The Literature of the Anglo-Saxons

458 Pages·1966·27.17 MB·English

by  George K. Anderson

The Literature
of the Anglo-Saxons

The Literature
of the Anglo-Saxons
By George K. Anderson
Revised Edition
1966
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton University Press
COPYRIGHT, I949, © I966, BY PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
The notes, with bibliographies, have been substantially revised
in the 1966 edition.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Preface
FOR all who desire to consider the literature written in Eng­
land before the coming of William the Conqueror, there are
always two questions of importance which must be answered
satisfactorily. What has survived from those distant times?
Where can one look beyond in order to know more than the
general outlines of this literature? It has been my object in
writing this book to put myself in a position to answer these
two questions. In a brief compass, of course, the author of such
a book can do no more 5 if he elects to serve as a sign-post, he
can scarcely be expected to act as critic. For during the past
fifty years enough has been accomplished in the study of
Anglo-Saxon literature alone to make necessary a new Regis­
try of Deeds, a new survey of attainment, insofar as it is pos­
sible to achieve our observations solely on the basis of what
has been left to posterity by the insensate hand of circum­
stance.
In attempting such a survey I have avoided any direct
treatment of linguistic matters as such, and have therefore
referred the reader to the general bibliographies of the Eng­
lish language. I believe that it is high time to look at Old
English literature not as a mere repository for the English
language in its oldest historical state but as a storehouse, neces­
sarily somewhat inaccessible, of the records, the thoughts and
important deeds, of a clearly-defined, vital, and altogether
basic period of English literature. Nor have I been interested
here in studies of textual matters alone, except where such
business may have bearing upon the significance of a given
work of Old English literature when it is considered as a
whole. Instead, I have tried to describe succinctly such Old
English literature as has been left to us and to refer the reader
who would know more to the appropriate sources of informa­
tion, on the theory that literature must always speak for itself,
directly to the intelligent reader, and can never be conveyed
to him in its fullest implications when it has been predigested
and pre-analyzed.
vi Preface
It is true that an account of Anglo-Saxon literature lends
itself but poorly to an analysis of the history of ideas in the
Old English era. I have endeavored, however, to take into
consideration the entire canon of Anglo-Saxon writings, with­
out undue emphasis upon the alleged major works of the
period, partly on the assumption that these works have already
been studied perhaps too much to do justice to Old English
literature as a whole, and partly, no doubt, on the assumption
that "all service ranks the same with God."
In following this long and rocky path I have incurred
a debt of gratitude to many who have rendered me profes­
sional and scholarly aid for which all in my position should
daily thank God. These stayers of my feeble sides are too
many to name here j but I wish to convey herewith my special
thanks to the officers and personnel of the Libraries of Har­
vard University, Brown University, Yale University, Prince­
ton University, Cornell University, Columbia University, the
Huntington Library and the Library of Congress. I have been
encouraged greatly by the wise suggestions of Professor
Charles W. Kennedy of Princeton University, whose help I
appreciate deeply. To my wife, Ethel H. Anderson, whose aid
and comfort to me in this task cannot be measured in words, I
owe the greatest debt of all.
G. K. A.
Brown University
Providence, R.I.
NOTE TO THE REVISED EDITION
Recent scholarship in this field has made it necessary to
revise and substantially augment the notes and bibliographical
references of the first edition. Since it has not been possible
to incorporate all of these revisions and additions in the
notes at the end of each chapter, a section of further addi­
tions has been inserted just ahead of the Index. The symbol
f in the appropriate place in the notes indicates where each
addition has been made.
Contents
PREFACE v
I. THE ANGLO-SAXONS
1. Invaders of Britain 3
2. The Roman Occupation of Britain 6
3. The Anglo-Saxon Conquest 9
4. Salient Characteristics of the Early
Anglo-Saxon Society in England 13
5. From Hengest and Horsa to
William the Conqueror 17
Notes to Chapter I 27
II. A FOREWORD TO THE LITERATURE
OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS
1. "Anglo-Saxon" or "Old English"? 40
2. Some Axioms of Old English Literature 42
3. A Note on Anglo-Saxon Poetic Style 47
Notes to Chapter II 50
III. THE OLD ENGLISH HEROIC EPIC POEMS
ι. The Probable Genesis of the Epic 56
1. Widsith 59
3. Beowulf 63
4. Other Surviving Old English Epic Pieces 85
Notes to Chapter III 96
IV. THE OLD ENGLISH CHRISTIAN EPIC
1. The Christianization of Anglo-Saxon England 105
2. General Notes on the Christian Epic 110
3. TheCaedmonianCycle 112
4. Cynewulf and the Signed Poems 123
5. Miscellaneous Caedmonian and
Cynewulfian Poems 132
Notes to Chapter IV 144
viii Contents
V. MISCELLANEOUS OLD ENGLISH POETRY
1. The Elegiac Poems 154
2. Personal Lyrics 162
3. Religious Lyrics 164
4. Didactic Poems of Lyric Nature 167
5. Poems on Individual Matters 173
6. Minor Historical Poems 177
7. Pagan Relics in Anglo-Saxon Verse 179
8. Minor Didactic Poetry 183
Notes to Chapter V 189
VI. A NOTE ON OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE
AND THE DRAMA 206
Notes to Chapter VI 210
VII. ANGLO-LATIN LITERATURE IN THE
OLD ENGLISH PERIOD
1. Gildas and Nennius 212
2. Aldhelm and His Group 217
3. Bede 225
4. Alcuin and Others 233
5. Asser 237
6. Minor Latin Works of the Period 240
Notes to Chapter VII 242
VIII. THE WORK OF KING ALFRED
1. General Observations 257
2. The Alfredian Writings 263
3. Works Written Within Alfred's Sphere 291
Notes to Chapter VIII 295
IX. AELFRIC AND HIS WORKS
1. The Identity of Aelfric 308
2. Aelfric's Writings 310
3. Aelfric's Circle and His Minor Works 323
Notes to Chapter IX 327
Contents IX
x. WULFSTAN'S WORKS AND OTHER
HOMILETIC PROSE
1. Wulfstan 340
2. The Blickling and Vercelli Homilies 342
3. Miscellaneous Homiletic Material 34^
4. Biblical Translations 349
5. Christian Legend and Precept 351
Notes to Chapter X 352
XI. SECULAR DIDACTIC WRITING
IN OLD ENGLISH PROSE 370
Notes to Chapter XI 3 73
XII. PROSE FICTION OF THE
OLD ENGLISH PERIOD 375
Notes to Chapter XII 381
XIII. SCIENTIFIC WRITING IN THE
OLD ENGLISH PERIOD 384
Notes to Chapter XIII 397
XIV. RETROSPECT 403
Notes to Chapter XIV 411
FURTHER ADDITIONS TO NOTES 415
INDEX 427
MAPS
Roman Britain facing page x 2
England in the Age of Alfred the Great 13
The Heptarchy 22
England after the Danish Conquest 23