Anglo-Saxon poetry : essays in appreciation : for John C. McGalliard

This volume of previously unpublished essays on Anglo-Saxon poetry has been created in honor of John C. McGalliard on the occasion of his retirement from the University of Iowa after a distinguished career as a scholar-teacher of medieval literatures. As a critical anthology designed to respond to all of the major and most of the minor poems in the Anglo- Saxon canon, this collection will prove valuable to every class in Anglo-Saxon, whether introductory or advanced. The twenty-five essays take up individual problems concerned with the interpretation of specific poems. In offering their solutions to these problems the contributors evince their great love of poetry and their impressive knowledge of Anglo-Saxon scholarship. Preface ix Foreword / JOHN C. GERBER xi Acknowledgments xv Abbreviations xvi SECULAR HEROIC POETRY: "Beowulf" 1. Healfdene’s Daughter / NORMAN E. ELIASON 3 2. Guilt and the World’s Complexity: The Murder of Ongentheow and the Slaying of the Dragon / JOHN GARDNER 14 3. Potlatch and Charity: Notes on the Heroic in "Beowulf" / CHARLES DONAHUE 23 4. Gnomic Indirection in "Beowulf" / ROBERT B. BURLIN 41 5. Hunlafing and the Point of the Sword / LEWIS E. NICHOLSON 50 RELIGIOUS HEROIC POETRY: The Lives of Holy Men and Women 6. "Guthlac A" and "Guthlac B": Some Discriminations / DANIEL G. CALDER 65 7. "Andreas" and "Beowulf": Placing the Hero / DAVID HAMILTON 81 8. Arithmetical Designs of the Old English "Andreas" / ROBERT D. STEVICK 99 9. The Speech of Stephen and the Tone of "Elene" / JAMES DOUBLEDAY 116 10. "Judith": Hypermetricity and Rhetoric / BURTON RAFFEL 124 11. "Judith": A Fragmentary and Political Poem / DAVID CHAMBERLAIN 135 THE LYRIC TRADITION: Secular and Religious 12. Toward a Critique of "The Dream of the Rood" / ALVIN A. LEE 163 13. "The Wanderer", "The Seafarer", and the Genre of "Planctus" / ROSEMARY WOOLF 192 14. Purpose and the "Poetics" of "The Wanderer" and "The Seafarer" / W. F. KLEIN 208 15. A Reading Context for "The Wife’s Lament" / ALAIN RENOIR 224 16. The Enigma of "The Husband’s Message" / MARGARET E. GOLDSMITH 242 17. The Design of the Old English "Deor" / JAMES L. BOREN 264 BIBLICAL NARRATIVE: The Old Testament 18. The Fall of Angels and Man in the Old English "Genesis B" / THOMAS D. HILL 279 19. More Scriptural Echoes in the Old English "Exodus" / JOSEPH B. TRAHERN, JR. 291 THE RUNIC TRADITION: Cynewulf’s Signed Poems 20. The Diction of the Old English "Christ" / ROBERT E. DIAMOND 301 21. The Art of Cynewulf’s Runic Signatures / DOLORES WARWICK FRESE 312 WISDOM LITERATURE: Maxim, Riddle, and Gnome 22. "Maxims II": Gnome and Poem / STANLEY B. GREENFIELD AND RICHARD EVERT 337 23. Artful Ambiguities in the Old English "Book-Moth" Riddle / FRED C. ROBINSON 355 24. Up a Tree: To See "The Fates of Men" / NEIL D. ISAACS 363 25. Widsith’s Journey Through Germanic Tradition / ROBERT P. CREED 376 TABLE OF CONTENTS: Secular Heroic Poetry: Beowulf 1. Norman E. Eliason, "Healfdene's Daughter" 2. John Gardner, "Guilt and the World's Complexity: The Murder of Ongentheow and the Slaying of the Dragon" 3. Charles Donahue, "Potlatch and Charity: Notes on the Heroic in Beowulf " 4. Robert B. Burlin, "Gnomic Indirection in Beowulf " 5. Lewis E. Nicholson, "Hunlafing and the Point of the Sword" Religious Heroic Poetry: The Lives of Holy Men and Women 6. Daniel G. Calder, " Guthlac A and Guthlac B : Some Discriminations" 7. David Hamilton, " Andreas and Beowulf : Placing the Hero" 8. Robert D. Stevick, "Arithmetical Designs of the Old English Andreas " 9. James Doubleday, "The Speech of Stephen and the Tone of Elene " 10. Burton Raffel, " Judith : Hypermetricity and Rhetoric" 11. David Chamberlain, " Judith : A Fragmentary and Political Poem" The Lyric Tradition: Secular and Religious 12. Alvin A. Lee, "Toward a Critique of The Dream of the Rood " 13. Rosemary Woolf, " The Wanderer , The Seafarer , and the Genre of Planctus " 14. W.F. Klein, "Purpose and the 'Poetics' of The Wanderer and The Seafarer " 15. Alain Renoir, "A Reading Context for The Wife's Lament " 16. Margaret E. Goldsmith, "The Enigma of The Husband's Message " 17. James L. Boren, "The Design of the Old English Deor " Biblical Narrative: The Old Testament 18. Thomas D. Hill, "The Fall of Angels and Man in the Old English Genesis B " 19. Joseph B. Trahern, Jr., "More Scriptural Echoes in the Old English Exodus " The Runic Tradition: Cynewulf's Signed Poems 20. Robert E. Diamond, "The Diction of the Old English Christ 21. Dolores Warwick Frese, "The Art of Cynewulf's Runic Signatures" Wisdom Literature: Maxim, Riddle, and Gnome 22. Stanley B. Greenfield and Richard Evert, " Maxims II : Gnome and Poem" 23. Fred C. Robinson, "Artful Ambiguities in the Old English 'Book-Moth' Riddle" 24. Neil D. Isaacs, "Up a Tree: To See The Fates of Men " 25. Robert P. Creed, "Widsith's Journey Through Germanic Tradition"