the cambridge companion to old english literature Secondedition ThisCompanionhasbeenthoroughlyrevisedtotakeaccountofrecentscholar- shipandtoprovideaclearandaccessibleintroductionforthoseencounteringOld Englishliterature forthefirsttime. Includingseventeen essays bydistinguished scholars,thisneweditionprovidesadiscussionoftheliteratureoftheperiod600– 1066inthecontextofhowAnglo-Saxonsocietyfunctioned.Newchapterscover topicsincludingpreachingandteaching,Beowulf,andliteracy,andafurtherfive chapters have been revised and updated, including those on the Old English language,perceptionsofeternityandAnglo-Saxonlearning.Anadditionalcon- cludingchapteronOldEnglishafter1066offersanoverviewofthestudyand cultural influences of Old English literature to the present day. Finally, the bibliographyhasbeenoverhauledtoincorporatethemostup-to-datescholarship inthefieldandthelatestelectronicresourcesforstudents. malcolm godden is Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor emeritus of Anglo- SaxonattheUniversityofOxford. michaellapidgeisElringtonandBosworthProfessoremeritusofAnglo-Saxon, University of Cambridge, and Notre Dame Professor of English emeritus, UniversityofNotreDame. Acompletelistofbooksintheseriesisatthebackofthisbook THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE SECOND EDITION MALCOLM GODDEN AND MICHAEL LAPIDGE cambridge university press Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown, Singapore,SãoPaulo,Delhi,MexicoCity CambridgeUniversityPress TheEdinburghBuilding,Cambridgecb28ru,UK PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyCambridgeUniversityPress,NewYork www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9780521193320 ©CambridgeUniversityPress2013 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception Andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished1991 Secondedition2013 PrintedandboundintheUnitedKingdombytheMPGBooksGroup AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata TheCambridgecompaniontoOldEnglishliterature/editedbyMalcolmGodden andMichaelLapidge.–2nded. p. cm.–(Cambridgecompanionsto...) Firsted.:1991. isbn978-0-521-19332-0 1. Englishliterature–OldEnglish,ca.450–1100–Historyandcriticism–Handbooks, manuals,etc. 2. GreatBritain–History–Anglo-Saxonperiod,449–1066–Handbooks, manuals,etc. 3. England–Civilization–To1066–Handbooks,manuals,etc. I. Godden, Malcolm. II. Lapidge,Michael. pr173.c36 2013 8290.09–dc23 2012028840 isbn978-0-521-19332-0Hardback isbn978-0-521-15402-4Paperback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceor accuracyofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredto inthispublication,anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuch websitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate. CONTENTS Listofcontributors pagevii Preface ix Prefacetothesecondedition xi Noteonthetext xiii Abbreviations xiv ChronologicaltableoftheAnglo-Saxonperiod xv Figure1.MapoftheGermanicpeoplesofthe MigrationAge(c.400toc.600ad) xviii Figure2.MapofAnglo-SaxonEngland xix 1 Thesocialandpoliticalbackground nicholas brooks 1 2 TheOldEnglishlanguage helmut gneuss 19 3 ThenatureofOldEnglishverse donald g. scragg 50 4 TheAnglo-Saxonworldview daniel anlezark 66 5 GermaniclegendinOldEnglishliterature roberta frank 82 6 Valuesandethicsinheroicliterature katherine o’brien o’keeffe 101 v contents 7 Pagansurvivalsandpopularbelief john d. niles 120 8 Beowulf andy orchard 137 9 Preachingandteaching mary clayton 159 10 Perceptionsoftransience christine fell (†) 180 11 Perceptionsofeternity milton mcc. gatch 198 12 Biblicalliterature:theOldTestament malcolm godden 214 13 Biblicalliterature:theNewTestament richard marsden 234 14 ThesaintlylifeinAnglo-SaxonEngland michael lapidge 251 15 Literacyandtheusesofthevernacular mechthild gretsch 273 16 TheworldofAnglo-Saxonlearning patrizia lendinara 295 17 OldEnglishafter1066 chris jones 313 Furtherreading 331 Index 349 vi CONTRIBUTORS daniel anlezark,UniversityofSydney nicholas brooks,UniversityofBirmingham mary clayton,UniversityCollege,Dublin christine fell (†),formerlyUniversityofNottingham roberta frank,YaleUniversity milton mcc. gatch,UnionTheologicalSeminary,NewYork helmut gneuss,UniversityofMunich malcolm godden,UniversityofOxford mechthild gretsch,UniversityofGöttingen chris jones,UniversityofStAndrews michael lapidge,UniversityofCambridge patrizia lendinara,UniversityofPalermo richard marsden,UniversityofNottingham john d. niles,UniversityofWisconsin katherine o’brien o’keeffe,UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley andy orchard,UniversityofToronto donald g. scragg,UniversityofManchester vii PREFACE On26November1882GerardManleyHopkinswrotetohisfellowpoetand friendRobertBridges:‘IamlearningAnglo-Saxonanditisavastlysuperior thing to what we have now.’ W. H. Auden too was inspired by his first experienceofOldEnglishliterature:‘Iwasspellbound.Thispoetry,Iknew, wasgoingtobemydish...Ilearnedenoughtoreadit,andAnglo-Saxonand Middle English poetry have been one of my strongest, most lasting influ- ences.’ The list of modern poets who have been influenced by Old English literature(thattermisnowgenerallypreferredto‘Anglo-Saxon’whenrefer- ringtothelanguageandvernacularwritingsofpre-ConquestEngland)could beextendedtoincludePound,Graves,Wilburandmanyothers.Onedoesnot have to agree with Hopkins’s belief in the superiority of Old English as a medium for poetry to accept the importance of the writings of the Anglo- Saxons for an understanding of the cultural roots of the English-speaking world.Thepracticeoflookingbacktotheirwritingsandtheirsocialorgan- ization in order to comprehend the present has continued ever since the sixteenth century, whentheElizabethansturned tothem insupportoftheir religiousandpoliticalpolemic. It scarcely needs emphasizing that literature is the record of a particular culture; what Old English literature offers us is not only a mode of poetic expressionwhichstartledHopkinsandAudenbutawindowintoadifferent worldofbeliefs,myths,anxieties,perspectives.TheAnglo-Saxonswereatthe meeting-pointoftwomajorculturaltraditions.Fromtheirbarbarianorigins, continually enriched by renewed contact with Scandinavian invaders and continentaltradeandpoliticalrelations,theybroughtaGermanicinheritance of legend, poetic technique, law, pagan beliefs and tribal sympathies. From their contact with the representatives and books of Christianity, they absorbed much of the Latin, and a little of the Greek, tradition of history, religion, science and rhetoric. They were also at a chronological meeting- place.LateAnglo-SaxonEnglandwasasophisticatedandadvancedcountry in politics, economic organization and vernacular literature; her peoples ix