This books aims to take a more anthropological approach to the history of the Anglo-Saxon “conversion period,” a pivotal century that saw a largely pagan society converted into a largely Christian one. It does this by analyzing the two belief systems as different types of religion (Christianity being characterized as “world-rejecting” and paganism as “world-accepting”), and it tries to interpret the historical and archaeological sources for this period in the light of the interaction between them.

The first chapter thus outlines the theoretical background to comparative religion, exploring the interaction between imagistic and doctrinal modes of religiosity and making the important point that early Christianity had the key advantage (when attempting conversion of pagan societies) of an imagistic element, in the shape of the cult of saints and relics; this served as a useful point of contact and acted as a powerful tool of acceptance (the practice of early Anglo-Saxon Christianity itself being affected in the process). This is expanded on in the second chapter, which discusses differences in how modes of religion conceive of the soul and the afterlife. Interesting summaries of anthropological studies illustrate the many and varied ways of dealing with the body after death and the importance of transition rites for imagistic religions (in contrast to Christianity, where it is the life people led that is thought to affect the progress of their soul, rather than the funerary rites themselves). Marilyn Dunn then explores how early Anglo-Saxon Christianity dealt with this fundamental difference, both in practice and doctrinally. She points out that graveside funeral feasts and days of commemoration both continued in Christian forms, with little apparent interference with funerary customs by synods, although there were some early attempts to regulate feasting at tombs of martyrs. Funerary rites, however, seem largely to have been left in the hands of the family until the end of the seventh century. Conversion itself, however, as explored in chapter 3, is set firmly in a political context and serves as a useful reminder of the degree of pragmatism evident in the decisions made about royal conversion, marriage, and the conversion or destruction of pagan shrines in the early years of the seventh century.

The book then shifts direction, turning to archaeological sources of evidence, in an attempt to identify responses to both conversion and wider societal issues. Dunn is particularly interested in the possible impact of plague from the 540s onward (although admitting that there is little evidence for it in southern England in the sixth century). Chapter 4 is thus an exploration of the evidence for Anglo-Saxon paganism (which draws heavily on D. M. Wilson’s book of that name). This is generally quite critically informed but is largely speculative, reflecting the nature of the place-name and archaeological evidence. The following chapter turns its attention toward burial evidence and the treatment of the dead. Here, reasonable summaries of established sources are offered, although sometimes interpretation is rather too farfetched. I would disagree, for example, that the presence of fly pupae necessarily equates to exposure of the body before burial or to secondary burial and with the interpretation of Kentish burial structures as evidence for the same; I also think that McKinley is misquoted as saying that cremation is often restricted to royalty and the wealthy (88 n. 22). Similarly, while the interpretation of the small ring ditches that appear in the mid-sixth century as evidence for a plague-induced fear of vampires/revenants is an interesting one, the assumption that they would have been water filled is probably not sustainable (certainly on the sandy soils of eastern England). While Dunn notes that cremation can be perceived by mourners as one of the most effective ways of foiling revenant activity, she does not explain why it is that the mid-sixth century saw the most dramatic decline in cremation burial, rather than an increase (if her plague hypothesis does bear weight). Overall, this chapter is a bit too far-reaching in its interpretation of the archaeological evidence and not quite critical enough in its overall framing: there is an assumption of defined ethnic territories throughout, whereas archaeologists now take a great deal of care to distinguish among language, ethnicity, and religion.

The subsequent chapters see a stronger focus on historical sources and are more successful and convincing as a result. There are interesting sections on the syncretism displayed by early Anglian and Saxon kings, the progress of the establishment of the episcopal hierarchy, and its competition with the royally supported monasteries. For me, chapter 7 represented the most fascinating part of Dunn’s argument, exploring the problems of mass conversion of the population and the adjustments to Christian doctrine and practice that this required. Only the section on unusual burial rites invites any criticism (and it was unfortunate timing that Andrew Reynolds’s recent volume on deviant burials rites could not be used); most of the examples cited date well before the mid-seventh century and cannot be responses to the Justinian plague of the 660s. I also disagree with her tentative argument that the deviant burials at Sutton Hoo could be plague victims; these work best as examples of Anglo-Saxon justice, as Reynolds has argued. Likewise, the presence of knives in graves is not evidence of the marauding dead (192) but simply the remnants of the practice of furnished burial. Overall, Dunn’s argument contains some fascinating ideas, and a very interesting approach to the issue of religious conversion, but is strongest when dealing with historical sources, rather than archaeological ones.