2: Language and Literature 5 November 2015 Figure: Psalm 50, BL - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
2: Language and Literature 5 November 2015 Figure: Psalm 50, BL Stowe 2 fol. 56r (detail; public domain / British Library) Key Questions traditions intersected? What are the earliest traces of an Old English written tradition? What
5 November 2015
Figure: Psalm 50, BL Stowe 2 fol. 56r (detail; public domain / British Library)
▶ What are the earliest traces of an Old English written tradition? ▶ What happened when old and new written forms and cultural
traditions intersected?
▶ What kinds of literature did the Anglo-Saxons relay and produce? ▶ What are the formal features of Old English verse? ▶ What was a verse performance like?
Figure: Anglo-Frisian runes
▶ Elder Futhark, ss. ii–viii, Proto-Norse, 24 chars ▶ Anglo-Frisian Futhorc, ss. v–xi, Old English, 29–33 chars ▶ Younger Futhark: ss. ix–xi, Old Norse, 16 chars ▶ Medieval Futhark: ss. xii–xv, Old Norse, 27 chars
Figure: Vimose comb, Denmark, c. 160: “harja” (CC-BY-SA WMC user)
Figure: Einang stone, Norway, s. iv: “[ek go]dagastiR ru[n]o faihido” (CC-BY-SA
Figure: Self-referential sign (LiveJournal user)
Figure: Deer astragalus, c. 400: “raihan” (“roe”; (c) Christer Hamp)
Figure: Loveden Hill Urn, s. v/vi: “siþæbæd þiuw hlæ[w]” (“the mound of Siþæbæd the slave”; CC0 Andrew West)
Figure: Franks Casket, rear (s. viii; CC-BY-NC-ND Amanda Graham)
Figure: Franks Casket, front (s. viii; CC-BY John W. Schulze)
Welund him be wurman wræces cunnade. Anhydig eorl earfoþa dreag, hæfde him to gesiþþe sorge ond longaþ, 3 wintercealde wræce, wean oft onfond, siþþan hine Niðhad on nede legde swoncre seonobende
6 Þæs ofereode, þisses swa mæg!
Weland endured misery at the hands of the serpent. The resolute warrior suffered dire straits, had grief and pining as his companions, winter-cold misery. He often experienced woe after Niðhad put constraints on him, the better man, with a supple sinew-bond. As for that, it passed; it may for this, too! ”
Beadohilde ne wæs hyre broþra deaþ
swa hyre sylfre þing: 9 þæt heo gearolice
þæt heo eacen wæs— æfre ne meahte þriste geþencan, hu ymb þæt sceolde. 12 Þæs ofereode, þisses swa mæg!
Her brothers’ death was not as painful to Beadohild as her own matter: that she had clearly understood that she was pregnant. She could never steadfastly contemplate what she ought to do about that. As for that, it passed; it may for this, too!
Figure: A Göttingen dissertation
Figure: Franks Casket, front (s. viii; CC-BY John W. Schulze)
Fisc flod ahof
warþ ga:sric grorn þær he on greut giswom. Hrones ban. 3
The water lifted a fish onto a mountain cliff; the king of the
Whale bone.
Figure: Franks Casket, left (s. viii; CC-BY John W. Schulze)
Romwalus and Reumwalus, twœgen gibroþær; afœddæ hiæ wylif in Romæcæstri, oþlæ unneg.
Romulus and Remus, two brothers; a she-wolf nourished them in Rome, far from their homeland.
Figure: Franks Casket, rear (s. viii; CC-BY John W. Schulze)
Her fegtaþ Titus end Giuþeasu HIC FUGIANT HIERUSALEM afitatores Dom Gisl
Here fight Titus and Jews HERE its residents FLEE JERUSALEM Judgement Hostage
Figure: Franks Casket, right (s. viii; CC-BY John W. Schulze)
Her Hos sitiþ
agl[:] drigiþ swa hiræ Ertae gisgraf sarden sorga and sefa torna. 3 Risci Wudu Bita 6
Here sits Hos in a sorrow-mound; she suffers affliction as Ertae has decreed for her a grievous den of sorrows and trouble of the mind. Reed Wood Biter
Figure: Franks Casket, lid: “Ægili”, (s. viii; public domain / WMC)
Figure: Ruthwell Cross (s. viii; CC-BY-NC Elizabeth Oliver)
Figure: Ruthwell Cross (s. viii; CC-BY-NC-ND Alister B.)
Figure: Law of Æthelberht (c. 600 / MS s. xii; public domain / WMC)
Nunc laudare debemus auctorem regni caelestis, potentiam creatoris, et consilium illius facta Patris gloriae: quomodo ille, 3 cum sit aeternus Deus, omnium miraculorum auctor exstitit; qui primo filiis hominum caelum pro culmine tecti 6 dehinc terram custos humani generis creavit omnipotens
Nu sculon herigean heofonrices weard, meotodes meahte and his modgeþanc, weorc wuldorfæder, swa he wundra gehwæs, 3 ece drihten,
He ærest sceop eorðan bearnum heofon to hrofe, halig scyppend; 6 þa middangeard moncynnes weard, ece drihten, æfter teode firum foldan, frea ælmihtig. 9
A Poetry 177,480 words 6% B Prose 2,128,781 words 70% C Glosses 699,606 words 23% D Glossaries 26,598 words .88% E Runes 346 words .01% F Inscriptions 331 words .01% Total 3,033,142 words
3,791,645 words
▶ Biblical paraphrase: Genesis A, (Genesis B,) Exodus, Daniel, Azarias,
Psalms 51–150, Judith(, Christ and Satan pt 3)
▶ Biblically inspired and religious narrative: Genesis B, Christ, Christ
and Satan, Dream of the Rood, Fates of the Apostles, Judgement Day I, II, Soul and Body
▶ Saints’ lives: Andreas, Elene, Guthlac, Juliana ▶ Religious allegory: The Phoenix, The Whale, The Panther ▶ Devotional: Psalms 51–150, hymns, and prayers (Christ, The Descent
into Hell)
▶ Heroic: Beowulf, Finnesburh Fragment, Waldere, Deor, Widsith, The
Battle of Brunanburh, The Battle of Maldon
▶ Riddles, wisdom poetry, charms ▶ Lyric and elegy: The Wanderer, The Seafarer, The Wife’s Lament, The
Ruin, Wulf and Eadwacer, The Husband’s Message
▶ Homilies ▶ Laws (secular and ecclesiastical) ▶ Charters and records ▶ Saints’ lives (incl. Gregory’s Dialogues bks 1–3) ▶ Biblical translation: Hexateuch, historical books, Psalms, Gospels ▶ Learning: Soliloquies, Boethius, computistics, Ælfric’s Grammar ▶ Historiography: Orosius, Bede, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle ▶ Precepts: Pastoral Care, Benedictine Rule, Rule of Chrodegang ▶ Liturgy and catechesis: directions, prayers, creeds ▶ Medical texts, recipes, charms, prognostics ▶ Dialogues: Solomon and Saturn, Adrian and Ritheus ▶ Marvels: Wonders of the East, Letter of Alexander to Aristotle ▶ Romance: Apollonius of Tyre ▶ Letters, tracts, and admonitions ▶ Notes and scribbles
Rhythm
▶ Two verses per long line
(separated by a caesura)
▶ Two lifts (= beats) per verse ▶ Variable number of drops
(= unstressed syllables)
Alliteration
▶ One or both lifts in the a-verse ▶ First lift in the b-verse ▶ Vowels alliterate among
themselves
▶ sc, sp, st are inbreeders
Oft Scýld Scéfing scéaþena þréatum, sc-alliteration mónegum mǽgþum, méodosetla oftéah, 5 égsode éorlas, syððan ǽrest wéarð vowel alliteration féasceaft fúnden. He þæs frófre gebád, wéox under wólcnum, wéorðmyndum þáh,
ýmbsìttendra
hýran scólde, 10 gómban gýldan. Þæt wæs gód cýning!
Particles: not normally stressed
▶ Finite verbs ▶ Personal pronouns ▶ Demonstrative pronouns ▶ Demonstrative adverbs ▶ (Conjunctions)
Proclitics: not normally stressed
▶ Prepositions ▶ Demonstratives ▶ Possessives ▶ Copulative conjunctions ▶ Prefixes
Stress words: always stressed
▶ Alliterating syllables ▶ Nouns ▶ Adjectives ▶ Nonfinite verbs ▶ (Adverbs) ▶ (Pronouns)
Particles (grouped near the beginning of their clause) and proclitics (right before stressed words) receive stress if displaced. The second element in a compound contains secondary word stress; in rhythmic stress, it counts as a lift or drop as needed.
A / x / x eorlic ellen; glædne Hroðgar; wide siðas (~ 2 trochees) B x / x /
(~ 2 iambs) C x / / x gebun hæfdon (~ 1 iamb + 1 trochee) D1 / / \ x frean Scyldinga; har hilderinc D2 / / x \ weold wideferhð E / \ x / healærna mæst
▶ Classical terminology impractical given the variable number of
drops to a foot.
Figure: Beowulf (2007) Figure: Christopher Page (YouTube link) Figure: Benjamin Bagby (YouTube link)
▶ Beowulf lines 662–836 (trans. Liuzza) ▶ The Battle of Maldon (trans. in Trapp, Gray, and Boffey 100–110) ▶ Horowitz, “Beowulf, Samson, David and Christ”
Bagby, Benjamin. Beowulf. Directed by Stella Olsson. US: Koch, 2006. DVD. Godden, Malcolm, and Michael Lapidge, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Old English Literature. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013. Liebermann, F., ed. Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen. 3 vols. Halle: Niemeyer, 1903/1916. Mitchell, Bruce, and Fred C. Robinson. A Guide to Old English. 8th ed. Malden, MA: Wiley–Blackwell, 2012. Momma, Haruko, and Michael Matto, eds. A Companion to the History of the English Language. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2008. North, Richard, and Joe Allard, eds. Beowulf and Other Stories: A New Introduction to Old English, Old Icelandic and Anglo-Normal
Page, Ray. An Introduction to English Runes. 2nd ed. Woodbridge: Boydell, 1999. Pulsiano, Phillip, and Elaine Treharne, eds. A Companion to Anglo-Saxon
Robinson, Orrin Warner. Old English and Its Closest Relatives: A Survey of the Earliest Germanic Languages. London: Routledge, 1992. Terasawa, Jun. Old English Metre: An Introduction. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2011. Zemeckis, Robert, dir. Beowulf. US: Paramount, 2008. Blu-ray.