Cædmon's hymn and material culture in the world of Bede : six essays

The essays in this book use the nine-line poem known as "Cædmon's Hymn" as a lens on the world of Bede s Ecclesiastical History. A cowherd who is given a divine gift, Cædmon retells the great narratives of Christian history in the traditional form of Anglo-Saxon verse. An immense amount has been written about this episode, much of it concentrating on the hymn's significance in the history of English literature. Relatively little attention has been paid to what the story of Cædmon and his hymn might tell us about the material as well as the textual culture of Bede's world. The essays in this collection seek to connect "Cædmon's Hymn" to Bede s material world in various ways. Each chapter begins with the hymn and moves from the text to the worlds of scientific thought, settlements and social hierarchy, monastic reform, ordinary things, and others. The connections explored here are a sampling of the material concerns this one text, "Cædmon's Hymn," raises.

The essays in this book use the nine-line poem known as Cædmon’s Hymn as a lens on the world of Bede’s Ecclesiastical History. A cowherd who is given a divine gift, Cædmon retells the great narratives of Christian history in the traditional form of Anglo-Saxon verse. An immense amount has been written about this episode, much of it concentrating on the hymn’s significance in the history of English literature. Relatively little attention, however, has been paid to what the story of Cædmon and his hymn might tell us about the material, as well as the textual, culture of Bede’s world. The essays in this collection seek to connect Cædmon’s Hymn to Bede’s material world in various ways. Each chapter begins with the hymn and moves from the text to the worlds of scientific thought, settlements and social hierarchy, monastic reform, and ordinary things. The connections explored here are a sampling of the material concerns Cædmon’s Hymn raises.

The essays in this book use the nine-line poem known as "Caedmon's Hymn" as a lens on the world of Bede's Ecclesiastical History. A cowherd who is given a divine gift, Caedmon retells the great narratives of Christian history in the traditional form of Anglo-Saxon verse. An immense amount has been written about this episode, much of it concentrating on the hymn's significance in the history of English literature. Relatively little attention has been paid to what the story of Caedmon and his hymn might tell us about the material as well as the textual culture of Bede's world. The essays in this collection seek to connect "Caedmon's Hymn" to Bede's material world in various ways. Each chapter begins with the hymn and moves from the text to the worlds of scientific thought, settlements and social hierarchy, monastic reform, ordinary things, and others. The connections explored here are a sampling of the material concerns this one text, "Caedmon's Hymn," raises. Frontmatter Preface (page 1) Abbreviations (page 13) Material Differences: The Place of Cædmon's Hymn in the History of Anglo-Saxon Vernacular Poetry (Daniel P. O'Donnell, University of Lethbridge, page 15) Literary Contexts: Cædmon's Hymn as a Center of Bede's World (Scott DeGregorio, University of Michigan Dearborn, page 51) Cædmon's Created World and the Monastic Encyclopedia (Faith Wallis, McGill University, page 80) All Created Things: Material Contexts for Bede's Story of Cædmon (Allen J. Frantzen, Loyola University Chicago, page 111) Cædmon's World: Secular and Monastic Lifestyles and Estate Organization in Northern England, A.D. 650-900 (Christopher Loveluck, University of Nottingham, page 150) Changes and Exchanges in Bede's and Cædmon's World (John Hines, University of Cardiff, page 191) Bibliography (page 221) The essays in this book use the nine-line poem known as "Caedmon's Hymn" as a lens on the world of Bede's Ecclesiastical History. Relatively little attention has been paid to what the story of Caedmon and his hymn might tell us about the material as well as the textual culture of Bede's world. The essays in this collection seek to connect "Caedmon's Hymn" to Bede s material world.