Medieval Book Club Preview: Exodus & Daniel

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Anglo-Saxon, Daniel, Exodus, Medieval Book Club, Medieval Poetry, Old English

Welcome to the fourth preview for the 2017 Medieval Book Club. For April we’re going to read a pair of Medieval poems which, as you might guess, are retelling the stories found in the Books of Exodus and Daniel from the Bible. I’m curious to see how true they stay to the source material, and to see where they allow their own culture to seep in and influence the poetic works. Back in February we read Genesis A&B which, while having some diversions from the source material, as a whole stayed pretty true to the content while adding some cultural flavor. You can check out my review on Genesis A&B here, and read on for a short preview of April’s selections:

Titles: Exodus & Daniel

Authors: Unknown, rumored to be Cædmon

Dates of Composition: Unknown, part of the Junius Manuscript which is typically dated around the 10th Century

Links to read for FREE: Exodus & Daniel (https://anglosaxonpoetry.camden.rutgers.edu/exodus/ & https://anglosaxonpoetry.camden.rutgers.edu/daniel/)

Length: Exodus: 590 lines; Daniel: 764 lines

Summary: Exodus:

Exodus is not a paraphrase of the biblical book, but rather a retelling of the story of the Israelites’ Flight from Egypt and the Crossing of the Red Sea in the manner of a “heroic epic”, much like Old English poems Andreas, Judith, or even the non-religious Beowulf. It is one of the densest, most allusive and complex poems in Old English.

Exodus brings a traditional “heroic style” to its biblical subject-matter. Moses is treated as a general, and military imagery pervades the battle scenes. The destruction of the Egyptians in the Red Sea is narrated in much the same way as a formulaic battle scene from other Old English poems, including a ‘Beast of Battle’ motif very common in the poetry.

The main story is suspended at one point to tell the stories of Noah and Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac. Some scholars consider this change of subject a feature of the “epic style” comparable with the similar digressions in Beowulf.

Daniel:

The Old English Daniel is based only loosely on the Biblical Book of Daniel from which it draws its inspiration. Daniel ignores the majority of the apocalyptic and prophetic writing found towards the end of the Biblical source, and focuses instead on the first five chapters of the narrative. The poem also leaves out Daniel being thrown into the lions’ den.

The primary focus of the Old English author was that of The Three Youths, Daniel and their encounters with the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II (OE Nabuchodnossor). The three men and Daniel were about 14 when they were taken away. The three youths are named Ananias, Misael, and Azarias. Daniel is called aethele cnithas, meaning that he was to be trained a servant for the king. Daniel was put into servitude and him and the youths were also probably made eunuchs, the speculation comes because the master of the eunuchs trained the youths in divination, magic, and astrology.

The poet even changed the meaning of the story from remaining faithful while you are being persecuted to a story dealing with pride, which is a very common theme in Old English Literature. The Old English, Daniel is a warning against pride and there are three warnings in the story. The Israelites were conquered because they lost faith in God, who delivered them from Egypt, and started worshiping idols and this is the first prideful act. The second and third warnings are about internal pride, shown to Nebuchadnezzar through Daniel’s dream interpretations.

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Book Review: The Anglo-Saxon World by Michael D.C. Drout

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Anglo-Saxon, Audible, audiobook, Book Review, Medieval Literature, Michael D.C. Drout, Old English, The Anglo-Saxon World, The Modern Scholar

Title: The Anglo-Saxon World

Author: Professor Michael D.C. Drout

Published by: The Modern Scholar (10/19/2009)

Audiobook Time: 7 Hours, 50 Minutes

Blurb: Had the Angles and Saxons not purposefully migrated to the isles of the Britons and brought with them their already-well-developed use of language, Angelina Jolie may never have appeared in the movie Beowulf.

Professor Michael D.C. Drout is at his best when lecturing on the fascinating history, language, and societal adaptations of the Anglo-Saxons. He not only presents their storytelling abilities using their own words; he does so in their own voice – the incredibly melodious Old English.

My Take: Professor Drout’s enthusiasm for the Anglo-Saxon age and, in particular, the language of Old English, is infectious. I was so thankful that this course was an audio recording rather than just a written transcript, because to hear him speak in Old English, and to teach these topics that he is so passionate about, is a wonderful blessing. I may never get the chance to be a student of his at Wheaton College, but I will gladly jump on every opportunity I receive to watch or listen to Professor Drout teach on anything Anglo-Saxon, Old English, or Medieval in general.

This course is broken into fourteen lectures:

1. The Anglo-Saxons and their World
2. Language and Culture
3. The Migration and the Germanic Past
4. The Conversion: The School of Theodore and Hadrian
5. The “Golden Age” and the Venerable Bede: Double Monasteries, Missionaries, Conversion, and the Making of Beautiful Books
6. The Viking Age: Destruction and Revival
7. King Alfred and the Rebuilding: The Rescue and Consolidation of a Kingdom
8. The Years of Reform
9. Anglo-Saxon Literature: Religious
10. Anglo-Saxon Literature: Personal, Wisdom, and Riddles
11. Anglo-Saxon Literature: Epic and Heroic
12. The Norman Conquest and the End of Anglo-Saxon England
13. From the Norman Conquest to the Reformation: The Use of Anglo-Saxon
14. From Thomas Jefferson to Angelina Jolie: The Long Life of Angl0-Saxon

As you can see from the list, this provides a big, sweeping overview of the time period involved as well as the literature of the period and how Anglo-Saxon interest continued after the end of Anglo-Saxon England. There is so much information packed into these eight hours that it will take several times listening to the lectures to fully absorb all of the information. And, ultimately, this serves as nothing more than an entry point into a rich, immense section of history and literature. Drout jokes several times about Beowulf making its way into just about every lecture (and Tolkien in the few that lack Beowulf references) and he could have easily spent those eight hours (and many more) just talking about Beowulf without doing more than scratching the surface of what could be covered. Yet in spite of its many appearances, and a fair dedication to the poem during the eleventh lecture, I found myself wishing there had been more Beowulf. A lecture on Tolkien and Lewis and their work in Anglo-Saxon (and its influences on them) would have been a nice addition toward the end of the series as well.

Yet this is a perfect entry point to the time period and, on a lesser basis, to the types of literature from that period. Drout never missed an opportunity to recite passages of Old English when it could provide some insight to events or a period of the Anglo-Saxon history. And even if you don’t understand the words in the passage, his masterful command of the language makes you want to understand it better rather than a part where you tune out until he gets back to something you can understand.

One of the best gems came early in the series in the form of an acronym to help (roughly) remember the major time periods being covered: MCGVR. And if you look at lectures 3-7, those all tie in nicely with that little acronym and he provides some round numbers for dates to work with that, even if a little inaccurate, helps to narrow down the century in question. I also liked how he chose not to end with the Norman Conquest, nor with coverage of the literature, but rather how Anglo-Saxon and its use has continued up to the present day.

Overall, I cannot help but count this as the best possible use that I could have found for my one free trial credit on Audible. If I had a second free credit, I would not hesitate to spend it on another course by Professor Drout after listening to this one. It will remain active on my tablet for the foreseeable future, and I am in the process of printing off the companion course guide and building a binder to refer back to frequently as I pursue my own study into the Anglo-Saxon age and literature.

Book Review: Drout’s Quick and Easy Old English by Michael D.C. Drout

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Anglo-Saxon, Drout's Quick and Easy Old English, Medieval Literature, Michael D.C. Drout, Old English, Witan Publishing

Title: Drout’s Quick and Easy Old English

Authors: Michael D.C. Drout, Bruce D. Gilchrist, and Rachel Kapelle

Published by: Witan Publishing (9/10/2012)

Pages: 233 (Kindle Edition)

Blurb: Michael DC Drout has now transformed his classic “King Alfred’s Grammar” into a comprehensive guide for learning Old English. Appropriate for students and enthusiasts alike, Drout’s Quick and Easy Old English presents the basics of the language in an accessible form. Even the most novice student can learn to read the classics of medieval literature in their original language with this system. Drout’s Quick and Easy Old English covers:

The history of Old English
Orthography, covering the unfamiliar characters of Old English writing
Pronouncing Old English
Grammar, from nouns and verbs to pronouns and adjectives
Tricks for translation

With the help of Bruce Gilchrist and Rachel Kapelle, Drout provides exercises to reinforce the lessons. After years of testing in classrooms and online, these exercises have been thoroughly vetted for accuracy by scholars around the world, and have guided countless students through their first lessons in Old English.

My Take: For the price of this book, a person can take their first steps into reading and translating in Old English. Honestly, the best thing about this book is that price, and that is not intended to discredit the content. For less than the price of a Starbucks a person can download this book and work through it before making larger investments in Old English literature.

The progression through the pronunciation and grammar are not unique to this book, but they did move through the material in a quick and efficient manner. Many chapters end with some vocabulary words, followed by some sentences to translate and then a prose passage. The choice of using prose, rather than poetry, for the translation practice is an excellent decision as most Old English readers and translators would agree that prose is typically easier to read and translate. While the desire might be to jump right into passages of Beowulf, that could lead to frustrating moments of translation.

One of my favorite chapters came near the end, covering the tricks for translation. With the background that Drout has in Old English, these are tips that a beginning student or scholar would want to pay attention to. My command of reading and translating Old English has grown over the course of the book, which is exactly what I hoped for with this book. I plan to not only revisit this book again, but I am also printing out the vocabulary and exercises from Drout’s King Alfred’s Grammar website so I can complete these again to serve as a refresher before moving into another book of Old English.

I cannot recommend this book enough for students and scholars of Old English, Medieval Literature, or the Anglo-Saxon culture. With a little work and practice, you could gain enough of an understanding to be able to read and translate a wealth of wonderful texts from this time period.

Scholarly Saturday: Beowulf

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Anglo-Saxon, Beowulf, J.R.R. Tolkien, Old English, Poetry Month, The Wanderer

Welcome to another edition of Scholarly Saturdays. Each Saturday in April I am covering a major poetic work that I highly recommend reading, along with a shorter work to read and enjoy that has some sort of connection to the longer poem. Sometimes the connection is based on time period, like today’s shorter poem. Other times it is connected by subject matter, like last week’s shorter poem. Here are the three major poems I have covered so far in April:

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti
Paradise Lost by John Milton

And this week we will be discussing what is perhaps my favorite of the five works getting covered in April: Beowulf. There is a lot to love about this poem, which has monsters and a dragon and three epic battles. This is the longest poem that was composed in Old English and is comprised of three acts: Beowulf versus Grendel, Beowulf versus Grendel’s Mother, and Beowulf versus the Dragon. Beowulf is a Geat and comes to the aid of the Danish kingdom to help them ward off the monster Grendel. The first two acts take place around the same time among the Danes, whereas the Dragon encounter occurs 50 years later after Beowulf has become the king of the Geats.

Beowulf was a work that J.R.R. Tolkien taught frequently throughout his career. He was famous for coming into the classroom reciting the first 50 lines of the poem from memory in Old English (While it isn’t Tolkien, this is a good video of the opening lines in Old English). He wrote two fantastic essays on this work, one of which was highly influential on the way Beowulf was studied and still holds sway to this day for scholars of this work. Tolkien knew this poem extremely well and had outstanding notes and lectures on this work. While the translation released recently was never intended by Tolkien to be published – I firmly believe he would have published a poetic translation rather than a prose one – the notes and commentaries within that book make it worth the investment to anyone with an interest in this poem.

Perhaps the most beloved of translations is the one by Seamus Heaney, which is the translation that I will be using for this short excerpt from the poem where Grendel is approaching Hrothgar at night, not knowing that Beowulf is there waiting for him:

Then out of the night
Came the shadow-stalker, stealthy and swift;
The hall-guards were slack, asleep at their posts,
All except one; it was widely understood
That as long as God disallowed it,
The fiend could not bear them to his shadow-bourne.
One man, however, was in a fighting mood,
Awake and on edge, spoiling for action.
In off the moors, down through the mist bands
God-cursed Grendel came greedily loping.
The bane of the race of men roamed forth,
Hunting for a prey in the high hall.
Under the cloud-murk he moved toward it
Until it shone above him, a sheer keep
Of fortified gold. Nor was that the first time
He had scouted the grounds of Hrothar’s dwelling—
Although never in his life, before or since,
Did he find harder fortune for hall-defenders.
Spurned and joyless, he journeyed on ahead
And arrived at the bawn. The iron-braced door
turned on its hinge when his hands touched it.
Then his rage boiled over, he ripped open
the mouth of the building, maddening for blood,
pacing the length of the patterned floor
with his loathsome tread, while a baleful light,
flame more than light, flared from his eyes.

There are many excellent translations out there to read this poem in full. And for those who don’t think they are ready to tackle the full poem, there is a wonderful website, Beowulf for Beginners, that might be a great entry point to appreciating this poetic work.

The shorter poem being shared today, in the spirit of Beowulf, is an Anglo-Saxon poem titled “The Wanderer”. It is believed to be about a warrior who gets rendered unconscious during a battle in which his chief dies, and this is him recounting his plight later in life. It is a short poem, just over 100 lines long, but an enjoyable delving into the Medieval poetry.

Read “The Wanderer” here.

For those bold enough, you can also listen to it in its Old English form.

Have you read Beowulf before? Was it assigned reading for a class or merely for pleasure? What are your thoughts on “The Wanderer”?

Tolkien on Translation

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Beowulf, J.R.R. Tolkien, Medieval Literature, Middle English, Old English, Translation

Yesterday we celebrated the works of J.R.R. Tolkien with a Tolkien Reading Day, so it is only fitting that today, for Scholarly Saturday, the post concerns Tolkien. This turned out to be a coincidental scheduling, as I did not remember the Tolkien Reading Day until Thursday, but it was a fun day. I helped run a chat throughout the day on Twitter, and you can search through the #TolkienChat entries to see what we discussed and chime in with your own thoughts on the books, movies, soundtrack, and more.

There are many excellent works of literature out there to read, and understanding how translation affects your experience with a text is essential to getting the most out of anything that was written in a different language. Tolkien was a linguist and a Medievalist. He devoted himself to reading texts like Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, and many others. He formed a group known as Kolbitars (Coal biters) that would sit by a fire at night and read their own impromptu translations of Icelandic Sagas. He developed his own languages throughout his works, the most popular being the Quenya and Sindarin (both of them a form of Elvish) languages. He understood the importance of translation and wrote about it at some length.

In his essay, “On Translating Beowulf” (originally published as “Prefatory Remarks on Prose Translation of Beowulf“), Tolkien writes that, “No defence is usually offered for translating Beowulf. Yet the . . . publishing of a modern English rendering needs defence: especially the presentation of a translation into plain prose of what is in fact a poem, a work of skilled and close-wrought metre” (Tolkien, ix). In other words, the translator fails to defend their reasoning for providing this new and different translation of Beowulf to the world (when there are already many good translations to be had), and felt that those who translated the poem into prose especially needed to provide a strong defense for their decision. A poem loses something when it becomes a prosaic story, yet the ironic thing is Tolkien’s own translation of Beowulf was in prose form. Granted, he never anticipated this translation being published and, if he had, I imagine he would have either done a poetic translation or else offered a suitable defense for his decision to translate it into prose. For, as Tolkien himself stated regarding a prose translation of Beowulf, “The proper purpose of a prose translation is to provide an aid to study” (Tolkien, x) rather than one to read and study on its own. A prose translation was to function as a supplement to a poetic translation, or the text in its original form.

Tolkien also weighed in regarding the choice of using modern words or the words that would have been fitting for the time period of composition. Tolkien believed, “if you wish to translate, not re-write, Beowulf, your language must be literary and traditional: not because it is now a long while since the poem was made, or because it speaks of things that have since become ancient, but because the diction of Beowulf was poetical, archaic . . . in the day that the poem was made” (Tolkien, xvii). So he was firmly entrenched in the camp that believed using older terms, fitting for the time period, was the way to go rather than pandering to the modern crowd’s choice of vocabulary. This is something you can see not only in his translation work, but also seeping through all of his writing. Even children’s tales, such as Roverandom, use words that fit the story rather than ones that fit the audience. Yet while Tolkien was a proponent for a traditional translation, he also cautioned that “words should not be used merely because they are ‘old’ or obsolete. The words chosen . . . must be words that remain in literary use, especially in the use of verse, among educated people” (Tolkien, xix), which is why you won’t see thees and thous and other completely outdated stylistic language in his work.

This is only scratching the surface on Tolkien’s thoughts regarding translation. I highly recommend getting a copy of The Monsters and the Critics, which has his essay “On Translating Beowulf” in full along with six other worthwhile essays/lectures from Tolkien.

When it comes to translations, here is a list of the works he translated and had published:

Beowulf
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Pearl
Sir Orfeo
Ancrene Wisse
The Old English ‘Exodus’
Finn and Hengest: The Fragment and the Episode

Works Cited

Tolkien, J.R.R. “Prefatory Remarks on Prose Translation of Beowulf.” In Beowulf and the 

          Finnesburg Fragment: A Translation into Modern English Prose. Tr. John R. Clark Hall.

Ed. C.I. Wrenn. London: Allen & Unwin, 1950: ix-xxvii. Print.