Fontes Anglo-Saxonici: A Register of Written Sources Used by Anglo-Saxon Authors is designed to identify all written sources which were incorporated, quoted, translated or adapted in Old English or Latin texts written in Anglo-Saxon England (i.e. England up to 1066), or by Anglo-Saxons in other countries.
The material is compiled in the form of a database which analyses each Anglo-Saxon text passage by passage, sentence by sentence or, if necessary, phrase by phrase, identifying the probable source-passages used for each particular segment. The database has been accumulating material since 1988 and in its present form contains over 29,000 records analysing in detail the source-relationships of around 1150 Anglo-Saxon texts (over 500 written in Old English and over 600 in Latin) and identifying the use of over 1000 sources and analogues. The database shows which texts were known in Anglo-Saxon England, how well specific texts and authors were known, and in what different ways they were used. It also provides the basis for studies on the intellectual interests of Anglo-Saxon authors, and what contributions the Anglo-Saxons made to the history of ideas.
Not all Anglo-Saxon texts are covered in the present version. In some cases this is deliberate policy: though there are many views about the possible influences of other Old English or Latin texts on, say, Old English poems such as The Wanderer or Beowulf, there is little agreement and there is in any case not usually the clear passage-for-passage evidence of influence and reading that the project aims to chronicle. In other cases, particularly Anglo-Latin texts, work is still in progress or anticipated, and we hope to produce a still fuller version of the database at some future date.
Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Board
The project gratefully acknowledges support from the following institutions: British Academy, Arts and Humanities Research Board, University of Oxford, University of Manchester, University of Leeds, University of Cambridge, King's College London
September 2002