The Old English Poems of Cynewulf
By: Cynewulf ; edited and translated by Robert E. Bjork
Series: Dumbarton Oaks medieval library ; v 23
Publisher: Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, Harvard University Press
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Cambridge, MA
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 288
ISBN-13: 9780674072633
Description: The Old English poems attributed to Cynewulf, who flourished some time between the eighth and tenth centuries, are unusual because most vernacular poems in this period are anonymous. Other than the name, we have no biographical details of Cynewulf, not even the most basic facts of where or when he lived. Yet the poems themselves attest to a powerfully inventive imagination, deeply learned in Christian doctrine and traditional verse-craft. Runic letters spelling out the name Cynewulf appear in four poems: Christ II (or The Ascension), Juliana, The Fates of the Apostles, and Elene. To these a fifth can be added, Guthlac B, because of similarities in style and vocabulary, but any signature (if one ever existed) has been lost because its ending lines are missing. What characterizes Cynewulf's poetry? He reveals an expert control of structure as shown from the changes he makes to his Latin sources. He has a flair for extended similes and dramatic dialogue. In Christ II, for example, the major events in Christ's life are portrayed as vigorous leaps. In Juliana the force of the saint's rhetoric utterly confounds a demon sent to torment her. - Publisher.
Table of contents: title: Christ II: The Ascension; title: Guthlac B: The death of St. Guthlac of Crowland; title: Juliana: the martyrdom of St. Juliana of Nicomedia; title: The fates of the Apostles; title: Elene: the finding of the true cross; title: Note on the texts; title: Notes to the texts; title: Notes to the translations