Editing Old English literature (section)

=== Poetic genres and themes ===

==== Heroic poetry ====
[[File:BLBeowulf.jpg|thumb|Remounted page from ''[[Beowulf]]'', [[British Library]] Cotton Vitellius A.XV]]
[[File:Beowulf Cotton MS Vitellius A XV f. 132r.jpg|thumb|First page of ''Beowulf'', contained in the damaged Nowell Codex]]

The Old English poetry which has received the most attention deals with what has been termed the Germanic heroic past. Scholars suggest that Old English heroic poetry was handed down orally from generation to generation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=British Library |url=https://www.bl.uk/medieval-literature/articles/old-english-heroic-poetry |access-date=2022-10-13 |website=www.bl.uk |archive-date=2022-10-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013115813/https://www.bl.uk/medieval-literature/articles/old-english-heroic-poetry |url-status=live }}</ref> As Christianity began to appear, re-tellers often recast the tales of Christianity into the older heroic stories.{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}}

The longest at 3,182 lines, and the most important, is ''[[Beowulf]]'', which appears in the damaged [[Nowell Codex]]. Beowulf relates the exploits of the hero Beowulf, King of the [[Geats|Weder-Geats]] or [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]], around the middle of the 5th century. The author is unknown, and no mention of Britain occurs. Scholars are divided over the date of the present text, with hypotheses ranging from the 8th to the 11th centuries.{{sfn|Downey|2015}}{{sfn|Neidorf|2014}} It has achieved much acclaim as well as sustained academic and artistic interest.{{sfn|Bjork|Niles|1998|p=ix}}

Other heroic poems besides ''Beowulf'' exist. Two have survived in fragments: ''[[Finnsburg Fragment|The Fight at Finnsburh]]'', controversially interpreted by many to be a retelling of one of the battle scenes in ''Beowulf'', and ''[[Waldere]]'', a version of the events of the life of [[Walter of Aquitaine]]. Two other poems mention heroic figures: ''[[Widsith]]'' is believed to be very old in parts, dating back to events in the 4th century concerning [[Ermanaric|Eormanric]] and the [[Goths]], and contains a catalogue of names and places associated with valiant deeds. ''[[Deor]]'' is a lyric, in the style of ''[[Consolation of Philosophy]]'', applying examples of famous heroes, including [[Wayland the Smith|Weland]] and Eormanric, to the narrator's own case.{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=278}}

The ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' contains various heroic poems inserted throughout. The earliest from 937 is called ''[[Battle of Brunanburh (poem)|The Battle of Brunanburh]]'', which celebrates the victory of King [[Athelstan]] over the Scots and Norse. There are five shorter poems: capture of the [[Five Boroughs of the Danelaw|Five Boroughs]] (942); coronation of [[Edgar of England|King Edgar]] (973); death of King Edgar (975); death of Alfred the son of King Æthelred (1036); and death of King [[Edward the Confessor]] (1065).{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=278}}

The 325 line poem ''[[The Battle of Maldon]]'' celebrates [[Earl]] [[Byrhtnoth]] and his men who fell in battle against the [[Viking]]s in 991. It is considered one of the finest, but both the beginning and end are missing and the only manuscript was destroyed in a fire in 1731.{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=278-279}} A well-known speech is near the end of the poem:

{| class="wikitable"

|+ The Battle of Maldon (312-319)
! Modern English !! West Saxon{{sfn|Hamer|2015|p=66|ps=, Lists a number of sources: E.D. Laborde (1936), [[E.V. Gordon]] (1937), D.G. Scragg (1981), Bernard J. Muir (1989), J.C. Pope & R.D. Fulk (2001), [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] (1953), [[Norman Blake (academic)|N.F. Blake]] (1965), O.D. Macrae-Gibson (1970), Donald Scragg (1991), Jane Cooper (1993).}}
|- align="center"
| Thought shall be the harder, the heart the keener,<br />courage the greater, as our strength lessens.<br />Here lies our leader in the dust,<br />all cut down; always may he mourn<br />who now thinks to turn away from this warplay.<br />I am old, I will not go away,<br />but I plan to lie down by the side of my lord,<br />by the man so dearly loved.
|
{|
| align="right"| Hige sceal þē heardra,<br />mōd sceal þē māre,<br />Hēr līð ūre ealdor<br />gōd on grēote;<br />se ðe nū fram þis ƿīgplegan<br />Ic eom frōd fēores;<br />ac ic mē be healfe<br />be sƿā lēofan men
| align="left"| / heorte þē cēnre,<br />/ þē ūre mægen lȳtlað.<br />/ eall forhēaƿen,<br />/ ā mæg gnornian<br />/ ƿendan þenceð.<br />/ fram ic ne ƿille,<br />/ mīnum hlāforde,<br />/ licgan þence.
|}

|}

==== Elegiac poetry ====
Related to the heroic tales are a number of short poems from the [[Exeter Book]] which have come to be described as "elegies"{{sfn|Drabble|1985}} or "wisdom poetry".{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=280-281}}{{sfn|Woodring|1995|p=1}} They are lyrical and [[Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius|Boethian]] in their description of the up and down fortunes of life. Gloomy in mood is ''[[The Ruin]]'', which tells of the decay of a once glorious city of [[Roman Britain]] (cities in Britain fell into decline after the Romans departed in the early 5th century, as the early Celtic Britons continued to live their rural life), and ''[[The Wanderer (Old English poem)|The Wanderer]]'', in which an older man talks about an attack that happened in his youth, when his close friends and kin were all killed; memories of the slaughter have remained with him all his life. He questions the wisdom of the impetuous decision to engage a possibly superior fighting force: the wise man engages in warfare to ''preserve'' civil society, and must not rush into battle but should seek out allies when the odds may be against him. This poet finds little glory in bravery for bravery's sake. ''[[The Seafarer (poem)|The Seafarer]]'' is the story of a sombre exile from home on the sea, from which the only hope of redemption is the joy of heaven. Other wisdom poems include ''[[Wulf and Eadwacer]]'', ''[[The Wife's Lament]]'', and ''[[The Husband's Message]]''. Alfred the Great wrote a wisdom poem over the course of his reign based loosely on the [[neoplatonism|neoplatonic]] philosophy of [[Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius|Boethius]] called the ''[[Lays of Boethius]]''.{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=281}}

==== Translations of classical and Latin poetry ====
Several Old English poems are adaptations of [[Late Antiquity|late classical]] philosophical texts. The longest is a 10th-century translation of Boethius' ''[[Consolation of Philosophy]]'' contained in the [[Cotton manuscript]] Otho A.vi.{{sfn|Sedgefield|1899}} Another is ''[[Phoenix (Old English poem)|The Phoenix]]'' in the Exeter Book, an [[Allegory in the Middle Ages|allegorisation]] of the ''[[De ave phoenice]]'' by [[Lactantius]].{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=280}}

Other short poems derive from the Latin [[bestiary]] tradition. These include ''The Panther'', ''[[The Whale (poem)|The Whale]]'' and ''[[The Partridge (poem)|The Partridge]]''.{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=280}}

==== Riddles ====
{{Main|Anglo-Saxon riddles}}
The most famous Old English [[riddles]] are found in the [[Exeter Book]]. They are part of a wider Anglo-Saxon literary tradition of riddling, which includes riddles written in Latin. Riddles are both comical and obscene.{{sfn|Black|2009}}

The riddles of the Exeter Book are unnumbered and without titles in the manuscript. For this reason, scholars propose different interpretations of how many riddles there are, with some agreeing 94 riddles, and others proposing closer to 100 riddles in the book.<ref>{{Cite web |title=British Library |url=https://www.bl.uk/medieval-literature/articles/the-exeter-book-riddles-in-context |access-date=2022-10-13 |website=www.bl.uk |archive-date=2022-10-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013120526/https://www.bl.uk/medieval-literature/articles/the-exeter-book-riddles-in-context |url-status=live }}</ref> Most scholars believe that the Exeter Book was compiled by a single scribe;<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Blake|first=N F|date=Nov 1, 1962|title=The Scribe of the Exeter Book|url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/0399833a60203fcfa285434df475b4ee/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1817933|journal=Neophilologus|volume=46|issue=4|pages=316–319|doi=10.1007/BF01560863|s2cid=162976021|via=ProQuest|access-date=January 29, 2022|archive-date=January 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129154400/https://www.proquest.com/openview/0399833a60203fcfa285434df475b4ee/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1817933|url-status=live}}</ref> however, the works were almost certainly originally composed by poets.{{sfn|Black|2009}}

A riddle in Old English, written using [[Runes|runic]] script, features on the [[Franks Casket]]. One possible solution for the riddle is 'whale', evoking the whale-bone from which the casket made.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Osborn |first=Marijane |date=2019 |title=Flodu in the Franks Casket's Whale Poem: A Fluvial Meaning with Regional Implications |journal=Philological Quarterly |volume=98 |issue=4 |pages=329–341}}</ref>

==== Saints' lives in verse ====
The Vercelli Book and Exeter Book contain four long narrative poems of saints' lives, or [[hagiography|hagiographies]]. In Vercelli are ''[[Andreas (poem)|Andreas]]'' and ''[[Elene]]'' and in Exeter are ''[[Guthlac]]'' and ''[[Juliana (poem)|Juliana]]''.

''Andreas'' is 1,722 lines long and is the closest of the surviving Old English poems to ''Beowulf'' in style and tone. It is the story of [[Saint Andrew]] and his journey to rescue [[Saint Matthew]] from the [[Mermedonians]]. ''Elene'' is the story of [[Helena, mother of Constantine I|Saint Helena]] (mother of [[Constantine I (emperor)|Constantine]]) and her discovery of the [[True Cross]]. The cult of the True Cross was popular in Anglo-Saxon England and this poem was instrumental in promoting it.{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=279}}

''Guthlac'' consists of two poems about the English 7th century [[Saint Guthlac]]. ''Juliana'' describes the life of Saint Juliana, including a discussion with the devil during her imprisonment.{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=279}}

==== Poetic Biblical paraphrases ====
There are a number of partial [[Old English Bible translations]] and paraphrases surviving. The [[Junius manuscript]] contains three paraphrases of Old Testament texts. These were re-wordings of Biblical passages in Old English, not exact translations, but paraphrasing, sometimes into beautiful poetry in its own right. The first and longest is of ''[[Book of Genesis|Genesis]]'' (originally presented as one work in the Junius manuscript but now thought to consist of two separate poems, [[Genesis A|A]] and [[Genesis B|B]]), the second is of ''[[Exodus (poem)|Exodus]]'' and the third is ''[[Daniel (Old English poem)|Daniel]]''. Contained in Daniel are two lyrics, ''Song of the Three Children'' and ''Song of Azarias'', the latter also appearing in the Exeter Book after ''Guthlac''.{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=279-280}} The fourth and last poem, ''[[Christ and Satan]]'', which is contained in the second part of the Junius manuscript, does not paraphrase any particular biblical book, but retells a number of episodes from both the Old and New Testament.{{sfn|Wrenn|1967|p=97, 101}}

The Nowell Codex contains a Biblical poetic paraphrase, which appears right after ''Beowulf'', called ''[[Judith (poem)|Judith]]'', a retelling of the story of [[Book of Judith|Judith]]. This is not to be confused with [[Aelfric of Eynsham|Ælfric]]'s homily ''[[Judith (homily)|Judith]]'', which retells the same Biblical story in alliterative prose.{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=280}}

Old English translations of [[Psalter|Psalms]] 51-150 have been preserved, following a prose version of the first 50 Psalms.{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=280}} There are verse translations of the [[Gloria in Excelsis]], the [[Lord's Prayer]], and the [[Apostles' Creed]], as well as some [[hymn]]s and [[proverb]]s.{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=281}}

==== Original Christian poems ====
In addition to Biblical paraphrases are a number of original religious poems, mostly lyrical (non-narrative).{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=280}}

The Exeter Book contains a series of poems entitled ''Christ'', sectioned into ''[[Christ I]]'', ''[[Christ II]]'' and ''[[Christ III]]''.{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=280}}

Considered one of the most beautiful of all Old English poems is ''[[Dream of the Rood]]'', contained in the Vercelli Book.{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=280}} The presence of a portion of the poem (in Northumbrian dialect{{sfn|Sweet|1908|p=154}}) carved in runes on an [[Ruthwell Cross|8th century stone cross]] found in [[Ruthwell]], [[Dumfriesshire]], verifies the age of at least this portion of the poem. The Dream of the Rood is a [[dream vision]] in which the [[personified]] cross tells the story of the crucifixion. Christ appears as a young hero-king, confident of victory, while the cross itself feels all the physical pain of the crucifixion, as well as the pain of being forced to kill the young lord.{{sfn|Baker|2003|p=201}}

{| class="wikitable"

|+ The Dream of the Rood (50-56)
! Modern English{{sfn|Hamer|2015|p=166-169}} !! West Saxon{{sfn|Hamer|2015|p=166–169|ps=, lists a number of sources: B. Dickins & A.S.C. Ross (1934), M. Swanton (1970), J.C. Pope & R.D. Fulk (2001), R. Woolf (1958), [[John Burrow (literary scholar)|J.A. Burrow]] (1959)}}
|- align="center"
| Full many a dire experience<br />on that hill. I saw the God of hosts<br />stretched grimly out. Darkness covered<br />the Ruler's corpse with clouds, A shadow passed<br />across his shining beauty, under the dark sky.<br />All creation wept, bewailed<br />the King's death. Christ was on the cross.
|
{|
| align="right"| Feala ic on þǣm beorge<br />ƿrāðra ƿyrda.<br />þearle þenian;<br />beƿrigen mid ƿolcnum<br />scīrne scīman<br />ƿann under ƿolcnum.<br />cƿīðdon Cyninges fyll.
| align="left"| / gebiden hæbbe<br />/ Geseah ic ƿeruda God<br />/ þȳstro hæfdon<br />/ Ƿealdendes hrǣƿ,<br />/ sceadu forðēode,<br />/ Ƿēop eal gesceaft,<br />/ Crīst ƿæs on rōde.
|}

|}

The dreamer resolves to trust in the cross, and the dream ends with a vision of heaven.

There are a number of religious debate poems. The longest is ''[[Christ and Satan]]'' in the Junius manuscript, which deals with the conflict between Christ and Satan during the forty days in the desert. Another debate poem is ''[[Solomon and Saturn]]'', surviving in a number of textual fragments, [[Saturn (mythology)|Saturn]] is portrayed as a magician debating with the wise king [[Solomon]].{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=280}}

==== Other poems ====
Other poetic forms exist in Old English including short verses, [[gnome (rhetoric)|gnomes]], and [[mnemonic]] poems for remembering long lists of names.{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=281}}

There are short verses found in the margins of manuscripts which offer practical advice, such as remedies against the loss of cattle or how to deal with a delayed birth, often grouped as [[Spell (paranormal)|charms]]. The longest is called ''[[Nine Herbs Charm]]'' and is probably of [[Anglo-Saxon paganism|pagan]] origin.  Other similar short verses, or charms, include ''[[For a Swarm of Bees]]'', ''[[Against a Dwarf]]'', ''[[Wið færstice|Against a Stabbing Pain]]'', and ''Against a Wen''.{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=281}}

There are a group of mnemonic poems designed to help memorise lists and sequences of names and to keep objects in order. These poems are named ''[[Menologium]]'', ''[[The Fates of the Apostles]]'', ''[[Old English rune poem|The Rune Poem]]'', ''[[The Seasons for Fasting]]'', and the ''Instructions for Christians''.{{sfn|Cameron|1982|p=281}}