The “Saracens” of King Horn: Two Unnoticed Analogues

Sheds new light on the tendency of some Middle English narrative texts to describe Vikings and earlier Germanic peoples as Saracens

Ancient Privileges : Beowulf, Law and the Making of Germanic Antiquity

One of the great triumphs of nineteenth-century philology was the development of the wide array of comparative data that underpins the grammars of the Old Germanic dialects, such as Old English, Old Icelandic, Old Saxon, and Gothic. These led to the reconstruction of Common Germanic and Proto-Germanic languages. Many individuals have forgotten that scholars of the same period were interested in reconstructing the body of ancient law that was supposedly shared by all speakers of Germanic. Stefan Jurasinski\u27s Ancient Privileges: Beowulf, Law, and the Making of the Germanic Antiquity recounts how the work of nineteenth-century legal historians actually influenced the editing of Old English texts, most notably Beowulf, in ways that are still preserved in our editions. This situation has been a major contributor to the archaizing of Beowulf. In turn, Jurasinski\u27s careful analysis of its assumptions in light of contemporary research offers a model for scholars to apply to a number of other textual artifacts that have been affected by what was known as the historische Rechtsschule. At the very least, it will change the way you think about Beowulf.Originally presented as the author\u27s thesis (doctoral)--Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind., 2003. This study considers the influence of nineteenth-century legal historians on the editing and interpretation of Beowulf --Pref.https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/bookshelf/1064/thumbnail.jp

Peace and Protection in the Middle Ages

Edited by Thomas Benedict Lambert and David W. Rollason. Includes chapter by College at Brockport faculty member Stefan Jurasinski, Madness and responsibility in Anglo-Saxon England. That kings, prelates and even lowly freemen were, under certain specified conditions, capable of offering protection or “peace” to others, usually their inferiors, is relatively well known. That a breach of this protection might entitle, or indeed oblige, the protector to take action against the violator is similarly well understood. However, this protective dynamic has rarely received direct scholarly attention, despite its being evident in an extraordinary range of contexts. The emotional aspects of protection - the honour and love associated with the bond it creates, and the shame and anger that accompany its breach - resonate in both heroic and chivalric ideals, whilst in legal fiction at least, the king’s protection or peace would come to underpin the common law of trespass. Such a broad sweep, taking in social, legal, religious and cultural elements, suggests that protection as a concept may have a wider significance than its marginal role in current historiography would indicate. Indeed, the influence of protection both in forming social bonds and in providing a framework for the legitimate use of force suggests that the concept could serve as a valuable counterpoint to more traditional “institutional” understandings of power. This book explores peace and protection as a fundamental motor of medieval society, across a broad geographical and chronological span; brings together literary, legal and historical studies making use of a wide range of approaches; and focuses scholarly attention as never before on the concept of peace and protection viewed in relation to kings and lords, charity and mercy, and the action of feud and vendetta.https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/bookshelf/1037/thumbnail.jp

Impact of peat temperatures (°C) on CH₄ fluxes (mg m^-2 h^-1) in the four seasons (blue = winter, green = spring, yellow = summer, red = autumn) in the northwest (NW) and the southeast (SE) of the study site at the more (+) and less (-) inundated measurement spots.

<p>Data are interpolated by generalized additive models. Error bars indicate the standard error of the interpolation.</p

Interaction of site characteristics with the exchange of CH₄ in the first year after flooding.

<p>Measurement spots are arranged according to Bray-Curtis-dissimilarity regarding the average site characteristics (median) of the measurement spot (for abbreviations see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140657#pone.0140657.g004" target="_blank">Fig 4</a>) (a). The size of the symbols represents the relative values of the annual emissions of CH₄ (b). All parameters contributed significantly (p<0.001) to the ordination. The polygons display the cluster (i.e. location and inundation level, see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0140657#pone.0140657.g001" target="_blank">Fig 1c</a>) of the particular measurement spot. Clusters differed significantly regarding their site characteristics (p<0.05). Stress of the NMDS was 0.012.</p

Methane Exchange in a Coastal Fen in the First Year after Flooding - A Systems Shift

<div><p>Background</p><p>Peatland restoration can have several objectives, for example re-establishing the natural habitat, supporting unique biodiversity attributes or re-initiating key biogeochemical processes, which can ultimately lead to a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Every restoration measure, however, is itself a disturbance to the ecosystem.</p><p>Methods</p><p>Here, we examine an ecosystem shift in a coastal fen at the southern Baltic Sea which was rewetted by flooding. The analyses are based on one year of bi-weekly closed chamber measurements of methane fluxes gathered at spots located in different vegetation stands. During measurement campaigns, we recorded data on water levels, peat temperatures, and chemical properties of peat water. In addition we analyzed the first 20 cm of peat before and after flooding for dry bulk density (DBD), content of organic matter and total amounts of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), sulfur (S), and other nutrients.</p><p>Results</p><p>Rewetting turned the site from a summer dry fen into a shallow lake with water levels up to 0.60 m. We observed a substantial die-back of vegetation, especially in stands of sedges (<i>Carex acutiformis</i> Ehrh). Concentrations of total organic carbon and nitrogen in the peat water, as well as dry bulk density and concentrations of C, N and S in the peat increased. In the first year after rewetting, the average annual exchange of methane amounted to 0.26 ± 0.06 kg m^-2. This is equivalent to a 190-times increase in methane compared to pre-flooding conditions. Highest methane fluxes occurred in sedge stands which suffered from the heaviest die-back. None of the recorded environmental variables showed consistent relationships with the amounts of methane exchanged.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>Our results suggest that rewetting projects should be monitored not only with regard to vegetation development but also with respect to biogeochemical conditions. Further, high methane emissions that likely occur directly after rewetting by flooding should be considered when forecasting the overall effect of rewetting on GHG exchange.</p></div

Average peat water properties at the NW and SE clusters in the first year after flooding.

<p>Values are arithmetic means and standard deviations are given in brackets. Differences between NW and SE clusters were tested with one-tailed Wilcox-rank-sum-tests and significance is indicated by:</p><p>* p<0.05 and,</p><p>*** p<0.001.</p><p>WL = water level above ground, EC = electric conductivity, Cl^- = concentration of Cl^- anions in the peat water, SO₄^2- = concentration of SO₄^2- anions in the peat water, TOC = total organic carbon and TN total bound nitrogen in the peat water; NW = northwest; SE = southeast.</p><p>Average peat water properties at the NW and SE clusters in the first year after flooding.</p

Closed chamber set-up to measure the CH₄ exchange at inundated conditions.

<p>a) Scheme of a measurement spot with the chamber placed at the collar and an attached vacutainer for gas sampling. b) Photograph of a sedge spot from the study site in July 2010.</p