The Heroic Age (issue 15)

The fifteenth issue of The Heroic Age offers high-quality, peer-reviewed articles and useful book reviews. This successful online journal, founded by Michelle Ziegler in the 1990s, goes from strength to strength.

If you’re interested in early medieval Europe (particularly its northwestern parts) you’ll find the journal worth a look. Check out the current contents and browse the archive of earlier issues. If you go back far enough you might even stumble across a couple of things written by me, such as my 2006 article on the Battle of Maserfelth.

Among the contents of Issue 15 is a very useful edition of Annales Cambriae, the Welsh Annals, by Henry Gough-Cooper. Since 2002 we’ve had David Dumville’s parallel edition* of the three principal texts of AC for the years 682-954 but nothing similar for the earlier period. Thanks to Henry’s painstaking scholarship, we now have the ‘missing link’ in the form of a parallel edition starting at the mid-fifth century and joining up with Dumville’s edition at 682. While those of us with Scottish interests might focus on a small number of entries relating to Dál Riata and Northumbria, followers of the ‘Historical Arthur’ debate may be more interested in how the battles of Badon and Camlann were reported in the three texts. It’s this kind of comparative study that makes Henry’s edition so valuable.

Here’s an official announcement from the journal:
‘The editorial staff of The Heroic Age is pleased to announce the release of Issue 15. Issue 15 contains articles on Late Antiquity, Arthuriana, and Folklore, as well as an edition of the Annales Cambriae from the time of St. Patrick through 682. The issue can be found at www.heroicage.org. The editorial staff would like to thank all our contributors, staff, and volunteer copy-editors. We would also like to thank Memorial University of Newfoundland for continuing to host The Heroic Age.’

The Heroic Age. Issue 15: October 2012

* Dumville, David (ed.) Annales Cambriae, AD 682–954: texts A–C in parallel (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002).

* * * * * * *

6 comments on “The Heroic Age (issue 15)

  1. One of my favourite online academic sites. If only Ériu and Éigse were freely available on the web. Early and medieval Irish studies on the internet remains largely the preserve of the knowledgeable amateur or enthusiast with only a handful of scholars contributing anything. That is why there is so much misinformation out there.

    One realises that people need to make a living from their expertise but there must be some way that a site similar to The Heroic Age could be subsidised? The CELT project certainly shows what is possible.

  2. Tim says:

    Yes, the CELT project is an excellent resource. I use it all the time.

    Things seem to be changing in the way scholarly information is being presented. The traditional model of publishing research via an expensive academic journal has been questioned for a number of years. The scientific community will no doubt be the trailblazers, but humanities (including medieval studies) will catch on as well. Things might look different a few years down the line.

  3. […] Clarkson of Senchus has announced his newest book of Columba, announced the latest issue of the Heroic Age , and wrote about searching for Bede’s […]

  4. One thing that has surprised me about all the announcements of the latest issue, even this one, is that, even though it’s an online journal, not one has actually linked to it. Missing a trick, perhaps?

Leave a comment