1
English 6360: Old English Language & Literature
John McNamara
Fall 2005
Required: Mitchell, Bruce, and Fred C. Robinson. A Guide to Old English. 5th or 6th ed. Oxford: Blackwell, 1992, 2001. (There are only very minor changes in the 6th ed.).
Recommended: Clark Hall, J. R. A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, with a Supplement by Herbert D. Meritt. 4th ed. Univ. of Toronto Press, 1984.
Recommended: John C. Pope, ed. Eight Old English Poems. Rev. ed. by R. D. Fulk. NY: Norton, 2000.
Suggested: Peter S. Baker, Introduction to Old English. Oxford: Blackwell, 2003.
Suggested: Greenfield, Stanley B., and Daniel G. Calder, A New Critical History of Old English Literature with. . .Anglo-Latin Background by Michael Lapidge. NYU Press, 1986.
For the Beginner: Alexander, Michael. A History of Old English Literature. Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview, 2002.
Syllabus
Aug24: Introduction to OE phonology (11-16). Practice Sentences (171-72). Discussion of translation theories and practices. Overview of Anglo-Saxon history.
31: Pronouns, nouns, adjectives, numerals (17-35). Translate “The Fall of Man” (174, 76). Discussion of the Migration and Settlement period: myth, history, and legend; evidence from oral tradition, texts, and archaeology.
Sep 7: Strong verbs (35-45). Translate the OE version of Ælfric’s Colloquy (182-89). Discussion of archaeology, especially its status as a science, its methods of collection and analysis, its explanatory power—including its limits. Examples from Jarrow, Whitby, Lindisfarne, and St. Augustine’s Abbey.
14: Weak and anomolous verbs; adverbs (46-54). Translate selections from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (212-15). Discussion of the archaeology of towns and villages. Examples of Winchester and West Stow.
21: Word formation (55-60). Translate the story of Cynewulf and Cyneheard from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (208-11). Discussion of early medieval historiography: annals, chronicles, histories, and biographies, especially saints’ lives.
28: Syntax (61-75). Translate Bede’s account of the conversion of King Edwin (217-19). Discussion of Bede’s historiography with special emphasis on the Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum.
Oct 5: Syntax (75-99). Translate Bede’s account of Cædmon (221-25). Discussion of “Bede’s Role in Circulating Legend in the Historia Ecclesiastica.”
12: Syntax (99-108). Translate Riddles a-h (232-35), plus The Ruin (254-55). Discussion of the sources of Anglo-Saxon popular culture: charms (including some medical lore), magic tales, legends—often as found in penitentials, saints’ lives, sermons, and the like.
19: Syntax (108-17). Translate The Wife’s Lament (265-67) and Wulf and Eadwacer (in the 6th ed.). Discussion of the status and roles of women, focussing on the sources in material culture as well as documents.
26: Translate The Wanderer (271-75). Discussion of law as an index to culture. Example of Æthelberht’s Laws (c. 602-3).
Nov 2: Translate Alfred the Great’s Preface to his translation of Gregory’s Cura Pastoralis (204-07). Discussion of Anglo-Saxon learned culture as a blending of Irish and Roman influences. Examples of the Book of Kells and the Lindisfarne Gospels.
9: Translate Ælfric’s Life of St. Edmund (197-203). Discussion of hagiography as a blending of clerical and popular culture. Emphasis on the legend in developing a saint’s cult. Comparison with Sts. Alban, Oswald, Cuthbert, and Æthelthryth.
16: Translate The Dream of the Rood 1-74 (258-61). Discussion of cultural trans-coding as an exercise of cultural power in the early Middle Ages. Comparison with the Frank’s Casket.
23: Thanksgiving.
30: Translate The Dream of the Rood 75-156 (261-63). Anglo-Saxon sculpture. Mainly examples from crosses and churches, though some examples representing cross-cultural mixtures.
Dec 14: Final Examination. Turn in a translation of an Anglo-Saxon prose or poetic work that has not been translated in the seminar. You should provide a text of the work (preferably xeroxed, enlarged) with interlinear glosses. Then provide a translation alongside that glossed text. Finally, you are to write an afterword (4-6 pp.) in which you discuss the problems you encountered in translating the work.