Scyld and Scef is the first comprehensive study of these heroic figures of Germanic legend, featured in much of the literature of the Middle Ages, including Beowulf, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the Edda. The authors argue that this duo represent a way that medieval Germanic peoples defined themselves in their literature. Divided into two sections, this volume explores the specific cultures from which Scyld and Scef rose and the forty-one manuscripts in which they appear.
The editorial policy of Anglo-Saxon England has been to encourage an interdisciplinary approach to the study of all aspects of Anglo-Saxon culture. This approach is pursued in exemplary fashion by many of the essays in this volume. Fresh light is thrown on the dating and form of Cynewulf's poem The Fates of the Apostles through a comprehensive study of the historical martyrologies of the Carolingian period on which Cynewulf is presumed to have drawn. The literary form of Ælfric's Preface to his translation of Genesis is illustrated through a wide-ranging study of the rhetorical genre of preface-writing in the early Middle Ages (the genre which subsequently was known as the ars dictaminis), and the problems which Ælfric faced and solved in composing a Life of St Æthelthryth are illustrated through detailed comparison of the sources which he utilized. The usual comprehensive bibliography of the previous year's publications in all branches of Anglo-Saxon studies rounds off the book.
Significant Anglo-Saxon papers, with postscripts, illustrate advances in knowledge of life and culture of pre-Conquest England. Thomas Northcote Toller, of the Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, is one of the most influential but least known Anglo-Saxon scholars of the early twentieth century. The Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies at Manchester, where Toller was the first professor of English Language, has an annual Toller lecture, delivered by an expert in the field of Anglo-Saxon Studies; this volume offers a selection from these lectures, brought together for the firsttime, and with supplementary material added by the authors to bring them up to date. They are complemented by the 2002 Toller Lecture, Peter Baker's study of Toller, commissioned specially for this book; and by new examinations ofToller's life and work, and his influence on the development of Old English lexicography. The volume is therefore both an epitome of the best scholarship in Anglo-Saxon studies of the last decade and a half, and a guide for the modern reader through the major advances in our knowledge of the life and culture of pre-Conquest England. , Contributors: RICHARD BAILEY, PETER BAKER, DABNEY ANDERSON BANKERT, JANET BATELY, GEORGE BROWN, ROBERTA FRANK, HELMUT GNEUSS, JOYCE HILL, DAVID A. HINTON, MICHAEL LAPIDGE, AUDREY MEANEY, KATHERINE O'BRIEN O'KEEFFE, JOANA PROUD, ALEXANDER RUMBLE.
Viktor Rydberg's 'Teutonic Mythology: The Gods and Goddesses of the Northland (Vol. 1-3)' is a comprehensive study of the mythological beliefs of the ancient Germanic peoples. Rydberg delves into the rich tapestry of Norse mythology, exploring the stories of gods and goddesses, heroes and giants, and the cosmic battles that shape the fate of the world. Written in a scholarly yet accessible style, Rydberg's work provides insight into the cultural and literary context of these myths, shedding light on their significance and enduring appeal. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including the Eddas and Sagas, Rydberg presents a detailed and engaging account of the mythological landscape of the Northland. As a renowned Swedish writer, poet, and scholar, Viktor Rydberg's deep knowledge of Scandinavian folklore and literature informs his exploration of Teutonic mythology. His background in philology and mythology lends credibility to his interpretation of these ancient stories, making 'Teutonic Mythology' a valuable resource for scholars and enthusiasts alike. Rydberg's passion for the subject matter is evident in his meticulous research and thoughtful analysis, making this three-volume work a must-read for anyone interested in Norse mythology and Germanic culture. I highly recommend 'Teutonic Mythology: The Gods and Goddesses of the Northland' to readers seeking a comprehensive and insightful study of Norse mythological beliefs. Rydberg's masterful examination of these ancient stories offers a fascinating journey into the world of the gods and heroes of the North, showcasing the enduring power and complexity of Teutonic mythology.
This book examines the sustained interest in legends of the pagan and peripheral North, tracing and analyzing the use of an ‘out-of-Scandinavia’ legend (Scandinavia as an ancestral homeland) in a wide range of medieval texts from all over Europe, with a focus on the Anglo-Saxon tradition. The pagan North was an imaginative region, which attracted a number of conflicting interpretations. To Christian Europe, the pagan North was an abject Other, but it also symbolized a place from which ancestral strength and energy derived. Rix maps how these discourses informed ‘national’ legends of ancestral origins, showing how an ‘out-of-Scandinavia’ legend can be found in works by several familiar writers including Jordanes, Bede, ‘Fredegar’, Paul the Deacon, Freculph, and Æthelweard. The book investigates how legends of northern warriors were first created in classical texts and since re-calibrated to fit different medieval understandings of identity and ethnicity. Among other things, the ‘out-of-Scandinavia’ tale was exploited to promote a legacy of ‘barbarian’ vigor that could withstand the negative cultural effects of Roman civilization. This volume employs a variety of perspectives cutting across the disciplines of poetry, history, rhetoric, linguistics, and archaeology. After years of intense critical interest in medieval attitudes towards the classical world, Africa, and the East, this first book-length study of ‘the North’ will inspire new debates and repositionings in medieval studies.
This carefully crafted ebook: “Beowulf: complete bilingual edition including the original anglo-saxon edition + 3 modern english translations + an extensive study of the poem + footnotes, index and alphabetical glossary” contains 5 books in one volume and is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. Beowulf is the conventional title of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature. It survives in a single manuscript known as the Nowell Codex. Its composition by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet is dated between the 8th and the early 11th century. In 1731, the manuscript was badly damaged by a fire that swept through a building housing a collection of Medieval manuscripts assembled by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton. The poem's existence for its first seven centuries or so made no impression on writers and scholars, and besides a brief mention in a 1705 catalogue by Humfrey Wanley it was not studied until the end of the eighteenth century, and not published in its entirety until the 1815 edition prepared by the Icelandic-Danish scholar Grímur Jónsson Thorkelin. In the poem, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats in Scandinavia, comes to the help of Hroðgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall (in Heorot) has been under attack by a monster known as Grendel. After Beowulf slays him, Grendel's mother attacks the hall and is then also defeated. Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland in Sweden and later becomes king of the Geats. After a period of fifty years has passed, Beowulf defeats a dragon, but is fatally wounded in the battle. After his death, his attendants bury him in a tumulus, a burial mound, in Geatland. The numerous different translations and interpretations of Beowulf turn this monumental work into a challenge for the reader. This ebook contains 5 books in one ebook: 1) By Anonymous, edited by Alfred John Wyatt: "Beowulf". This is the anglo-saxon original version based on the autotypes (facsimilies) in Julius Zupitza’s edition of 1882. 2) By John Lesslie Hall: "Beowulf - An Anglo-Saxon Epic Poem". This is a 1892 translation of Beowulf into modern english with notes and comments. 3) By William Morris: "The Tale of Beowulf - Sometime King of the Folk of the Weder Geats". This is an 1895 translation of Beowulf into modern english with notes and comments. 4) By: Francis Barton Gummere: "Beowulf". This is a 1910 translation of Beowulf into modern english , with notes and comments. 5) By: Raymond Wilson Chambers: "Beowulf - An Introduction to the Study of the Poem with a Discussion of the Stories of Offa and Finn".
As one of the most prolific and influential scholars in the field, Thomas D. Hill has made an indelible mark on the study of Old English literature. In celebration of his distinguished career, the editors of Source of Wisdom have assembled a wide-ranging collection of nineteen original essays on Old English poetry and prose as well as early medieval Latin, touching upon many of Hill's specific research interests. Among the topics examined in this volume are the Christian-Latin sources of Old English texts, including religious and 'sapiential' poetry, and prose translations of Latin writings. Old English poems such as Beowulf, The Dream of the Rood, and The Wife's Lament are treated, throughout, to thematic, textual, stylistic, lexical, and source analysis. Prose writers of the period such as King Alfred and Wærferth, as well as medieval Latin writers such as Bede and Pseudo-Methodius are also discussed. As an added feature, the volume includes a bibliography of publications by Thomas D. Hill. Source of Wisdom is, ultimately, a contribution to the understanding of medieval English literature and the textual traditions that contributed to its development.
