This page intentionally left blank The Cambridge Companion to Old English Literature The Cambridge Companion to Old English Literature Edited by MALCOLM GODDEN AND MICHAEL LAPIDGE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS cambridge university press Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown,Singapore,SãoPaulo Cambridge University Press TheEdinburghBuilding,Cambridgecb22ru,UK PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyCambridgeUniversityPress,NewYork www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9780521374385 ©CambridgeUniversityPress1991 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexceptionandtotheprovisionof relevantcollectivelicensingagreements,noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplace withoutthewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublishedinprintformat 1991 isbn-13 978-0-511-22177-4 eBook (Adobe Reader) isbn-10 0-511-22177-0 eBook (Adobe Reader) isbn-13 978-0-521-37438-5 hardback isbn-10 0-521-37438-3 hardback isbn-13 978-0-521-37794-2 paperback isbn-10 0-521-37794-3 paperback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyofurls forexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,anddoesnot guaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate. Contents List of contributors page ivi Preface ix Note on the text xi Abbreviations xi Chronological table of the Anglo-Saxon period xii Fig. 1 Map of the Germanic peoples of the Migration Age (c. 400-c. 600 AD) xiv Fig. 2 Map of Anglo-Saxon England xv 1 Anglo-Saxon society and its literature 1 PATRICK WORMALD 2 The Old English language 23 HELMUT GNEUSS 3 The nature of Old English verse 55 DONALD G. SCRAGG 4 The nature of Old English prose 71 JANET BATELY 5 Germanic legend in Old English literature 88 ROBERTA FRANK 6 Heroic values and Christian ethics 107 KATHERINE O'BRIEN O'KEEFFE 7 Pagan survivals and popular belief 126 JOHN D. NILES 8 Beowulf 142 FRED C. ROBINSON V vi Contents 9 Fatalism and the millennium 160 JOSEPH B. TRAHERN, JR 10 Perceptions of transience 172 CHRISTINE FELL 11 Perceptions of eternity 190 MILTON MCC. GATCH 12 Biblical literature: the Old Testament 206 MALCOLM GODDEN 13 Biblical literature: the New Testament 227 BARBARA C. RAW 14 The saintly life in Anglo-Saxon England 243 MICHAEL LAPIDGE 15 The world of Anglo-Saxon learning 264 PATRIZIA LENDINARA Further reading 282 Index 292 Contributors JANET BATELY, University of London CHRISTINEFELL, University of Nottingham ROBERTAFRANK, University of Toronto MILTON MCC. GATCH, Union Theological Seminary, New York HELMUT GNEUSS, University of Munich MALCOLM GODDEN, University of Oxford MICHAEL LAPIDGE, University of Cambridge PATRIZIA LENDINARA, University of Palermo JOHN D. NILES, University of California at Berkeley KATHERINE O'BRIEN O'KEEFFE, Texas A&M University BARBARAC. RAW, University of Keele FRED C. ROBINSON, Yale University DONALD G. SCRAGG, University of Manchester JOSEPH B. TRAHERN, JR, University of Tennessee PATRICK WORMALD, University of Oxford vn