Writing in Britain and Ireland, c. 400 to c. 800

No abstract available

Physiological stress in the Eurasian badger (Meles meles): Effects of host, disease and environment

A method for monitoring hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) responses of the Eurasian badger (Meles meles) to stressors was validated by measuring cortisol excretion in serum and faeces. Serum and faecal samples were collected under anaesthesia from live-captured, wild badgers and fresh faeces was collected from latrines at 15 social groups in County Down, Northern Ireland. Variation in levels of cortisol in wild badgers was investigated relative to disease status, season, age, sex, body mass, body condition and reproductive status and environmental factors that might influence stress. Faecal cortisol levels were significantly higher in animals testing culture-positive for Mycobacterium bovis. Prolonged elevation of cortisol can suppress immune function, which may have implications for disease transmission. There was a strong seasonal pattern in both serum cortisol, peaking in spring and faecal cortisol, peaking in summer. Cortisol levels were also higher in adults with poor body condition and low body mass. Faecal samples collected from latrines in grassland groups had significantly higher cortisol than those collected from woodland groups, possibly as a result of greater exposure to sources of environmental stress. This study is the first to investigate factors influencing physiological stress in badgers and indicates that serological and faecal excretion are valid indices of the HPA response to a range of stressors

Creating and curating an archive: Bury St Edmunds and its Anglo-Saxon past

This contribution explores the mechanisms by which the Benedictine foundation of Bury St Edmunds sought to legitimise and preserve their spurious pre-Conquest privileges and holdings throughout the Middle Ages. The archive is extraordinary in terms of the large number of surviving registers and cartularies which contain copies of Anglo-Saxon charters, many of which are wholly or partly in Old English. The essay charts the changing use to which these ancient documents were put in response to threats to the foundation's continued enjoyment of its liberties. The focus throughout the essay is to demonstrate how pragmatic considerations at every stage affects the development of the archive and the ways in which these linguistically challenging texts were presented, re-presented, and represented during the Abbey’s history

Aspects of the theme of King and Goddess in Irish literature (suite)

Mac Cana Proinsias. Aspects of the theme of King and Goddess in Irish literature (suite). In: Etudes Celtiques, vol. 7, fascicule 2, 1956. pp. 356-413

Notes sur les analogues insulaires de la légende de Mélusine

Mac Cana Proinsias. Notes sur les analogues insulaires de la légende de Mélusine. In: Mélanges François Kerlouégan. Besançon : Université de Franche-Comté, 1994. pp. 419-438. (Annales littéraires de l'Université de Besançon, 515

On the early development of written narrative prose in Irish and Welsh

In his survey of the earliest evidence for the written text in the medieval Celtic literatures the author adverts to recent studies suggesting that there was a degree of Latin literacy in Ireland even in pre-Christian times and that this may have facilitated the eventual introduction of writing in the vernacular. He also reviews those studies which have sought, on the basis of the extant texts of the earliest surviving literature, to establish when the vernaculars began to be written for literary purposes. In both Ireland and Wales traditional verse appears to have been recorded considerably earlier than narrative prose, the chronology disparity being much greater in Wales. Indeed recent research tends to see the written tradition of the earliest Welsh verse, the Hengerdd, as beginning much earlier than was hitherto supposed. He touches upon the relationship of didactic and narrative prose on the one hand and of oral and written prose on the other, emphasizing the importance of closer stylistic and syntactic analysis for determining the role of function and medium in shaping medieval Irish and Welsh prose narrative.Sur les premiers développements de la prose narrative écrite en irlandais et en gallois. Passant en revue les plus anciennes attestations de l’écriture dans les littératures celtiques médiévales, l’auteur se réfère à des études récentes suggérant qu’il y avait déjà un certain degré de culture écrite latine en Irlande, dès avant la christianisation, et que cela a pu faciliter, en son temps, le passage du vernaculaire à l’écriture. Il examine aussi les études qui ont cherché à établir, sur la base des textes conservés de la plus ancienne littérature, l’époque où les langues vernaculaires ont commencé à être écrites à des fins littéraires. En Irlande comme en Galles, la poésie traditionnelle paraît avoir été enregistrée bien plus tôt que la prose narrative, le décalage chronologique étant d’ailleurs plus grand au Pays de Galles. En fait la recherche récente tend à considérer que la tradition écrite du Hengerdd (la poésie galloise la plus ancienne) a commencé bien plus tôt qu’on ne l’a supposé jusque ici. Il aborde la question des rapports entre proses didactique et narrative, entre proses orale et écrite, en insistant sur l’importance d’une analyse stylistique et syntactique plus serrée pour la détermination du rôle de «la fonction» (function) et du «moyen-d’expression» (medium) dans la formation de la narration en prose du Moyen Age irlandais et gallois.Mac Cana Proinsias. On the early development of written narrative prose in Irish and Welsh. In: Etudes Celtiques, vol. 29, 1992. Actes du IXe congrès international d'études celtiques. Paris, 7-12 juillet 1991. Deuxième partie : Linguistique, littératures. pp. 51-67

Conservation and innovation in early Celtic literature

Mac Cana Proinsias. Conservation and innovation in early Celtic literature. In: Etudes Celtiques, vol. 13, fascicule 1, 1972. Actes du quatrième congrès international d'études celtiques (Rennes 18-25 juillet 1971) Volume I. Linguistique celtique. pp. 61-119

La traduction des épopées étrangères en irlandais

Mac Cana Proinsias. La traduction des épopées étrangères en irlandais. In: Traduction et traducteurs au Moyen Âge. Actes du colloque international du CNRS organisé à Paris, Institut de recherche et d’histoire des textes les 26-28 mai 1986. Aubervilliers : Institut de Recherche et d'Histoire des Textes (IRHT), 1989. pp. 77-84. (Documents, études et répertoires de l'Institut de Recherche et d'Histoire des Textes, 42

Aspects of the theme of King and Goddess in Irish literature (suite et fin)

Mac Cana Proinsias. Aspects of the theme of King and Goddess in Irish literature (suite et fin). In: Etudes Celtiques, vol. 8, fascicule 1, 1958. pp. 59-65