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How did Anglo-Saxons reflect on the experience of growing old? Was it really a golden age for the elderly, as has been suggested? This first full survey of the Anglo-Saxon cultural conceptualisation of old age, as manifested and reflected in the texts and artwork of the inhabitants of early medieval England, presents a more nuanced and complicated picture. The author argues that although senescence was associated with the potential for wisdom and pious living, the Anglo-Saxons also anticipated various social, psychological and physical repercussions of growing old. Their attitude towards elderly men and women - whether they were saints, warriors or kings - was equally ambivalent. Multidisciplinary in approach, this book makes use of a wide variety of sources, ranging from the visual arts to hagiography, homiletic literature and heroic poetry. Individual chapters deal with early medieval definitions of the life cycle; the merits and downsides of old age as represented in Anglo-Saxon homilies and wisdom poetry; the hagiographic topos of elderly saints; the portrayal of grey-haired warriors in heroic literature; Beowulf as a mirror for elderly kings; and the cultural roles attributed to old women.

Old age --- Aging --- History. --- Social aspects. --- Later life (Human life cycle) --- Senescence --- Adulthood --- Age --- Longevity --- Older people --- Great Britain --- History --- Anglo-Saxon Culture. --- Anglo-Saxons. --- Cultural Roles. --- Early Medieval England. --- Elderly Saints. --- Heroic Literature. --- Leiden University. --- Medieval English. --- Old Age. --- Pious Living. --- Senescence. --- Wisdom. --- cultural conceptualization. --- early medieval England. --- historical attitude. --- multidisciplinary approach. --- old age. --- Old age in literature. --- English literature --- Literature, Medieval --- Social aspects --- History and criticism.