作者：姚刚
　　1. Anglo-Saxon’s Women’s Daily Duties
　　What was the Anglo-Saxon England like？ Actually it was rather a sorry one. Due to the withdrawal of the Roman legions and the Germanic invaders to Britain， the population began to shrink， houses were abandoned， towns diminished in size and importance， international economic and commercial life declined. Women’s life under such circumstances was surely not easy. Besides the routine duties of cooking， washing and child-bearing， what else did an Anglo-Saxon woman also hold as her daily duties？ The answer is up to her social rank， dwelling position and historical stage.
　　Cloth-making was women’s job， and the word wif （wife， woman） might be related to weaving. In wills， the male line was called w?pnedhealf （weapon half） or sperehealf （spear half） and the female line was wifhealf （wife half） or spinelhealf （spindle half）. Traditionally， men played the roles of warriors or hunters， while women cloth-makers. Moreover， the feminine occupational suffix “-stere” was used to form words such as “seamster”， “spinster” and “webster”， which all had something to do with cloth-making. Anglo-Saxon women’s weaving duties also provide a term frí?webba which means peace-weaver to their political role. This term was used to describe a woman who married someone from an enemy tribe in order to establish peace between her family and his. The marriage was a political arrangement to hopefully end hostility between warring tribes.
　　During meals or banquets in the Anglo-Saxon household， food was prepared by women and male slaves， but preparing and serving drink was women’s job. They carried the cups of mead around the hall and offered them to the warriors. This is confirmed by surnames such as “Brewster”，， “Maltster” and “Tapster”. Female birele （cup-bearers） were also mentioned in ?thelbert’s laws 14： If a man lie with an eorl’s birele， let him make bot with twelve shillings. And in heroic poetry， the lady is always the one to serve the drink. In Beowulf， the Queen—Wealhtheow’s cup-carrying practice to her husband King Hrothgar and Beowulf is not only an honorable reward and compliment but politically meaningful. Wealhtheow here is weaving peace between Beowulf and her sons by politely warning the king of the possible threat their sons may meet from Beowulf and requiring the valiant Beowulf’s promise to be good to her sons. Here we can see women’s advice and counsel were indeed very necessary when their men were overwhelmed by alcohol or excitement. Tacitus in his The Agricola and Germany mentions： They even believe that the sex （women） has a certain sanctity and prescience， and they do not despise their counsels， or make light of their answers （1877： 90）. In reality， Anglo-Saxon society did show great respect to women for their wisdom， bravery and magic （which they believed women held inside their bodies）.