Anglo-Saxon Poetry: Background

By Ld.Dyfn ap Meurig

History

Old English, the modern term for the common language of the Anglo-Saxons, was used from the early 6^th century (when the invading Germanic tribes had pretty well settled in Britain) to around the middle of the 12^th century (about the point when it was mutated by time and Norman French into the Middle English of Chaucer).  

There can be little argument that the Saxons and other Germanic peoples developed their style of poetry long before they preserved their verses in written form.  Among the oldest surviving Old English poems, Widsith ( transl.)was written in the 7^th century, yet contains elements (in the form of names and famous deeds) drawing from three hundred years earlier.  Similarly, the most famous of all Anglo Saxon poems, Beowulf , is known from a c. 11^th century copy of a c. 8^th century poem which references people and events from around the 6^th century. 

There are many references to the scops (pronounced “shawp”) – crafters of song, poem and story.  The scop was highly esteemed in the noble’s court, for not only could he entertain, teach, and provide news, but he could burnish a noble’s reputation (or tarnish that of his rival) with a song.  We can only speculate how these verses were presented, but based on archeological and written evidence, a type of lyre was used as accompaniment – possibly strummed during the caesura[1]. As scriptoria and literacy increased in  England, writings of all kinds, including verse, were copied down. But though all indications suggest the Anglo-Saxons were prolific creators of poetry, very little has survived the centuries.  Many manuscripts were scraped clean for reuse, while others fell victim to fire, rot, or the even the need for scrap materials.  

There are approximately 30,000 lines of Old English poetry existing today.  By comparison, Shakespeare left us more lines than that in his plays alone.  From this paltry amount we are left to deduce the form and function of Saxon poetry. Yet the fact that the earliest poems through the latest (such as the 10^th century Battle of Maldon (Trans)) all share the same alliterative form and style elements suggests the poetic structure was fixed by the scops quite early on.

Verse-Worthy Topics  

   The Anglo Saxons composed poetry that fit one of several general themes (some examples can be found on the last page of this handout):

Heroic Stories/Elegies: Beowulf is best known, but others, such as the fragments of The Battle of Maldon  and The Fight at Finnsburg, also mix history with heroic ideals. A few, such as The Battle of Brunanburh, are documented in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle.

Christian Themes: Much of the surviving Saxon poetry is in the form of Biblical paraphrases, the lives of saints, or original works such as Dream of the Rood (although it has been suggested that the latter was adapted from an earlier poem about Odin). In fact, some poems, though originally composed before the Saxons were Christianized, were clearly written with a Christian audience in mind.

Miscellaneous: A number of short poems can be found in the surviving manuscripts, such as mnemonic or memory aids, short verses, and riddles ( Exeter Riddle 5)

Two Notes on Translations

   The poetry of a culture is shaped by the language of that culture.  In this case, the consistent front-stress of words in Old English lends itself to the rhythm and alliterative structure.  When translating a poem to another language; something is always lost, whether rhythm, style, or even meaning.  Here is an example, taken from Beowulf  (lines 26-34)

In the original Saxon verse

felahrór féran      on fréan waére·

A translation by Howell D. Chickering (One of the more faithful versions)

Scyld then departed     at the appointed time,

still very strong,      into the keeping of the Lord.

His own dear comrades     carried his body

to the sea’s current,     as he himself had ordered,

the nation’s dear leader     had ruled a long time.

There at the harbor     stood the ring-carved prow,

the noble’s vessel,     icy, sea-ready.

They laid down the king     in the center of the ship,

A recent translation by Benjamin Slade, (who claims to take the “middle ground between intelligibility and literal translation”)

Then Scyld departed      at the destined time,

still in his full-strength, to fare      in the protection of Frea;  

he they carried      to the sea's surf,  

his dear comrades,      as he himself had bid,  

when he yet wielded words,      that friend of the Scyldings,  

beloved ruler of the land,      had ruled for a long time;  

there at the harbour stood      with a ringed-prow,  

icy and keen to sail,      a hero's vessel;    

they then laid down      the beloved prince,

Translation by Seamus Heaney (who goes for the spirit rather than the direct translation)

Shield was still thriving when his time came

and he crossed over into the Lord’s keeping.

His warrior band did what he bade them

when he laid down the law among the Danes:

they shouldered him out to the sea’s flood,

the chief they revered who had long ruled them.

A ring-whorled prow rode in the harbour,

ice-clad, outbound, a craft for a prince

They stretched their beloved lord in his boat,

A prose translation by David Wright (who, obviously, dispenses with poetic form altogether)

Scyld’s hour came when he was in the prime of his strength.  After a long reign the king departed into the care of his God.  His dearest retainers carried the beloved Danish leader to the sea’s edge, as he had commanded while he could yet speak.  Rime-encrusted and ready to sail, a royal vessel with curved prow lay in harbour.  They set down their dear king amidships. . 

   Another thing to note is that this convention of writing two half lines to a line on the page is modern; generally, the poems were written to the end of a page. In other words, what we see in poetry books as:

bærst bordes lærig,            and seo byrne sang 

gryreleoða sum.                  þa æt guðe sloh

Offa þone sælidan,              þæt he on eorðan feoll,

and ðær Gaddes mæg         grund gesohte.

Was more likely to be found in a medieval parchment this way: bærst bordes lærig and seo byrne sang gryreleoða sum. þa æt guðe sloh Offa þone sælidan, þæt he on eorðan feoll, and ðær Gaddes mæg grund gesohte.

However, the modern style makes clearer to the modern student the rhythms and word patterns that the Saxons took for granted (just as we unconsciously pick up on iambic pentameter and rhyme schemes).

For Further Reading:

Books

Alexander, A., (1991, 3^rd edition). The Earliest English Poems. London: Penguin Books. (A basic collection of Old English poems in translation).

Chickering, H.D. (1989, 2^nd edition). Beowulf (Dual language edition). New York: Anchor Books. (A good translation and also has an excellent introduction chapter on the basics of Anglo-Saxon poetic styles, themes, and construction. Also has a good pronunciation guide).

Heaney, S. (2000). Beowulf (Dual language edition). New York: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux. (The tone and flavor is quite different than Chickering, but also enjoyable. This edition also has a good introduction and textual notes).

Pollington, S. (1996). An Introduction to Old English Language and Literature. Norfolk, England: Anglo-Saxon Books. (A short overview of the topic; highly general, but a good beginning).

Web sources

The Complete Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Poetry. Available at: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/ascp/ (All currently known Anglo-Saxon poetry is available, in Old English, at this one site).

Old English Poetry.  Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_English_poetry

A nicely-done encyclopedic background overview of the subject.

Building Blocks of Old English Poetry. Available at: http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~mwh95001/oepoetry.htm

Beginner’s Guide to Prosody: Anglo-Saxon Accentual Meter. Available at: http://tinablue.homestead.com/Prosody4anglosaxonmeter.html

Introduction to Old English. Available at: http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/research/rawl/IOE/index.html

Features chapters dealing with poetic style and meter.

Beowulf on Steorarume . Available at: http://www.heorot.dk/

Much information related to the epic poem, including several translations.

Battle of Maldon. Sound file samples from Battle of Maldon, in Old English, available at:

http://www.engl.virginia.edu/OE/Guide.Readings/Maldon.html

Lexicon of Kennings. Available at: http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/ugm/kennings/kennings.html