Table Of Content(cid:1)
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The Origins of Beowulf:
Studies in Textual Criticism and Literary History
A dissertation presented
by
Leonard Neidorf
to
The Harvard English Department
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
in the subject of
English
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts
April 2014
UMI Number: 3626957
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© 2014 Leonard Neidorf
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Prof. Joseph Harris ii i Leonard Neidorf
P(cid:1) rof. Daniel Donoghue
Abstract
The Origins of Beowulf: Studies in Textual Criticism and Literary History
Beowulf is preserved in a single manuscript written out around the year 1000, but
there are many reasons to believe that the poem was composed several centuries before
this particular act of manual reproduction. Most significantly, the meter of Beowulf
reveals that the poet regularly observed distinctions of etymological length that became
phonologically indistinct before 725 in Mercia. This dissertation gauges the explanatory
power of the hypothesis that Beowulf was composed about three centuries before the
production of the extant manuscript. The following studies test the hypothesis of archaic
composition by determining whether it is able to accommodate independent forms of
evidence drawn from the fields of linguistics, textual criticism, and literary history.
An examination of the lexicon of Beowulf reveals that it contains several words
attested elsewhere only in archaic glosses and in poems probably composed during the
eighth century. Beowulf appears to preserve vocabulary from an archaic lexical stratum,
which was lost before the composition of ninth-century works. Investigation into the
transmitted text of Beowulf in the extant manuscript yields numerous signs of the poem’s
antiquity. The manuscript contains hundreds of transcription errors, many of which were
induced by changes in language and culture that had taken place during the long interval
between composition and reproduction. Dozens of corruptions in the transmitted text
reflect scribal unfamiliarity with the heroes and peoples known to the Beowulf poet and
the audience for which he composed. Inquiry into Anglo-Saxon literary history confirms
that the legends involving the heroes and peoples in Beowulf circulated in England
predominantly prior to the ninth century. A survey of the onomastic record, royal
Prof. Joseph Harris iv Leonard Neidorf
(cid:1)P(cid:1) rof. Daniel Donoghue
genealogies, and Anglo-Latin testimonia suggests that the legends in Beowulf arrived in
England during the sixth century, circulated vigorously there during the seventh and
eighth centuries, but ceased to be widely known during the ninth and tenth centuries. The
studies in this dissertation demonstrate that the chronological implications of linguistic,
text-critical, and literary-historical evidence uniformly support the hypothesis that
Beowulf was composed around the year 700.
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Ch. 1. The History of the Dating of Beowulf Controversy
Ch. 2. Lexical Evidence for the Relative Chronology of Old English Poetry
Ch. 3. Scribal Errors of Proper Names in the Beowulf Manuscript
Ch. 4. Beowulf before Beowulf: Anglo-Saxon Anthroponymy and Heroic Legend
Ch. 5. Germanic Legend, Scribal Errors, and Cultural Change
Ch. 6. Cain, Cam, Jutes, Giants, and the Textual Criticism of Beowulf
Appendices
Bibliography
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Acknowledgments
The wisdom and erudition of many scholars substantially improved this dissertation.
The most generous and influential contributors have been its three advisors: Joseph
Harris, Daniel Donoghue, and R.D. Fulk. To Professor Harris, special thanks must be
given for the hundreds of hours spent in his office discussing my ideas at various stages
of their development. To Professor Donoghue, special thanks must be given for the
numerous teaching assignments he obtained for me and for all that was learned thereby.
To Professor Fulk, special thanks must be given for providing remarkably detailed
feedback and for composing a corpus of scholarship that has exerted unrivalled influence
on the ideas in this dissertation. The engagement with Fulk’s work that pervades the
following studies should corroborate the widespread impression that he has advanced
knowledge of Old English literature more than any other scholar active in the past
century.
Rafael J. Pascual read every word of this dissertation and improved its
argumentation considerably. Rafael has been my collaborator, my student, and my
teacher, and he has been an indefatigable source of ideas and inspiration to me since the
summer of 2011. George Clark and Tom Shippey read several chapters of the dissertation
and offered valuable feedback. They have been trusted mentors and correspondents to me
throughout my time at Harvard. Allen J. Frantzen and Geoffrey Russom have generously
supported my career and improved various aspects of my work. Francis Leneghan has
been a trusted friend and an insightful reader of several of the studies in this dissertation.
At Harvard, many scholars must be thanked for teaching me and for conversations held
while this dissertation was written, especially Albertus Horsting, Tom Keeline, Michael
vi i (cid:1)
McCormick, Stephen Mitchell, Marco Romani Mistretta, James Simpson, and Jan
Ziolkowski. A fellowship from the Whiting Foundation provided financial support for the
completion of this dissertation.
The studies brought together in this dissertation are published or forthcoming in
various venues. Chapter 1 is forthcoming as “Introduction” in The Dating of Beowulf: A
Reassessment, ed. Leonard Neidorf (Cambridge: D.S. Brewer). Chapter 2 is forthcoming
as “Lexical Evidence for the Relative Chronology of Old English Poetry,” in SELIM.
Chapter 3 has been published as “Scribal Errors of Proper Names in the Beowulf
Manuscript,” Anglo-Saxon England 42 (2013): 249-69. Chapter 4 has been published as
“Beowulf before Beowulf: Anglo-Saxon Anthroponymy and Heroic Legend,” Review of
English Studies 64 (2013): 553-73. Chapter 5 is forthcoming as “Germanic Legend,
Scribal Errors, and Cultural Change,” in The Dating of Beowulf: A Reassessment, ed.
Leonard Neidorf (Cambridge: D.S. Brewer). Chapter 6 is forthcoming as “Cain, Cam,
Jutes, Giants, and the Textual Criticism of Beowulf,” in Studies in Philology.
Description:Beowulf is preserved in a single manuscript written out around the year 1000, but there are many reasons to believe that the poem was composed several centuries before this particular act of manual reproduction. Most significantly, the meter of Beowulf reveals that the poet regularly observed distin
