ASNC Tripos, Part II

Candidates for Part II must offer four papers,chosen from Papers 1-17, plus a compulsory Dissertation; no more than one paper may be chosen from among Papers 13-17. Candidates may offer in place of one of their four papers one paper from Papers 1-10 of Part I, provided that the choice complies with certain regulations. For more details, click here.

It may be possible for students who have successfully completed Part I of a different Tripos to take ASNC Part II over two years. There are special regulations for this, for which click here:

  1. The Anglo-Saxon Chancery
  2. The coming of Christianity
  3. Sea Kings and the Celtic Speaking World c. 1014-1164
  4. Law and Lawlessness
  5. Beowulf
  6. Advanced medieval Scandinavian language and literature
  7. Advanced medieval Welsh language and literature
  8. Advanced medieval Irish language and literature
  9. Writing Women
  10. Textual criticism
  11. Germanic philology
  12. Celtic philology
    Dissertation [compulsory]

 

Borrowed papers for 2012-13 - Click here to see details of all borrowed papers

  1. Medieval English literature, 1066-1500: Dreams and Visions
  2. The city of Rome and its rulers, 476-769
  3. Historical linguistics
  4. A25 Anglo-Saxon archaeology (Europe in the first millennium AD, I).
  5. A26 Scandinavian archaeology (Europe in the first millennium AD, II).

Borrowed papers for 2013-14

  1. Medieval English literature, 1066-1500: Dreams and Visions
  2. The city of Rome and its rulers, 476-769
  3. The History of the English Language
  4. A25 Anglo-Saxon archaeology (Europe in the first millennium AD, I).
  5. A26 Scandinavian archaeology (Europe in the first millennium AD, II).

  1. A subject in Anglo-Saxon History: The Anglo-Saxon Chancery (Paper Co-Ordinator: Professor Simon Keynes)

    An advanced topic in the history and civilisation of England from the age of the Anglo-Saxon settlements to the Norman Conquest. Students will be required to use primary sources in the original language or in translation.

    Set for this year: The Anglo-Saxon Chancery

    This course involves the study of Anglo-Saxon charters (documents recording royal grants of land and privileges to ecclesiastics, religious houses and laymen), from their introduction in the seventh century to the Norman Conquest. Attention is given to their development in form and substance, to their criticism, to the changing circumstances of their production, and to their value for historical purposes.

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  2. A subject in Scandinavian history: The coming of Christianity (Paper Co-Ordinator: Dr Elizabeth Rowe)

    An advanced topic in the history and civilisation of Scandinavia in the Viking Age, and of Scandinavian expansion, except in so far as that is included in Papers 1 and 4of Part I or Papers 1 and 4of Part II. Students will be required to use primary sources in the original language or in translation.

    Set for this year: The coming of Christianity.

    This course examines the coming of Christianity to the Scandinavian peoples in the ninth, tenth and eleventh centuries. The literary sources include sagas, and hagiographical and narrative works; archaeology, too, provides important evidence of the process of the integration of Christianity into a pagan society.

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  3. An Advanced subject in Celtic history: Sea Kings and the Celtic Speaking World c. 1014-1164 (Paper Co-Ordinator: Dr Fiona Edmonds)

    This course is aimed at students who have taken either the History of the Brittonic-speaking peoples or the History of the Gaelic-speaking peoples (or both of these courses) at Part I. It will provide such students with an opportunity to study in greater detail a number of the territories which they have already encountered, through the medium of a range of primary sources.

    Set for this year: Sea Kings and the Celtic Speaking World, c. 1014-1164

    The history of the Irish Sea region, the Hebrides and Argyll in the eleventh and twelfth centuries is an enigmatic, but engaging, topic. The area’s history is punctuated by the stories of colourful characters. The Welsh king Gruffudd ap Cynan grew up in Dublin after his father was expelled from Gwynedd, but Gruffudd and his Hiberno-Norse allies launched an attack on Gwynedd in order to reclaim his inheritance. The Gaelic-Scandinavian dynast Somerled held sway over a seemingly autonomous kingdom which comprised coastal areas of mainland Scotland and numerous islands. Yet texts written in milieux favourable to the king of Scots presented Somerled as a rebellious traitor. The extraordinary story of Bishop Wimund, a monk of Furness and bishop of Man, also draws attention. This cleric raised a fleet to attack the Scottish kingdom, claiming that he had an ancestral right to lands there.

    These stories illustrate trends which can be plotted throughout the period. The eleventh and early twelfth centuries witnessed the growth of the kingdom of the Scots, and consolidation of widespread political power in Ireland in the hands of a select few dynasties. In Wales , an extensive hegemony developed under the aegis of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn. Yet the sea-kings managed to preserve some autonomy, even in the face of these developments. The cultural milieux in which the sea-kings operated also bear consideration: a complex mixture of Gaelic-, Brittonic- and Norse-speaking populations dwelt in Galloway and Strathclyde, but these territories nevertheless produced coherent political entities.

    The primary sources which will be studied during the course are available in print, and most of them exist in recent and accessible editions and translations. The last two decades have witnessed a steady flow of publications on the topic, with the result that the body of secondary literature is now fairly extensive. These works will aid Part II students, but they will also find that this paper offers considerable scope for original thought and research.

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  4. A subject in ASNC History: Law and Lawlessness (Paper Co-Ordinator: Dr Fiona Edmonds)

    This course will provide students with an opportunity to study in greater detail a theme which is touched on by many of the Part I papers, namely how the behaviour of individuals and groups of individuals was moderated and controlled in medieval societies. The following questions may be considered: Who exerted control and how? What were the limits of that control? What happened when the limits were exceeded? What sanctions could be applied, and by whom and to whom? How are these legal institutions represented in our sources and how far can they be seen to change over time?

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  5. A subject in Old English literature: Beowulf (Paper Co-Ordinator: Dr Richard Dance)

    The work of an author or a group of authors, or a group of texts, or a literary topic or genre within the field of Old English literature, will be prescribed for special study. Students will be required to use primary sources in the original language.

    Set for this year: Beowulf.

    This course is devoted to the study of the poem Beowulf, and students will be expected to get to know the poem fully. The course tackles the poem from various different angles: the date and circumstances of composition; literary analogues from other Germanic and Anglo-Latin literature; presentation of themes such as religion, kingship, ethics, the heroic ideal, and much more.

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  6. Advanced medieval Scandinavian language and literature (Paper Co-Ordinator: Dr Judy Quinn)

    In this course students will study Old Norse Poetics and Old Norse prosimetrum in depth. Texts, including legendary sagas, kings' sagas and family sagas will be read, along with the poetry of Egill Skallagrímsson. Students will be required to translate extracts from these set texts, to translate unseen passages, and also to write essays on selected topics in medieval Scandinavian literature.

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  7. Advanced medieval Welsh language and literature (Paper Co-Ordinator: Professor Paul Russell)

    Welsh language and literature from the beginnings to the end of the Middle Ages are studied. There will be set texts in Old and Middle Welsh. Candidates will be required to translate extracts from these set texts and to translate unseen passages from Middle Welsh. There will be a further group of set texts, in medieval Breton and Cornish. Candidates will be required to translate and comment on extracts from these texts. They will also be required to write essays on selected topics in medieval Welsh, Breton, and Cornish language and literature.

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  8. Advanced Medieval Irish language and literature (Paper Co-Ordinator: Dr Máire Ní Mhaonaigh)

    Irish language and literature from the beginnings to the end of the Middle Ages are studied. There will be set texts in the original language. Students will be required to comment on extracts from these set texts and to translate unseen passages, and also to write essays on selected topics in medieval Irish literature.

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  9. Writing Women (Paper Co-Ordinator: Dr Rosalind Love)

    A subject in Insular Latin literature. The work of an author or a group of authors, or a group of texts, or a literary topic or genre within the field of Insular Latin literature, will be prescribed for special study. Students will be required to use primary sources in the original language.

    Set for this year: Writing Women .

    This course focuses on Insular Latin texts written by, for, and about women, and will include study of primary sources from a variety of literary genres, including letters, hagiography, secular biography, handbooks of spiritual guidance, and biblical commentary. The texts to be studied will cover both Anglo-Latin and Celtic Latin, and will range in date from the seventh to the eleventh century. Students will be required to translate and comment on extracts from the set texts, and also to write essays on selected topics relating to the sources studied during the year, including matters such as genre-expectation, audience, attitudes towards women’s status, images of female sanctity, misogyny

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  10. Textual criticism (Paper Co-Ordinator: Dr Rosalind Love)

    An introduction to the processes by which extant sources written in the languages studied for Papers 5-9 have been transmitted, and of the scholarly methods by which these sources are converted into a readable form. The various editorial and diplomatic approaches and techniques are studied. In the exam, students will be required to answer a compulsory practical question and to write essays on selected topics.

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  11. Germanic philology (Paper Co-Ordinator: Dr Richard Dance)

    The history and grammar of the Germanic languages will be studied (with particular regard to Old English and/or Old Norse, and Old Saxon), in relation to one another and to their Indo-European background. Candidates will be required to comment on passages and to write essays on selected topics.

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  12. Celtic philology (Paper Co-Ordinator: Professor Paul Russell)

    The history and grammar of the Celtic languages will be studied, in relation to one another and to their Indo-European background. Students will be required to write essays on selected topics.

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