Translated by Daniel G. Calder and Robert E. Bjork (Germanic Texts), Patrick K. Ford (Welsh Texts), Daniel F. Melia (Irish Texts).
The second volume of "Sources and Analogues of Old English Poetry" contains material relating to a wide range of Anglo-Saxon poems, from religious works such as "Genesis" and "Exodus", through the riddles and wisdom poetry, to battle poems and the elegies. The range of original literature translated here is very wide: some of it is relatively well-known, such as the Welsh "Gododdin" or the Norse poems from the "Elder Edda", while other pieces, notably those from Old Irish and the Old Saxon "Genesis", are unfamiliar territory to all but the scholar who can read these languages. This volume and its predecessor of Latin texts together form an invaluable companion to Anglo-Saxon studies, setting Anglo-Saxon poetry in its widest, cultural context and thus presenting it, not as an isolated phenomenon as is sometimes done, but as the crossroads between heathen northern tradition and Christian Latin civilisation.
Author(s): Daniel G. Calder, Robert E. Bjork, Patrick K. Ford, Daniel F. Melia (transl.)
Publisher: D. S. Brewer
Year: 1983
Language: English
Pages: XXIV+222
City: Cambridge
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xxiii
Abbreviations xxiv
I. Genesis 1
A. Germanic Source and Analogue 1
1. OS Genesis 2
B. Celtic Analogue 8
1. OIr Adam and Eve 8
II. Exodus 21
Celtic Analogue 21
1. OIr Exodus 21
III. The Elegies 23
A. General 23
1. Germanic Analogues 23
a. ON The First Lay of Guðrún 24
b. ON The Second Lay of Guðrún 26
c. ON The Third Lay of Guðrún 29
d. ON Brynhildr's Ride to Hel 31
e. ON The Lament of Oddrún 32
f. ON Guðrún's Chain of Woes 35
g. ON Vikarr's Piece 37
h. ON The Song of Hrókr 39
i. ON Hiálmarr's Death Song 41
j. ON Hildibrandr's Death Song 42
k. ON Skaldic Poetry 43
1. Egill Skallagnmsson, The Loss of Sons 43
2-10. Selections 45
1. OHG Memento Mori 48
2. Celtic Analogues 50
a. MW The Sick Man of Aber Cuawg 50
b. MW Song of the Old Man 52
c. MW The Desolate Hearth of Rheged 54
d. MW Cynddylan 54
e. MW The Hall of Cynddylan 56
f. MW The Eagle of Eli 57
g. MW The Eagle of Pengwern 57
h. MW The Praise of Tenby 57
i. MW Appeasement of Urien 59
j. OIr "The rath in front of the oakwood" 60
k. OIr The Fall of Tara 61
l. OIr Créide's Lament for Dinertach 61
m. OIr The Hag of Beare 62
n. OIr Liadan Speaks of Cuirithir 64
B. Deor 65
1. Germanic Analogues 65
a. ON The Lay of Völundr 65
b. CSc The Rök Stone 69
IV. The Gifts of Men 70
Germanic Analogue 70
1. ON The Lay of Hyndla 70
V. Wisdom Poetry 71
A. Germanic Analogues 71
1. ON The Sayings of Hár 71
2. ON The Lay of Grimnir 83
3. ON The Lay of Sigrdrifa 88
B. Celtic Analogues 92
1. MW Gnomes I 92
2. MW Gnomes II 94
3. MW Gnomes III 94
4. MW Snow on the Mountains 95
5. OIr Advice to a Prince 98
VI. Widsith 101
A. Celtic Analogues 101
1. MW The Battle of the Trees 101
2. MW Taliesin's Travels 104
3. OIr Amargein's Song 105
VII. Riddles 106
A. Germanic Analogue 106
1. ON Riddles of Gestumblindi 106
B. Celtic Analogue 112
1. MW The Song of the Wind 112
VIII. Judgment Day Poems 114
A. Germanic Analogues 114
1. ON The Prophecy of the Seeress 114
2. OHG The Last Judgment 119
B. Celtic Analogue 121
1. OIr "Judgment, its destruction will not be small" 121
IX. Saints' Lives 124
A. Germanic Analogues 124
1. OHG The Lay of St. George 124
2. OHG The Lay of St. Peter 126
B. Celtic Analogue 126
1. OIr Fiacc's Hymn 126
X. Battle Poems 130
A. General 130
1. Germanic Analogues 130
a. ON The Lay of Atli 130
b. ON The First Lay of Helgi, Hundingr's Slayer 134
c. ON The Lay of Hamðir 138
d. ON The Battle of Hafrsfjörðr 141
e. ON The Lay of Bjarki 142
f. ON Skaldic Poetry 142
1. Eyvindr Finnsson skaldaspillir, The Lay of Håkon 142
2-11. Selections 144
g. OHG The Lay of Hildebrand 147
2. Celtic Analogues 149
a. MW The Gododdin 149
b. MW In Praise of Urien 153
c. MW The Battle of Gwen Ystrad 154
B. The Battle of Maldon 155
1. Germanic Analogue 155
a. OHG The Lay of Ludwig 155
2. Celtic Analogue 156
a. MW The Battle of Argoed Llwyfain 156
C. The Battle of Brunanburh 157
1. Germanic Analogue 157
a. ON Egill's Saga, Chs. 52-55 157
XI. Rune Poem 166
Germanic Analogues 166
1. ON Rune Poem 166
2. OHG Abecedarium Nordmannicum 167
XII. Solomon and Saturn 168
Germanic Analogue 168
1. ON The Lay of Vafðrúðnir 169
XIII. Caedmon's Hymn 173
A. Germanic Analogue 173
1. OHG Wessobrun Prayer 173
B. Celtic Analogue 174
1. OIr "Let us adore the Lord" 174
XIV. The Metrical Charms 175
A. Germanic Analogues 175
1. ON Skirnir's Journey 175
2. ON The Second Lay of Helgi, Hundingr’s Slayer 176
3. OHG Charms 177
a. The Tobias Lorica 178
b-i. Selections 179
4. CSc Runic Inscriptions 182
a-d. Selections 182
B. Celtic Analogues 184
1. OIr "God be with me against every trouble" 184
2. OIr St. Patrick’s Lorica 185
3. OIr "Lorica II" 186
Bibliography 188
Index of Proper Names 196
Maps 221
