Michael Swanton

Michael James Swanton (born 1939) is a British literary critic, translator, archaeologist and historian specializing in Old English literature and the Anglo-Saxon period.

Born in London, Swanton was educated at Wilmington Grammar School, then the Universities of Durham and Bath, gaining research degrees in both arts and science and a higher doctorate, D. Litt., Dunelm. He taught English Literature at the University of Manchester, then at Giessen in Germany, Lausanne in Switzerland, and finally at Exeter, where he also acted as the Public Orator for several years. In retirement, he is Emeritus Professor of Medieval Studies at Exeter. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and of the Society of Antiquaries and is considered an authority on Anglo-Saxon England.^[1]

Swanton's published work includes translations of Beowulf, the Gesta Herewardi (a life of Hereward the Wake), Vitae duorum Offarum (The Lives of Two Offas), and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as well as books on early English literature, art, architecture, and archaeology. He was Honorary Editor of the Royal Archaeological Institute's Journal and in 1971 established the series Exeter Medieval Texts and Studies.^[1]

Major publications

• 1971: An Anglo-Saxon chronicle (Exeter)^[2]
• 1973: Spearheads of the Anglo-Saxon Settlements (London)
• 1975: Studies in Medieval Domestic Architecture (London)^[2]
• 1975: Arthurian Sites in the West (Exeter: University of Exeter ISBN 0859890260) (with C. A. R. Radford)^[2]
• 1978: Beowulf (Manchester)^[2]
• 1978: Medieval Woodwork in Exeter Cathedral (Exeter) (with Marion Glasscoe)^[2]
• 1981: Medieval Art in Britain: a select bibliography (London)^[2]
• 1982: Crisis and Development in Germanic Society 700 - 800: Beowulf and the burden of kingship (Göppingen : Kümmerle Verlag ISBN 3874525406)^[2]
• 1984: Three Lives of the Last Englishmen (Garland Library of Medieval Literature, vol. 10, Ser. B) (New York: Garland ISBN 0824094220) The life of King Harold Godwinson - The life of Hereward the Wake - The life of Bishop Wulfstan.
• 2001: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles (London)^[2]
• 2002: English Poetry before Chaucer (Exeter)^[2]
• 2010: The Lives of Two Offas: Vitae Offarum Duorum (Crediton: The Medieval Press)^[1]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} Michael Swanton at medievalpress.com, accessed 15 July 2011
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Swanton, Michael James, at regesta-imperii.de, accessed 15 July 2011

Persondata
Name	Swanton, Michael James
Alternative names
Short description	Professor of medieval history
Date of birth	1941
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death