English Literature

Anglo Saxon Women
Daily Life
What did an Anglo-Saxon woman do all day? This would naturally depend greatly on her social class as well as regional and period differences. The word wif 'wife, woman' might be connected with weaving, which implies that cloth-making was associated with women. In wills, the male line was called wæpnedhealf 'weapon half' or sperehealf 'spear half' and the femaleline was wifhealf 'wife half' or spinelhealf 'spindle half'. It would then seem that men were traditionally warriors or hunters, while women were cloth-makers and embroiderers.
This view is also supported by other literature from that time and by grave findings. Furthermore, the feminine occupational suffix stere was used to form words such as seamster, spinster and webster, all connected withcloth-making. From wills we know that a wealthy Anglo-Saxon household contained a variety of soft furnishings: bed-clothes, table-linen, seat-covers, wall-hangings and so on, so women would have had plenty of work in this field.
In the Anglo-Saxon household, food was prepared by male slaves alone or men and women equally, but preparing and serving drink was women's job. This is confirmed by surnamessuch as Brewster, Malster and Tapster, and by heroic poetry, where the lady is always the one to serve the drinks. Female cup-bearers (birele) are also mentioned in Æthelbert's laws[->0]:
14. If a man lie with an eorl's birele, let him make bot with twelve shillings.
16. If a man lie with a ceorl's birele, let him make bot with six shillings.
In monastic life, gardening was done by laywomen.Another possible occupation for a woman was that of an entertainer - there are a few examples of this in literature.
Daily life was far from easy for people in Anglo-Saxon England. Women especially had a high mortality rate because of the dangers of pregnancies, miscarriages and childbirth - lack of iron has also been suggested to as one reason. Examination of skeletal remains has revealed thatcommon ailments included earache, toothache, headache, shingles, wounds, burns, and pain in the joints. Another source of information on this subject are manuscripts offering medical advice; some remedies deal specifically with female matters, often mixing common sense and superstition. Here is an example of quite practical advice for women (as cited in Fell):
A pregnant woman ought to be fullywarned against eating anything too salt or too sweet, and against drinking strong alcohol: also against pork and fatty foods; also against drinking to the point of drunkenness, also against travelling; also against too much riding on horseback lest the child is born before the right time.
Marriage and Sex
As far as marriage is concerned, Anglo-Saxons generally had clear and sensible legislation forthe rights of women. The husband was to pay morgengifu ('morning gift') in money or land to the woman herself, and she would have personal control over it to give away, sell or bequeath as she chose. Places with names such as Morgay Farm and Morgay Wood were probably given as morgengifu, so the amount of land given seems to have been fairly large at least in these cases. Marriage agreements weremade between the two families but the girl did have a say in who she married, and her kin seem to have mainly acted as legal and financial advisers. The following is an example of an Anglo-Saxon marriage contract (as cited in Fell):
Here is declared in this document the agreement which Godwine made with Brithric when he wooed his daughter. In the first place he gave her a pound's weight of gold,to induce her to accept his suit, and he granted her the estate at Street with all that belongs to it, and 150 acres at Burmarsh and in addition 30 oxen and 20 cows and 10 horses and 10 slaves.
Within marriage, finances belonged to both the husband and the wife. This we know from wills and charters. Æthelbert's law number 79 from the seventh century says about divorce:
If she wish to go away...