Eric Stanley

Eric Gerald Stanley, FBA (19 October 1923 – 20 June 2018) was a German-British Anglo-Saxonist; he was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon and Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford, from 1977 to 1991 and was emeritus professor until his death.

Early life and education Stanley was born in Germany; in 1934 his family moved to England to escape Nazi Germany, and he was educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Blackburn and at University College, Oxford, to which he won a scholarship in 1941. He served in the Second World War.

Stanley was one of three editors of the journal Notes and Queries from 1963, and an associate editor until his death. In addition he read and commented on all entries in the Toronto Dictionary of Old English. and a corresponding fellow of the Medieval Academy of America in 2008. A Festschrift was published in his honour in 1996.

Personal life While teaching at Birmingham, Stanley was influenced by his colleague Geoffrey Shepherd both as a scholar and in commitment to religion. He became a devout Anglican, and right up until his death was a sidesman at the 8 o’clock BCP service of Holy Communion at St Giles’, Oxford. He described his political views as "to the right of Genghis Khan". Stanley had a great gift for friendship. He had friends all over the world and gave wonderful dinner parties at his house in Oxford. When his wife had become infirm, he joked, "In my dotage, I've become a cook". His dotage never happened, but his dinner parties were legendary.

Publications Continuations and Beginnings: Studies in Old English Literature. London: Nelson, 1966. . The Search for Anglo-Saxon Paganism. Cambridge: Brewer, 1975. . In the Foreground: 'Beowulf. Cambridge: Brewer, 1994. . Imagining the Anglo-Saxon Past: The Search for Anglo-Saxon Paganism and Anglo-Saxon Trial by Jury. Cambridge: Cambridge University, 2012. .