The Cambridge Companion to Old English Literature
作者: Malcolm
出版社:Cambridge University Press 1991年07月
简介:
This book introduces students to the literature of Anglo-SaxonEngland, the period from 600–1066, in a collection of fifteenspecially commissioned essays. The Companion is aimed at studentsencountering Old English literature for the first time, who requireclear guidance and orientation in an unfamiliar field. The firstchapters describe briefly the political, social and ecclesiasticalhistory of the period and how poetry and prose developed andflourished. A succinct account of Old English language providesbeginners with a guide to grammar, syntax and vocabulary.Subsequent chapters explore such topics as Germanic legend andheroic ideals, paganism and fatalism, the cult of saints andresponses to the Bible. Important prose texts, such as those byBede, Alfred, Aelfric and Wulfstan, are covered under thesethematic headings. Poems such as The Battle of Maldon, TheWanderer, The Seafarer and The Dream of the Rood, are discussed indetail, but in association with related texts, in prose as well aspoetry. A separate chapter is devoted to Beowulf, but aspects ofthe poem are also discussed in other chapters. Finally abibliography lists essential editions, reference works and criticalstudies.