The Anglo Saxon Literature Handbook

With its careful balance of scholarly precision and accessibility, The Anglo–Saxon Literature Handbook presents an accessible introcution to the literary works produced in England during the 600–year period from the end of the Roman rule until the Norman Conquest in 1066.  Author Mark Amodio breaks down the linguistic, aesthetic, and cultural barriers to understanding Anglo–Saxon literature, and brings this literary period alive for modern readers, allowing them to gain a rich appreciation of the vitality and relevance of the surviving verse and prose. The book opens with accessible overviews of the language, politics, religion, and key literary figures of the Anglo–Saxon world, and then moves on to a series of original readings of such seminal works as Beowulf, The Battle of Maldon, The Wanderer, The Seafarer and The Anglo–Saxon Chronicle , situating them within current critical debates on the role of women, notions of authorship and textual integrity, the role of the scribes, the oral tradition, and more. This is perfect introductory reading for students new to the field, whilst the close readings of key works allow those already familiar with the literature of the period to delve a little deeper. “This is a mighty and magisterial book that is at once deeply learned and highly accessible; to read it is to learn from one of the finest teachers in the field. This is exactly the kind of book I wish I had read when I was a student, and exactly the kind of book I wish I had written myself!” Andy Orchard, University of Toronto “Presenting an overview of work from the last fifteen years, this Handbook offers a useful and detailed survey of the major periods and genres of Old English literature. Liberal use of quotations in Old English will help those new to the field trace larger political and social ideas to their original textual forms. Students will find it an effective starting point for exploration of Anglo–Saxon culture.” Allen J. Frantzen, Loyola University

Preface xi Acknowledgments xv Note on the Text xvii List of Abbreviations xix Part 1 Anglo–Saxon England: Backgrounds and Beginnings 1 Political History 3 Ecclesiastical History 11 Intellectual History 15 Linguistic History 20 Literary History 24 Traditions: Oral and Literate 27 A Note on Dating Anglo–Saxon Texts 30 Part 2 Anglo–Saxon Prose 33 The Writings of King Alfred the Great 35 Alfred’s Translation of Pope Gregory the Great’s Pastoral Care 36 Alfred’s Translation of Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy 42 Alfred’s Translation of St Augustine’s Soliloquies 47 Alfred’s Translations of the Prose Psalms of the Paris Psalter 51 Alfred’s Preface to Wærferth’s Translation of Pope Gregory’s Dialogues 54 The Vercelli Homilies 56 The Blickling Homilies 62 The Anglo–Saxon Chronicle 67 The Old English Orosius 72 Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People 78 Apollonius of Tyre 87 The Old English Martyrology 92 The Life of St Guthlac 96 The Wonders of the East, The Letter of Alexander to Aristotle, and The Life of St Christopher 99 Bald’s Leechbook and Leechbook III 105 The Writings of Wulfstan, Archbishop of York 109 The Writings of Ælfric of Eynsham 116 Catholic Homilies 122 Lives of Saints 126 Colloquy on the Occupations 127 Ælfric as Author 130 Part 3 Anglo–Saxon Poetry 135 The Anglo–Saxon Poetic Tradition 137 Cædmon’s Hymn 147 Bede’s Death Song 152 The Junius Manuscript 154 Genesis 155 Genesis A 156 Genesis B 157 Exodus 162 Daniel 167 Christ and Satan 170 The Poems of the Vercelli Book 176 Andreas 177 Fates of the Apostles 185 Soul and Body I (and II) 188 Homiletic Fragment I 192 The Dream of the Rood 192 Elene 197 The Exeter Book 202 The Advent Lyrics (Christ I) 203 The Ascension (Christ II) 206 Christ in Judgement (Christ III) 209 Life of St Guthlac 212 Guthlac A 213 Guthlac B 215 Azarias 219 The Phoenix 221 Juliana 225 The Wanderer 229 The Gifts of Men 233 Precepts 234 The Seafarer 235 Vainglory 237 Widsið 240 The Fortunes of Men 242 Maxims (I) 244 The Order of the World 246 The Rhyming Poem 247 The Panther, The Whale, The Partridge (The Old English Physiologus) 249 Soul and Body II (and I) 252 Deor 253 Wulf and Eadwacer 255 The Exeter Book Riddles 257 The Wife’s Lament 260 Judgement Day I 262 Resignation (A and B) 265 The Descent into Hell 267 Almsgiving 268 Pharaoh 269 The Lord’s Prayer I 270 Homiletic Fragment II 270 The Husband’s Message 271 The Ruin 273 The Poems of Cotton Vitellius A.xv 276 Beowulf 277 Judith 294 Poems from Various Manuscripts 300 The Metres of Boethius 300 The Metrical Psalms of the Paris Psalter 305 Solomon and Saturn I and II 307 The Menologium 311 The Rune Poem 313 The Poems of the Anglo–Saxon Chronicle 315 The Battle of Brunanburh 317 The Battle of Maldon 319 The Fight at Finnsburh 323 Waldere 326 Durham 329 Part 4 Critical Approaches 333 The Alterity of Anglo–Saxon Literature 335 Source Studies 339 Manuscript Studies 342 Grammatical and Syntactic Studies 343 Theoretical Perspectives 345 Part 5 Themes 361 Anglo–Saxon Thematics 363 Heroism 365 The End of the World 368 The Transitory Nature of Life 370 Fate 372 Wisdom 374 Otherness 376 Oral–Traditional Themes 378 Bibliography 381 Index 401 Index of Manuscripts 411

Mark C. Amodio is Professor in the English Department at Vassar College, where he teaches courses in Old and Middle English language and literature.  His publications inlcude Writing the Oral Tradition: Oral Poetics and Literate Culture in Medieval England (2004)