page_title: The Battle of Maldon
section_title: Date of composition
hierarchical_section_title: The Battle of Maldon / Date of composition
caption_attribution_description: Byrhtnoth statue, Maldon. Byrhtnoth, Earl of Essex. hero and loser of the Battle of Maldon in 991. Byrhtnoth was important because, although he lost the battle, he inspired the Saxons to resist the maurading Danes.The statue is cast in bronze and was created by world famous local artist John Doubleday.
context_page_description: "The Battle of Maldon" is the name given to an Old English poem of uncertain date celebrating the real Battle of Maldon of 991, at which an Anglo-Saxon army failed to repulse a Viking raid. Only 325 lines of the poem are extant; both the beginning and the ending are lost.
context_section_description: According to some scholars, the poem must have been written close to the events that it depicts, given the historical concreteness and specificity of the events depicted in the poem. According to Irving, the specific events told with such clarity could only have been composed shortly after the events had taken place, and before legend had been introduced into the poem. While this may seem strange to a modern audience, who are used to “realistic fiction,” this is in fact a fairly strong argument for an early composition date. The lack of legendary elements seems to indicate that this poem was written at a time when witnesses or close descendants of witnesses would have been able to attest to the validity and accuracy of the facts.
  Niles, in his essay “Maldon and Mythopoesis”, also argues for an early composition date. He states that the three direct references to Æthelred the Unready necessitate an early composition date, before Æthelred had achieved his reputation for ineffectiveness. This argument hinges upon Byrhtnoth's, and the poet's, degree of knowledge of Aethelred's ill reputation. If Byrhtnoth had known of Aethelred's nature, would he have been willing to sacrifice himself for an undeserving king, effectively throwing away his own life and those of his men? Niles indicates that this does not appear to be supportable through the actions and statements of Byrhtnoth throughout the poem. Apparently Byrhtnoth did not know of the king's nature, and most likely the poet himself did not know of the king's nature either. If the poet had known, he would likely have mentioned it in an aside, similar to the way he treats the coward Godric when he is first introduced within the poem. 
  Some of these arguments have been rebutted; George Clark, for instance, argues against an early composition date, rebutting Irving, and states that the detail and specificity found in the poem do not necessarily necessitate an early composition date. Clark argues that if one accepts the detail and specificity as indicators that the events were related to the poet by a witness or close descendant, then the presenter or narrator must have either been “one of the cowards or a retainer who missed the battle by legitimate accident and later chatted with one or more of the men who abandoned his lord”. 
  Other arguments against an early date focus on vocabulary and spelling, which, it is argued, suggest that the poem had its origins in the 11th century in western England, rather than from the 10th century in eastern England (where Maldon is located). These arguments are not based upon one or two spellings which may have been transcribed poorly, but rather upon the uniform spelling of specific indicative words in Old English which are often associated with dialectical writing, such as “sunu” and “swurd”. Clark further argues against an early composition date by exposing the contradictory descriptions of Byrhtnoth, both within the poem and against historical record. According to Clark, the poet of Maldon describes Byrhtnoth as an old warrior, but able-bodied (paraphrased); however, later in the poem Byrhtnoth is disarmed easily by a Viking. Clark argues that these two events are conflicting and therefore demonstrate the lack of historical accuracy within the poem. Clark also argues that the poet never mentions the great height of Byrhtnoth, nor does he mention Byrhtnoth “enfeebled by age”, which indicates that the poet was removed from the event, for the historical records show that Byrhtnoth was tall, which the poet would not have left out due to its indicative nature.
caption: Byrhtnoth statue in Maldon, Essex. Hero and loser of the Battle of Maldon in 991
exif: {"Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSC-N2", "Image XResolution": "241", "Image YResolution": "241", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2012:09:13 21:58:45", "Image ExifOffset": "148", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "644", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6609", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/800", "EXIF FNumber": "9", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "160", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Unknown", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:05:03 13:27:42", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:05:03 13:27:42", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "602741/62500", "EXIF ApertureValue": "126797/20000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "9", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}