Popular Old English Literature Books

Beowulf by Unknown , Seamus Heaney (Translator) , Francis Barton Gummere

The earliest extant poem in a modern European language, "Beowulf" is an epic that reflects a feudal, newly Christian world of heroes and monsters, blood, victory, and death. This repackaged Signet classic Includes a Glossary of terms.

Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, together with Sellic Spell by Unknown , J.R.R. Tolkien (Translator) , Christopher Tolkien (Editor)

The translation of Beowulf by J.R.R. Tolkien was an early work completed in 1926: he returned to it later to make hasty corrections, but seems never to have considered its publication.Suitable for tablets. Some special characters may not display correctly on older devices.We recommend that you download a sample and check the 'Note to the Reader' page before purchase. This e The translation of Beowulf by J.R.R. Tolkien was an early work completed in 1926: he returned to it later to make hasty corrections, but seems never to have considered its publication.Suitable for tablets. Some special characters may not display correctly on older devices.We recommend that you download a sample and check the 'Note to the Reader' page before purchase. This edition is twofold, for there exists an illuminating commentary on the text of the poem by the translator himself, in the written form of a series of lectures given at Oxford in the 1930s; and from these lectures a substantial selection has been made, to form also a commentary on the translation in this book.From his creative attention to detail in these lectures there arises a sense of the immediacy and clarity of his vision. It is as if he entered into the imagined past: standing beside Beowulf and his men shaking out their mail-shirts as they beached their ship on the coast of Denmark, listening to the rising anger of Beowulf at the taunting of Unferth, or looking up in amazement at Grendel's terrible hand set under the roof of Heorot.But the commentary in this book includes also much from those lectures in which, while always anchored in the text, he expressed his wider perceptions. He looks closely at the dragon that would slay Beowulf 'snuffling in baffled rage and injured greed when he discovers the theft of the cup'; but he rebuts the notion that this is 'a mere treasure story', 'just another dragon tale'. He turns to the lines that tell of the burying of the golden things long ago, and observes that it is 'the feeling for the treasure itself, this sad history' that raises it to another level. 'The whole thing is sombre, tragic, sinister, curiously real. The "treasure" is not just some lucky wealth that will enable the finder to have a good time, or marry the princess. It is laden with history, leading back into the dark heathen ages beyond the memory of song, but not beyond the reach of imagination. 'Sellic Spell, a 'marvellous tale', is a story written by Tolkien suggesting what might have been the form and style of an Old English folk-tale of Beowulf, in which there was no association with the 'historical legends' of the Northern kingdoms.

Imagining the Anglo-Saxon Past: The Search for Anglo-Saxon Paganism and Anglo-Saxon Trial by Jury by Eric Gerald Stanley

E.G. Stanley has an international reputation as a leading Anglo-Saxonist, and his perceptive and original contributions to the field continue to be sought after by Anglo-Saxon scholars. The two topics included in this book are just such studies. `The Search for Anglo-Saxon Paganism' traces an attitude among writers on Anglo-Saxon literature which exalts whatever is primiti E.G. Stanley has an international reputation as a leading Anglo-Saxonist, and his perceptive and original contributions to the field continue to be sought after by Anglo-Saxon scholars. The two topics included in this book are just such studies. `The Search for Anglo-Saxon Paganism' traces an attitude among writers on Anglo-Saxon literature which exalts whatever is primitive and supposedly pagan or crypto-pagan in the surviving Old English texts of the early Christian middle ages, as demonstrated in the work of such luminaries as Jacob Grimm and J.R.R. Tolkien, as well as a swarm of minor figures. Students of Old English literature will find some of their cherished views on individual texts challenged in the process of tracing them to their foundations; but the book has wider implications as a case-history of how scholarly predilection becomes prejudice and orthodoxy. Although written some years ago, the arguments, with some updates and corrections, remain fresh and invigorating. The second part of the book deals with the search for trial by jury among the Anglo-Saxons. Its beginnings have been sought by some in Germanic legal institutions, by others in institutions brought in by King Alfred to whom much that is great and good in the governance of England was ascribed. The author argues that the idealism that characterized advocates of political and legal reform guided them to a few facts about the origin of jury and to many simplifications and errors in which the Anglo-Saxons appeared as shining forerunners. E.G. STANLEY is Professor Emeritus of Anglo-Saxon, University of Oxford.

The Anglo-Saxon World: An Anthology by Kevin Crossley-Holland (Editor, Translator, Introduction)

Beowulf, The Battle of Maldon, The Dream of the Rood, The Wanderer, and The Seafarer, among other surviving Anglo-Saxon poems are included in this book. But, besides this, chronicles, laws and letters, charters and charms are also incorporated in the anthology. Kevin Crossley-Holland places poems and prose in context with his own interpretation of the Anglo-Saxon world, i Beowulf, The Battle of Maldon, The Dream of the Rood, The Wanderer, and The Seafarer, among other surviving Anglo-Saxon poems are included in this book. But, besides this, chronicles, laws and letters, charters and charms are also incorporated in the anthology. Kevin Crossley-Holland places poems and prose in context with his own interpretation of the Anglo-Saxon world, in addition to translate them into modern English.

The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays by J.R.R. Tolkien , Christopher Tolkien (Editor/Introduction)

The seven ‘essays’ by J.R.R. Tolkien assembled in this new paperback edition were with one exception delivered as general lectures on particular occasions; and while they mostly arose out of Tolkien’s work in medieval literature, they are accessible to all. Two of them are concerned with Beowulf, including the well-known lecture whose title is taken for this book, and one The seven ‘essays’ by J.R.R. Tolkien assembled in this new paperback edition were with one exception delivered as general lectures on particular occasions; and while they mostly arose out of Tolkien’s work in medieval literature, they are accessible to all. Two of them are concerned with Beowulf, including the well-known lecture whose title is taken for this book, and one with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, given in the University of Glasgow in 1953. Also included in this volume is the lecture English and Welsh; the Valedictory Address to the University of Oxford in 1959; and a paper on Invented Languages delivered in 1931, with exemplification from poems in the Elvish tongues. Most famous of all is On Fairy-Stories, a discussion of the nature of fairy-tales and fantasy, which gives insight into Tolkien’s approach to the whole genre. The pieces in this collection cover a period of nearly thirty years, beginning six years before the publication of The Hobbit, with a unique ‘academic’ lecture on his invention (calling it A Secret Vice) and concluding with his farewell to professorship, five years after the publication of The Lord of the Rings.

Ecclesiastical History of the English People by Bede , Leo Sherley-Price (Translator) , David Hugh Farmer (Introduction) , Ronald E. Latham (Editor)

Written in AD 731, Bede's work opens with a background sketch of Roman Britain's geography and history. It goes on to tell of the kings and bishops, monks and nuns who helped to develop Anglo-Saxon government and religion during the crucial formative years of the English people. Leo Sherley-Price's translation brings us an accurate and readable version, in modern English, Written in AD 731, Bede's work opens with a background sketch of Roman Britain's geography and history. It goes on to tell of the kings and bishops, monks and nuns who helped to develop Anglo-Saxon government and religion during the crucial formative years of the English people. Leo Sherley-Price's translation brings us an accurate and readable version, in modern English, of a unique historical document. This edition now includes Bede's Letter to Egbert concerning pastoral care in early Anglo-Saxon England, at the heart of which lay Bede's denunciation of the false monasteries; and The Death of Bede, an admirable eye-witness account by Cuthbert, monk and later Abbot of Jarrow, both translated by D.H. Farmer.

Beowulf and the Critics (Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, Vol. 248) by J.R.R. Tolkien , Michael D.C. Drout (Editor)

Tolkien's famous essay was originally a Gollancz Lecture at the British Academy.

The Anglo-Saxon Library by Michael Lapidge

The cardinal role of Anglo-Saxon libraries in the transmission of classical and patristic literature to the later middle ages has long been recognized, for these libraries sustained the researches of those English scholars whose writings determined the curriculum of medieval schools: Aldhelm, Bede, and Alcuin, to name only the best known. Yet this is the first full-length The cardinal role of Anglo-Saxon libraries in the transmission of classical and patristic literature to the later middle ages has long been recognized, for these libraries sustained the researches of those English scholars whose writings determined the curriculum of medieval schools: Aldhelm, Bede, and Alcuin, to name only the best known. Yet this is the first full-length account of the nature and holdings of Anglo-Saxon libraries from the sixth century to the eleventh. The early chapters discuss libraries in antiquity, notably at Alexandria and republican and imperial Rome, and also the Christian libraries of late antiquity which supplied books to Anglo-Saxon England. Because Anglo-Saxon libraries themselves have almost completely vanished, three classes of evidence need to be combined in order to form a detailed impression of their holdings: surviving inventories, surviving manuscripts, and citations of classical and patristic works by Anglo-Saxon authors themselves. After setting out the problems entailed in using such evidence, the book is provided with appendices containing editions of all surviving Anglo-Saxon inventories, lists of all Anglo-Saxon manuscripts exported to continental libraries during the eighth century and then all manuscripts re-imported into England in the tenth, as well as a catalogue of all citations of classical and patristic literature by Anglo-Saxon authors. A comprehensive index, arranged alphabetically by author, combines these various classes of evidence so that the reader can see at a glance what books were known where and by whom in Anglo-Saxon England. The book thus provides, within a single volume, a vast amount of information on the books and learning of the schools which determined the course of medieval literary culture.

An Invitation to Old English and Anglo-Saxon England by Bruce Mitchell

In the six centuries before the Norman Conquest, the Anglo-Saxons set their mark on England: the origins of much that is distinctive in modern English culture may be found in the period, most notably the English language itself. This outstanding book is an introduction to Old English language and literature set within the context of Anglo-Saxon history and society -so arra In the six centuries before the Norman Conquest, the Anglo-Saxons set their mark on England: the origins of much that is distinctive in modern English culture may be found in the period, most notably the English language itself. This outstanding book is an introduction to Old English language and literature set within the context of Anglo-Saxon history and society -so arranged that the one constantly illuminates the other. Parts I, II, and V aim to provide the reader with an understanding of, and in particular the ability to read, Old English. Drawing on over four decades of teaching experience, the author proceeds in clear, manageable steps. He stresses the 'Englishness' of Old English, guides the reader through possible difficulties, and illustrates each point with examples. Part III presents a wide-ranging account of Anglo-Saxon England. A description of the literature is followed by a brief history of the period, made vivid through a series of extracts from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The author draws on the latest archaeological and historical research to describe arts, crafts, and occupations, from weapons, coins, textiles, and jewellery to ship-building, architecture, and sculpture. In his account of town and country life, of warriors, farmers, and entertainers, Bruce Mitchell shows the impact of Christianity on a heroic society, in which both men and women played important roles. This impact created a tension that is frequently apparent in a representative selection of fifty-one prose and verse texts provided in Part IV. Each of the texts is introduced and placed in context, and footnote annotations explain points of difficulty. The book is illustrated with maps, line drawings, and photographs. It has a guide to further reading and full indexes, and concludes with a glossary tailored to meet the needs of those encountering Old English for the first time. The author's aim is to allow the reader both to understand Anglo-Saxon society and to experience the richness of its literature and culture. He will be found to have succeeded.

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare , Paul Werstine (Editor) , Barbara A. Mowat (Editor)

In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare creates a violent world, in which two young people fall in love. It is not simply that their families disapprove; the Montagues and the Capulets are engaged in a blood feud. In this death-filled setting, the movement from love at first sight to the lovers’ final union in death seems almost inevitable. And yet, this play set in an extraordina In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare creates a violent world, in which two young people fall in love. It is not simply that their families disapprove; the Montagues and the Capulets are engaged in a blood feud. In this death-filled setting, the movement from love at first sight to the lovers’ final union in death seems almost inevitable. And yet, this play set in an extraordinary world has become the quintessential story of young love. In part because of its exquisite language, it is easy to respond as if it were about all young lovers. The authoritative edition of Romeo and Juliet from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes: *Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play *Newly revised explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play *Scene-by-scene plot summaries *A key to the play’s famous lines and phrases *An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language *An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play *Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books *An up-to-date annotated guide to further reading

Macbeth by William Shakespeare , Linda Alchin , Antoni Cimolino (Stage Director) , Shelagh O'Brien (Film Director)

In 1603, James VI of Scotland ascended the English throne, becoming James I of England. London was alive with an interest in all things Scottish, and Shakespeare turned to Scottish history for material. He found a spectacle of violence and stories of traitors advised by witches and wizards, echoing James’s belief in a connection between treason and witchcraft. In depicting In 1603, James VI of Scotland ascended the English throne, becoming James I of England. London was alive with an interest in all things Scottish, and Shakespeare turned to Scottish history for material. He found a spectacle of violence and stories of traitors advised by witches and wizards, echoing James’s belief in a connection between treason and witchcraft. In depicting a man who murders to become king, Macbeth teases us with huge questions. Is Macbeth tempted by fate, or by his or his wife’s ambition? Why does their success turn to ashes? Like other plays, Macbeth speaks to each generation. Its story was once seen as that of a hero who commits an evil act and pays an enormous price. Recently, it has been applied to nations that overreach themselves and to modern alienation. The line is blurred between Macbeth’s evil and his opponents’ good, and there are new attitudes toward both witchcraft and gender.

The Anglo Saxon Literature Handbook by Mark C. Amodio

The Anglo-Saxon Literature Handbook presents an accessible introduction to the surviving works of prose and poetry produced in Anglo-Saxon England, from AD 410-1066. Makes Anglo-Saxon literature accessible to modern readers Helps readers to overcome the linguistic, aesthetic and cultural barriers to understanding and appreciating Anglo-Saxon verse and prose Introduces reade The Anglo-Saxon Literature Handbook presents an accessible introduction to the surviving works of prose and poetry produced in Anglo-Saxon England, from AD 410-1066. Makes Anglo-Saxon literature accessible to modern readers Helps readers to overcome the linguistic, aesthetic and cultural barriers to understanding and appreciating Anglo-Saxon verse and prose Introduces readers to the language, politics, and religion of the Anglo-Saxon literary world Presents original readings of such works as Beowulf, The Battle of Maldon, The Wanderer, The Seafarer, and The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

Los lays heroicos y los cantos épicos cortos en inglés antiguo by Antonio Bravo García

Estudio sobre los lays heroicos o cantos épicos cortos anglosajones.

Beowulf and Its Analogues by George Norman Garmonsway , Jacqueline Simpson , Hilda Roderick Ellis Davidson

Beowulf is an Old English epic poem of more than three thousand lines, and is central to all early Germanic literature. Historical events mentioned in the poem belong to the Sixth Century, but recent authorities suggest it was written in the Eighth Century by a Christian poet utilizing older pagan material. In this invaluable reference, a new translation is combined with t Beowulf is an Old English epic poem of more than three thousand lines, and is central to all early Germanic literature. Historical events mentioned in the poem belong to the Sixth Century, but recent authorities suggest it was written in the Eighth Century by a Christian poet utilizing older pagan material. In this invaluable reference, a new translation is combined with the analogues of the poem: documents of many types and dates which preserve traditions about persons mentioned in the poem or that offer parallels to Beowulf's exploits. Heretofore, students have had to search out these analogues in many different books, many inaccessible or untranslated. An illustrated closing chapter assesses the archaeological evidence relating to the period and society of Beowulf.

A Gentle Introduction to Old English by Murray McGillivray