Compelling God

Stephanie Clark is an assistant professor in the Department of English at the University of Oregon.

• AcknowledgementsntroductionChapter 1: The Anglo-Saxon InheritanceChapter 2: Gratiam pro gratia: Bede on PrayerChapter 3: Does Prayer Work? The Prayers of King AlfredChapter 4: Ælfric and the Community of PrayerConclusionBibliography

"Stephanie Clark presents the first sustained study to focus directly on prayer in early England, and with stunning success."- Brandon W. Hawk, Rhode Island College (Speculum) "Compelling God presents an original approach to investigating early English religious practices and devotional attitudes, a model worthy of imitation by scholar and student alike. Stephanie Clark makes a significant contribution to medieval studies and religious studies by treating what the early English authors taught about prayer, what it does, and how it works seriously on their own terms."- Miranda Wilcox, Brigham Young University (Journal of English and Germanic Philology) "This volume offers a valuable and nuanced account of the Anglo-Saxon period to those working on histories of prayer, the gift, selfhood, and spirituality in other literatures and traditions."- Helen Appleton, University of Oxford (Early Medieval Europe) "The strength of Clark’s book consists in showing that Anglo-Saxon prayer theory cannot be assumed to be the same as that of later periods. She carefully works out the differences in prayer theory between Bede, Asser, Alfred, and Aelfric."- Gernot R. Wieland, University of British Columbia (University of Toronto Quarterly: Letters in Canada 2018)