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This book examines violence in its social setting, and especially as an essential element in the heroic system of exchange (sometimes called the Economy of Honour). It situates Beowulf in a northern European culture where violence was not stigmatized as evidence of a breakdown in social order but rather was seen as a reasonable way to get things done; where kings and their retainers saw themselves above all as warriors whose chief occupation was the pursuit of honour; and where most successful kings were those perceived as most predatory. Though kings and their subjects yearned for peace, the political and religious institutions of the time did little to restrain their violent impulses. Drawing on works from Britain, Scandinavia, and Ireland, which show how the practice of violence was governed by rules and customs which were observed, with variations, over a wide area, this book makes use of historicist and anthropological approaches to its subject. It takes a neutral attitude towards the phenomena it examines, but at the same time describes them fortnightly, avoiding euphemism and excuse-making on the one hand and condemnation on the other. In this it attempts to avoid the errors of critics who have sometimes been led astray by modern assumptions about the morality of violence. Peter S. Baker is Professor of English at the University of Virginia.

Beowulf. --- Dragons in literature. --- Epic poetry, English (Old) -- History and criticism. --- Heroes in literature. --- Bjowulf --- Epic poetry, English (Old) --- Violence in literature. --- Honor in literature. --- History and criticism. --- Anglo-Saxon. --- Old English. --- Beowulf --- Criticism and interpretation.

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Territory is one of the central political concepts of the modern world and, indeed, functions as the primary way the world is divided and controlled politically. Yet territory has not received the critical attention afforded to other crucial concepts such as sovereignty, rights, and justice. While territory continues to matter politically, and territorial disputes and arrangements are studied in detail, the concept of territory itself is often neglected today. Where did the idea of exclusive ownership of a portion of the earth's surface come from, and what kinds of complexities are hidden behind that seemingly straightforward definition? The Birth of Territory provides a detailed account of the emergence of territory within Western political thought. Looking at ancient, medieval, Renaissance, and early modern thought, Stuart Elden examines the evolution of the concept of territory from ancient Greece to the seventeenth century to determine how we arrived at our contemporary understanding. Elden addresses a range of historical, political, and literary texts and practices, as well as a number of key players-historians, poets, philosophers, theologians, and secular political theorists-and in doing so sheds new light on the way the world came to be ordered and how the earth's surface is divided, controlled, and administered.

Political geography. --- Geography, Ancient. --- Geography, Medieval. --- territory, geography, borders, politics, land rights, ancient, renaissance, early modern, history, medieval, antigone, plato, aristotle, polis, caesar, cicero, site, community, place, space, war, augustus, augustine, beowulf, glossators, justinian, machiavelli, divine right of kings, hobbes, locke, filmer, reformation, king lear, literature, reconnaissance, william ockham, poverty, city, urban, wealth, class, dante, boniface viii, papacy, philip the fair, aquinas, civitas, commedia, boethius, empire, constantine, charlemagne, cartography.