The propagandistic narrative in Saint Erkenwald

Saint Erkenwald is an anonymous Middle English alliterative poem whose genre has been long debated, that is whether it is an instance of romance, a hagiographical text or something else, without reaching a general consensus. As a matter of fact, the poem develops around three different themes, linked to each other only through the figure of the saint: England’s past, the role of baptism and the translation of the Trajan legend into an English context, themes mirroring some of the main concerns of the fourteenth- and fifteenth-century England, characterised by an emerging English feeling and pride. The present paper will analyse the poem from a completely different perspective, as a form of political and theological propaganda. Through examination of the linguistic strategies used in the narrative, it will show that the author aims to foster a civic unification, by means of consolidating the Christian orthodox view and incorporating the past of England.