Study of Heroic Hagiography and Speech, Song, and Poetic Craft"; "The Artistry of the Cynewulf Canon".

Preface
The Fates of Women
IntroductionI.The Historical Record
II.Sexuality and FolkloreIII.Language and Difference in CharacterizationIV.The "Deconstructed" Stereotype