Old English Literature: Critical EssaysR. M. Liuzza Recognizing the dramatic changes in Old English studies over the past generation, this up-to-date anthology gathers twenty-one outstanding contemporary critical writings on the prose and poetry of Anglo-Saxon England, from approximately the seventh through eleventh centuries. The contributors focus on texts most commonly read in introductory Old English courses while also engaging with larger issues of Anglo-Saxon history, culture, and scholarship. Their approaches vary widely, encompassing disciplines from linguistics to psychoanalysis. In an appealing introduction to the book, R. M. Liuzza presents an overview of Old English studies, the history of the scholarship, and major critical themes in the field. For both newcomers and more advanced scholars of Old English, these essays will provoke discussion, answer questions, provide background, and inspire an appreciation for the complexity and energy of Anglo-Saxon studies. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 23 | |
English Identity Before the Norman Conquest | 51 |
Orality and the Developing Text of Caedmons Hymn | 79 |
Reading Cædmons Hymn with Someone Elses Glosses | 103 |
Bede Hild and the Relations of Cultural Production | 125 |
The Story of Sigeberht Cynewulf and Cyneheard | 157 |
The Thematic Structure of the Sermo Lupi | 182 |
AngloSaxons on the Mind | 284 |
The Voluntary Exile of The Wanderer | 315 |
Language as Cure in The Wanderer | 328 |
The Form and Structure of The Seafarer | 353 |
The Wifes Lament and the Culture of Early Medieval Female Monasticism | 381 |
The Devotional Context of the Cross Before AD 1000 | 392 |
Stylistic Disjunctions in The Dream of the Rood | 404 |
God Death and Loyalty in The Battle of Maldon | 425 |
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Common terms and phrases
Ælfric Æthelred Æthelweard Alcuin Alfred Alfred's Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Anglo-Saxon England argues Battle of Maldon Bede Bede's Beowulf bið Byrhtnoth Cædmon Caedmon's Hymn Cambridge century charters Christ Christian Chronicle Church clause context critical Cross cultural Cyneheard Cynewulf death Dream ealdorman ealle eard early medieval Ecclesiastical elegies Essays evidence example Exeter Book exile female gender Germanic glish Godes heroic Hild Historia ecclesiastica History homily interpretation Keynes king kinship language Lapidge Latin Leoba lines literary London lord loyalty manuscripts meaning mind monastic narrative Old English Literature Old English poetry oral Oxford passage poem poem's poet poetic political reference Rood royal Saints sceal scribe Seafarer secular sense sentence sermon Sigeberht social society soul speaker spiritual story Studies suggests textual theme tion tradition trans translation verb vernacular verse Vikings Wanderer wanderer's West Saxon Whitelock Wife's Lament women words written Wulfstan þæt þonne