Early Medieval Literature

Students preparing to take the comprehensive examination in early medieval literature should be familiar not only with the breadth of the primary texts listed below, but also with the major interpretive, critical, and historical issues concerning these texts.  Students should also be aware that the breadth of secondary work on these literary works is substantial and, therefore, students should consult with Dr. Jana Schulman as this list does not include critical works on individual literary texts.

Old English:    There are many different editions, collections, and translations of Old English poetry, fewer for prose. S.A.J. Bradley has translated much, if not all of the poetry, in Anglo-Saxon Poetry. For those who have studied Old English, I recommend Richard Marsden's Cambridge Old English Reader, which has a good selection of texts in Old English, with glossed words in the margins.  Ælfric's Lives of Saints, with Old English and a facing page translation, can be found in Walter Skeat's edition, Ælfric's Lives of Saints. London; New York: Published for the Early English Text Society by Oxford University Press, 1966. There is also an Old English and facing page translation of The Old English version of Bede’s Ecclesiastical history of the English people. Ed. with a translation and introduction by Thomas Miller. London; New York: Published for the Early English Text Society by the Oxford University Press, 1997.

Old English Poetry:

• Beowulf
• Battle of Maldon
• Battle of Brunanburh
• Judith
• Dream of the Rood
• The Wanderer
• The Seafarer
• Cædmon's Hymn
• The Wife's Lament
• Deor
• Riddles (selection)
• Maxims I and II
• Juliana

Old English Prose:

• Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People
• Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: Entries for 755-924; 933-946; 978-1017; 1066
• Alfred, Preface to Gregory's Pastoral Care; Preface to Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy
• Ælfric, "Preface to Genesis"; from the Lives of Saints: Life of St. Æ›el›ryth, Edmund, Oswald, Swy›un, Eugenia, and Eufrasia
• Apollonius of Tyre
• Selections from the Vercelli and Blickling Homilies
• Selections from the Laws of the Earliest English Kings.  Ed. F.L. Attenborough.
• Wulfstan, Sermo Lupi ad Anglos

Old Norse: There are several translations of the Poetic Edda.  The latest is by Carolyn Larrington; two others are by Patricia Terry, Poems of the Elder Edda, and by Lee Hollander, The Poetic Edda.  The best translation of the Prose Edda is the one by Anthony Faulkes, Edda.  The sagas exist in many and varied translations.

Old Norse Poetry:

• From the Poetic Edda: Poems of Heroes:
• "Atlakvi›a"
• "Atlamál"
• "Brot of Sigur›arkvi›a"
• "Fafnismál"
• "Grimnismál"
• "Gripisspá"
• "Gu›runarhvöt"
• "Gu›runarkvi›ur I-III"
• "Helgakvi›a I-II"
• "Helrei› Brynhildar"
• "Reginsmál"
• "Sigrdrifumál"
• "Sigu›arkvi›a in skamma"

• From the Poetic Edda: Mythological Poems:
• "Völuspá"
• "firymskvi›a"
• "Hávamál"
• "Lokasenna"
• "Rigsflula"
• "Skírnismál"
• "Völundarkvi›a"

 

• Dróttkvætt (skaldic) poetry:
• Selections from Roberta Frank, Old Norse Court Poetry, The Drottkvætt Stanza

Old Norse Prose:

• The Prose Edda

• Íslendingasögur (Family Sagas):
  • Njáls saga
  • Laxdæla saga
  • Hrafnkels saga
  • Egils saga
  • Kormaks saga
  • Gunnlaugs saga Ormstungu
  • Gisli saga
  • Grettis saga

• Fornaldarsögur (Sagas of Ancient Times):
  • Volsunga saga
  • Hrolfs saga kraka
  • Gautreks saga
  • Hrolf Gautrekssonar saga

 

• Riddarasögur (Romances/Translations of Continental Romances):

• Strengleikar (Lais of Marie de France)
• Tristams saga
• Erex saga
• Bevers saga
• Viglundar saga

 

• Konungasögur (Kings' sagas):
  • King Harald's saga
  • Selections from Snorri's Heimskringla

   

Continental Medieval Literature:

Lais of Marie de France
Song of Roland
Roman de Silence

Poema de Mió Cid

Hildebrandtslied
The Heliand
Nibelungenlied
Gottfried von Straussburg, Tristan

Hrotsvit of Gandersheim, Dulcitius, Pelagius, Abraham, Calimachus

Recommended Secondary Works:

This list, which has some titles that duplicate each other in terms of content, is designed to provide historical and literary overviews of Anglo-Saxon England, medieval Iceland, Germany, and France.  All other secondary, theoretical, and critical readings will be determined in consultation with Dr. Jana Schulman .

• Blair, Peter Hunter.  Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England. (history)
• Bostock, J. Knight. A Handbook on Old High German Literature.
• Gibbs, Marion. Medieval German Literature: A Companion.
• Godden, Malcolm.  Cambridge Companion to Old English Literature.
• Greenfield, Stanley and Daniel Calder.  New History of Old English Literature.
• Jóhannesson, Jón. A History of the Old Icelandic Commonwealth. (history)
• Murdoch, Brian, ed. German Literature of the Early Middle Ages
• O'Donoghue, Heather. Old Norse-Icelandic Literature.  A Short Introduction.
• Raw, Barbara C.  The Art and Background of Old English Poetry.
• Stenton, Frank.  Anglo-Saxon England. (history)
• Whitelock, Dorothy.  Beginnings of English Society (history and literature)
• Muir, Lynette R. Literature and Society in Medieval France:  the Mirror and the Image,
• 1100-1500.
• Wilson, Katharina.  Hrotsvit of Gandersheim.  A Florilegium of her Works.