DIFFERENT TYPES OF ANGLO SAXON
POETRY
• HEROIC POETRY – focuses on politics, feuds, heroes and epic
struggles and friendships. Celebrates Anglo-Saxon customs and
practices.
• ELEGIAC AND LOVE POETRY – focuses on a persistent note of sadness,
melancholia and a philosophical view of life’s impermanence. Brings
out “UBI SUNT” motive. “UBI SUNT” is a Latin Phrase meaning
“Where are (they)?”
• RELIGIOUS POETRY – translations and adaptations of Bible by
Caedmon and his cycle as well as Cynewulf.
• GNOMIC POETRY – Riddles and other poems.
FOUR MANUSCRIPTS OF ANGLO SAXON
POETRY
Anglo Saxon Poetry has survived for the most part in four
manuscripts.
The first manuscript is called the Junius manuscript (also
known as the Caedmon manuscript), which is an
illustrated poetic anthology. Contains the Caedmonian
poems.
The second manuscript is called the Exeter Book, also an
anthology, located in the Exeter Cathedral since it was
donated there in the 11th century. Contains the elegies.
The third manuscript is called the Vercelli Book, a mix of
poetry and prose; how it came to be in Vercelli, Italy, no
one knows, and is a matter of debate.
The fourth manuscript is called the Nowell Codex, also a
mixture of poetry and prose. Also known as Cotton Vitellius
A.xv or the Beowulf manuscript. Contains Beowulf and Judith.
BEOWULF’S TERRAIN, PEOPLE AND DATE
The text of Beowulf tells us mostly the story of Geats and Danes, though it also mentions the
larger Germanic world of Frisians, Swedes (Scylfings),Heathobards, Finns, Franks, Vandals Goths
etc. It was composed around 650-750 CE in its initial form though the present text is from a
tenth century CE manuscript, preserved in the British Library.
PARALLEL GERMANIC NARRATIVES
• The Völsunga saga (often referred to in English as
the Volsunga Saga or Saga of the Völsungs) is a legendary
saga, a late 13th century poetic rendition in the Icelandic
language of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan
(including the story of Sigurd and Brynhild and destruction
of the Burgundians).
• The Nibelungenlied , translated as The Song of the
Nibelungs, is an epic poem written around 1200 in Middle
High German. The Nibelungenlied is based on an oral
tradition that has some of its origin in historic events and
individuals of the 5th and 6th centuries and that spread
throughout almost all of Germanic-speaking Europe. The
story of Siegfried.
• Völundarkviða (modern Icelandic spelling) [Völundr's poem]
is one of the mythological poems of the Poetic Edda.
Contains narratives of Wayland.
FAMILY TREES IN BEOWULF
THE ACTION OF BEOWULF
THEMES OF BEOWULF
• Wyrd or Fate – Fate seems to control events in the plot; yet there are points where there is a larger Providential order.
• Beot or Boast – The Hero’s Boast is an important ingredient of his identity.
• Comitatus – The bond between the Lord and Thane – Beowulf and Wiglaf; Hrothgar and his men; Hrothgar and
Beowulf. This bond centres round the mead-hall, from example, Heorot.
• Wergeld – The idea that one must either avenge the death of one’s near ones or be compensated by the payment of
gold.
• Gift-giving – The king is presented as the Gift-giver. It is his ability to give gifts like rings (he is called as “ring giver”)
that justifies his royal prominence.
• Births and Deaths – Scyld Sceafing, the founder of the Danish legacy, is himself a foundling. When he dies, he is given a
ship burial. The Death of Beowulf – his cremation in a barrow, laden with dragon’s treasures, is also emblematic of
Germanic practices.
• The Role of Scope – The poet plays an important role in Beowulf. Connects Beowulf’s achievements with those of the
Volsung, sings ironically about the tragic encounter between the Frisians and Danes when the people in the mead-hall
are celebrating Grendel’s death. This presages the eventual tragedy of universal death, decimation.
• Heroic Sacrifice