E-Book Overview
This is the first edition of "Andreas" for 55 years, also the first to present the Anglo-Saxon, or rather Old English, text with a parallel Modern English poetic translation. The book aim not only to provide both students and scholars with an up-to-date text and introduction and notes, but also to reconfirm the canonical merit of "Andreas" as one of the longest and most important works in Old English literature. The introduction to our text is substantial, re-positioning this poem in respect of nearly six decades' progress in the palaeography, sources and analogues, language, metrics, literary criticism and archaeology of "Andreas". The book argues that the poet was Mercian, that he was making ironic reference to "Beowulf" and that his story of St Andrew converting pagan Mermedonian cannibals was coloured by King Alfred's wars against the Danes (871-9, 885-6, 892-6). "Andreas" is here dated to Alfred's later reign with such analysis of contexts in history and ideology that the author's name is also hypothesized. The Old English text and Modern English translation of Andreas are presented in a split-page format, allowing students at whatever level of familiarity with the Anglo-Saxon vernacular to gain a direct access to the poem in close to its original form. The translation follows the poem's word order and style, allowing modern readers to feel the imagination, ideology and humour of Andreas as closely as possible. The text of the Old English poem is accompanied by a full set of supporting notes, and a glossary representing the translation.
E-Book Content
e x e t e r m e di e va l t e x t s a n d s t u di e s Series Editors: Vincent Gillespie and Richard Dance Founded by M.J. Swanton and later co-edited by Marion Glasscoe Andreas An Edition Richard North and Michael D. J. Bintley LIV ER POOL UNIV ERSIT Y PR ESS First published 2016 by Liverpool University Press 4 Cambridge Street Liverpool L69 7ZU Copyright © 2016 Richard North and Michael D. J. Bintley The right of Richard North and Michael D. J. Bintley to be identified as the editors of this book has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication data A British Library CIP record is available print ISBN 978-1-78138-271-4 epdf ISBN 978-1-78138-370-4 Typeset by Carnegie Book Production, Lancaster Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY For Alexander and for Helen Contents List of Figures List of Abbreviations Foreword Introduction ix xi xiii 1 1 The Poem and its Analogues 1 2 The Manuscript 8 3 Language and Dialect Phonology Vocabulary Linguistic conclusion 26 26 43 46 4 Metre and Prosody 48 5 Poetic Style 57 Poetic allusions to Cynewulf Poetic allusions to Beowulf 6 Mermedonia Boundaries and meeting places Burial mounds Pagan sites and Christian churches Roman spolia and the Mermedonian prison Pathways in Andreas Mermedonia as a Roman city Mermedonia as a WS burh Summary 7 Date and Authorship Anti-Danish animus WS royal patronage 58 62 81 82 84 84 86 89 91 94 96 97 98 103 vii viii Andreas Alfred’s church of St Andrew Alfred’s ‘wealth’ and ‘wisdom’ Note on the Text and Translation 107 109 116 ANDREAS List of Emendations Commentary 211 217 Bibliography Glossary List of Proper Names Index 308 324 370 371 Figures 1 2 3 4 5 6 The lion (or dog) on MS Verc