ANGLISTICA Vol. XXIII THE OLD ENGLISH CATALOGUE POEMS ANGLISTICA EDITORS FRED C. ROBINSON KNUD SØRENSEN NEW HAVEN AARHUS E.A.J. HONIGMANN NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE VOL. XXIII ROSENKILDE AND BAGGER COPENHAGEN 1985 THE OLD ENGLISH CATALOGUE POEMS BY NICHOLAS HOWE ROSENKILDE AND BAGGER COPENHAGEN 1985 © ROSENKILDE AND BAGGER 1985 Printed in Denmark ISBN 87 423 0466 0 Special-lYykkerict Viborg a-s Preface A brief word about the plan of this book may prove helpful at the start. The Introduction raises a series of questions about the catalogue as a poetic structure and the encyclopedia as a literary genre. Designed to challenge certain modern critical assumptions, these questions will pre­ pare for a reinterpretation of the encyclopedia and the catalogue. The opening chapter is devoted to the Latin encyclopedia tradition as repre­ sented by Pliny the Elder, Cassiodorus Senator and Isidore of Seville. I have considered the works of these writers in considerable detail out of the conviction that they should not be reduced to a single, uniform type. In their diversity and richness, both encyclopedia and catalogue resist any form of schematic interpretation. If we assume from the start that they are merely formulaic, they will remain closed to us. If, however, we consider the historical and literary reasons for their existence, then both forms will reveal their utility and even at times their beauty. When read carefully, the Latin encyclopedias and their catalogues offer a set of principles by which to appreciate the internal order and utility of catalogues in Old English poetry. To argue for some specific and unvarying relation between the encyclopedic and the poetic catalogue, however, would be to misinterpret both types. I have sought instead to read each example of catalogue form according to the particular subject and purpose of the work in which it appears. I have found that the catalogue will elude the critic who approaches it in a single-minded or inflexible fashion. Instead, each catalogue must be explored and valued as a response to a unique literary need. For this reason, I have grouped the Old English poems either by their content (The Menologium and The Fates of the Apostles in Chapter 2; Widsith and Deor in Chapter 5) or by their fundamental unit of expression ( The Gifts of Men and The Fortunes of Men in Chapter 3; Precepts and Maxims I & II in Chapter 4). I have assumed that most readers will be chiefly interested in the Old English poems and will have enough knowledge of the language to read them in the original. Those readers desiring translations will find most of the poems in R. K. Gordon’s Anglo-Saxon Poetry or S. A. J. Bradley’s Anglo-Saxon Poetry. Where appropriate, I have cited translations for those poems which are not included in either of these collections. For those readers who might be unfamiliar with the style and often highly technical vocabulary of the Latin encyclopedias, I have offered literal translations of my own. Finally, there is the pleasure of giving thanks. For more years than I care to admit, Fred C. Robinson has been unfailingly kind in his assist­ ance. He has read draft after draft with a keen critical eye and a warmly generous spirit. Above all, I am indebted to him for his constant encouragement. From the start of this project, I have had the benefit of John Hollander’s conversation and learning; he has taught me much about poetic form. Over the last several years, I have enjoyed the priv­ ilege of discussing this study with Andrew Welsh on an almost daily basis. As a reader, he has paid me the loveliest of compliments, that of asking the hard questions 1 might otherwise have avoided. To Stephen M. Foley, I am grateful for many long discussions about language and literature. More specifically, he has saved me from numerous errors in reading and translating Latin. Those which remain are my own responsibility. I would also like to acknowledge with gratitude the careful reading this study has received from Alvin A. Lee, Maureen Halsall, Laurel Braswell, Robert Hanning and Marijane Osborn. For several timely grants in aid of research, I thank the Research Council of Rutgers University and its director, Fred Main. My mother and father have been wonderfully sustaining in their sup­ port, both practical and intellectual. They have discussed my ideas with me, read my prose, and inspired me by their devotion to literary study. Georgina Kleege has taught me by her own practice that writing should be an act of generosity. I have tried throughout to write in that spirit. My final debt can now be paid only in memory, and so I dedicate this book to the late Marvin J. Feldman. Nicholas Howe University of Oklahoma Contents Introduction............................................................................................ 9 1. The Latin Encyclopedias and Their Catalogues.............................. 29 2. The Catalogues of Time and Space: The Menologium and The Fates of the Apostles .............................. 73 3. The Catalogues of Order and Diversity: The Gifts of Men and The Fortunes of Men...................................... 104 4. The Catalogue as Collection: Precepts and Maxims I & II ............................................................. 133 5. The Catalogues of Individual Talent: Widsith and Deor............................................................................... 166 6. Conclusion ......................................................................................... 202 Abbreviations ASPR: The Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records, eds. G. P. Krapp and E. V. K. Dobbie (New York, 1931-53), 6 volumes. Vol. II: The Vercelli Book. Vol. Ill: The Exeter Book. Vol. VI: The Anglo-Saxon Minor Poems. Etym.: Isidori Hispalensis Episcopi Etymologiarum Sive Originum, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911), 2 volumes. Inst.: Cassiodori Senatoris Institutiones, ed. R. A. B. Mynors (Oxford, 1937). N.H.: Pliny: Natural History, ed. H. Rackham et. al. (Cambridge, Mass, and London, 1938-1962), Locb Classical Library, K) volumes. OE Mart.: An Old English Martyrology, ed. George Herzfeld (London, 1900), E.E.T.S., O.S. 116. OE Oros.: The Old English Orosius, ed. Janet Bately (London, 1980), E.E.T.S., S.S. 6.