The complete Old English poems
By: translated by Craig Williamson ; with an introduction by Tom Shippey
Contributors: Alfred, King of England, 849-899
Series: The Middle Ages series; Middle Ages series
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 1188
ISBN-13: 9780812248470
Copyright date: 2017
Subjects: Epic poetry, English (Old); Riddles, English (Old); Didactic poetry, English (Old); Translations into English; English poetry
Other titles: Container of (expression): Caedmon manuscript. English. (Williamson); Container of (expression): Exeter book. English.; Container of (expression): Vercelli book. English.; Container of (expression): Beowulf. English. (Williamson); Container of (expression): Judith (Anglo-Saxon poem). English. (Williamson)
Description: "From the riddling song of a bawdy onion that moves between kitchen and bedroom to the thrilling account of Beowulf's battle with a treasure-hoarding dragon, from the heart-rending lament of a lone castaway to the embodied speech of the cross upon which Christ was crucified, from the anxiety of Eve, who carries "a sumptuous secret in her hands / And a tempting truth hidden in her heart," to the trust of Noah who builds "a sea-floater, a wave-walking / Ocean-home with rooms for all creatures," the world of the Anglo-Saxon poets is a place of harshness, beauty, and wonder. Now for the first time, the entire Old English poetic corpus--including poems and fragments discovered only within the past fifty years--is rendered into modern strong-stress, alliterative verse in a masterful translation by Craig Williamson. Accompanied by an introduction by noted medievalist Tom Shippey on the literary scope and vision of these timeless poems and Williamson's own introductions to the individual works and his essay on translating Old English poetry, the texts transport us back to the medieval scriptorium or ancient mead-hall, to share a herdsman's recounting of the story of the world's creation or a people's sorrow at the death of a beloved king, to be present at the clash of battle or to puzzle over the sacred and profane answers to riddles posed over a thousand years ago. This is poetry as stunning in its vitality as it is true to its sources. Were Williamson's idiom not so modern, we might think that the Anglo-Saxon poets had taken up the lyre again and begun to sing once more" -- From the publisher.
Notes: Includes the Junius manuscript, Exeter book, Vercelli book, Beowulf and Judith, metrical psalms of Paris Psalter and the meters of Boethius, poems of the Anglo-Saxon chronicle, riddles, charms, and a number of minor additional poems.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: The Junius manuscript; title: The Vercelli book; title: The Exeter book; title: Beowulf and Judith; title: The metrical psalms of the Paris psalter and the meters of Boethius; title: The minor poems; title: Additional poems.