The Dating of Beowulf

Description

The date of "Beowulf," debated for almost a century, is a small question with large consequences. Does the poem provide us with an accurate if idealized view of early Germanic culture? Or is it rather a creature of nostalgia and imagination, born of the desire of a later age to create for itself a glorious past? If we cannot decide when, between the 5th and 11th centuries, the poem was composed, we cannot distinguish what elements in "Beowulf" belong properly to the history of material culture, to the history of myth and legend, to political history, or to the development of the English literary imagination. This book represents both individual and concerted attempts to deal with this important question, and presents one of the most important inconclusions in the study of Old English. The contributors raise so many doubts, turn up so much new and disturbing information, dismantle so many long-accepted scholarly constructs that "Beowulf" studies will never be the same: henceforth every discussion of the poem and its period will begin with reference to this volume. EDITOR'S PREFACE vii ABBREVIATIONS viii THE DATING OF "BEOWULF" 1 Opinions on the Date of "Beowulf," 1815-1980 / COLIN CHASE 3 The Eleventh-Century Origin of "Beowulf" and the "Beowulf" Manuscript / KEVIN S. KIERNAN 9 The Nowell Codex and the Poem of "Beowulf" / LEONARD E. BOYLE 23 A Reconsideration of the Language of "Beowulf" / ANGUS CAMERON, ASHLEY CRANDELL AMOS, and GREGORY WAITE, with the assistance of SHARON BUTLER and ANTONETTE DIPAOLO HEALEY 33 Metrical Style as Evidence for the Date of "Beowulf" / THOMAS CABLE 77 'Hetware' and 'Hugas': Datable Anachronisms in "Beowulf" / WALTER GOFFART 83 "Beowulf," the Danish Invasions, and Royal Genealogy / ALEXANDER CALLANDER MURRAY 101 The Audience of "Beowulf" and the Vikings / R. I. PAGE 113 Skaldic Verse and the Date of "Beowulf" / ROBERTA FRANK 123 Variation in "Beowulf" and the Poetic "Edda": A Chronological Experiment / RORY MCTURK 141 Saints' Lives, Royal Lives, and the Date of "Beowulf" / COLIN CHASE 161 Style as the Criterion for Dating the Composition of "Beowulf" / PETER CLEMOES 173 On the Date of Composition of "Beowulf" / JOHN C. POPE 187 The Date of "Beowulf": Some Doubts and No Conclusions / E. G. STANLEY 197 AFTERWORD: The Uses of Uncertainty: On the Dating of "Beowulf" / NICHOLAS HOWE 213 INDEX 221