What is the author's perspective in the nonfiction book, The Age of Bede?

The Age of Bede contains two sets of perspectives, those of the editors and translators, J. F. Webb and D. H. Farmer, and those of the authors of the major texts within The Age of Bede, particularly the Venerable Bede, Eddius Stephanus and the anonymous authors of the latter two pieces. The first set of perspectives is of great interest. The editors treat the monks of the period with great respect. Like the monkish authors, they rarely criticize the major figures represented in the book. They also refrain from claiming that because the texts all cite miracles that none of them are historically accurate.

In fact, the only text they claim is largely fictional is The Voyage of Saint Brendan which is stocked with an enormous number of miracles and literally magical events, including demons talking in the form of birds and an Ethiopian boy that lives in a monk's chest, along with the monks living on the back of a whale. The authors simply say that much of the piece is fictional, whereas one might think that other historians would dismiss it entirely. They also claim that Bede's works contain a great deal of authentic material and decline to question his intentions. The editors seem to greatly admire the monks, their culture and their character to a degree unusual for academic historians.

The perspectives of the authors other than the Voyage of St. Brendan, are those of Bede, Eddius Stephanus and an anonymous author. They seem to have similar perspectives. Both are deeply respectful of the men about whom they write and almost if ever cite errors in the decisions of their main characters. For instance, in Eddius's Life of Wilfred, he never blames Wilfred for the enormous number of political conflicts that his demand for obedience to Rome caused in England.

Bede's perspective has a more historical aim, as he records a great deal more historical material, however. Nonetheless, his attitude is as reverential as any. The authors also reflect the deep social, political and religious ideas of 7th century English and Irish monks with an extraordinary admiration for the ascetic life, rare attention to peasants and more focus on religious and secular nobility, along with an intense belief in constant miracles and the validity of relics.