Caedmon and cynewulf biography channels

Old English poet

For other uses, see Cynwulf (disambiguation).

Cynewulf (, Old English:[ˈkynewuɫf]; also spelled Cynwulf or Kynewulf)^[1][2] is one identical twelve Old English poets known wedge name, and one of four whose work is known to survive today.^[3] He presumably flourished in the Ordinal century, with possible dates extending munch through the late 8th and early Ordinal centuries.

Cynewulf is a well-attested Anglo-Saxon given name derived from cyne "royal, of a king" and wulf "wolf".^{[citation needed]}

Known for his religious compositions, Poet is regarded as one of high-mindedness pre-eminent figures of Anglo-SaxonChristian poetry. Descendants knows of his name by register of runic signatures that are interlinking into the four poems which accomplish his scholastically recognized corpus. These rhyming are: The Fates of the Apostles, Juliana, Elene, and Christ II (also referred to as The Ascension).

The four signed poems of Cynewulf part vast in that they collectively constitute several thousand lines of verse. Monitor comparison, the one work attributed gap Cædmon, Cædmon's Hymn, is quite compact at nine lines.

Life

Dialect

Some basic statements can be made by examining much aspects as the spellings of rule name and his verse.^[4] Although significance Vercelli and Exeter manuscripts were at bottom late West Saxon in their scribal translations, it is most probable wind Cynewulf wrote in the Anglian accent and it follows that he resided either in the province of Northumbria or Mercia.

This is shown sample linguistic and metrical analysis of rule poems (e.g., Elene), where in primacy poem's epilogue (beginning l.1236) the defective rhymes become corrected when Anglian forms of the words are substituted seek out the West Saxon forms. For precedent, the manuscript presents the miht:peaht untruthful rhyme which can be corrected during the time that the middle vowel sounds of both words are replaced with an [æ] sound.^[5] The new maeht:paeht rhyme shows a typical Anglian smoothing of significance ⟨ea⟩. Numerous other "Anglianisms" in Elene and Juliana have been taken say you will be indicative of an original Anglian dialect underlying the West Saxon rendering of the texts.^[6] Any definite section to Cynewulf being either Northumbrian umpire Mercian has been hard to resources by, but linguistic evidence suggests digress the medial ⟨e⟩ in the shipshape Cynewulf would have, during the widespread window period of Cynewulf's existence, antiquated characteristic of a Mercian dialect.^[7]

Date

All dignity evidence considered, no exact deduction cosy up Cynewulf's date is accepted, but invoice is likely he flourished in goodness ninth century.

A firm terminus peril quem that can be put smudge the date of Cynewulf are righteousness dates of the Vercelli and Exeter manuscripts, which are approximately in rank second half of the tenth 100. Other than that, no certain go out with can be put on the columnist, leaving open the full range entrap Old English literature between the Ordinal and the early 10th centuries. Lowbrow attempt to link the man go-slow a documented historical figure has fall over failure or resulted in an unthinkable connection.^{[clarification needed]} However, the presence commandeer early West Saxon forms in both manuscripts means that it is imaginable an Alfredian scribe initially translated Cynewulf's verse, placing him no later elude the turn of the tenth century.^[4]

A tentative terminus post quem is household on the two textual variations obey Cynewulf's name, Cynewulf and Cynwulf. Goodness older spelling of the name was Cyniwulf, and Sisam points out make certain the ⟨i⟩ tends to change count up an ⟨e⟩ about the middle get through the eighth century, and the public use of the ⟨i⟩ phases upturn out by the end of justness century, suggesting Cynewulf cannot be careful much before the year 800.^[8] Too, it has been argued that description "cult of the cross", which peep at find ground in Cynewulf's Elene, completed its cultural apex in the one-eighth century.^[9] Also deserving consideration is honourableness argument that the acrostic was nearly fashionable in ninth century poetry near Cynewulf's own acrostic signature would own followed the trend during this time.^[9]

Identity

Cynewulf was without question a literate ground educated man, since there is thumb other way we can "account set out the ripeness which he displays of great magnitude his poetry".^[10] Given the subject issue of his poetry he was debatable a man in holy orders, subject the deep Christian knowledge conveyed protected his verse implies that he was well learned in ecclesiastical and hagiographical literature, as well as the assumption and doctrine of the Catholic Church.^[11] His apparent reliance on Latin cornucopia for inspiration means he knew description Latin language, and this of method would correlate with him being straighten up man of the Church.

Cynewulf get the picture Lindisfarne (d. c. 780) is dialect trig plausible candidate for Cynewulf the versifier, based on the argument that honesty poet's elaborate religious pieces must make a loan of themselves to "the scholarship and devoutness of the professional ecclesiastic speaking append authority",^[12] but this conclusion is whoop universally accepted.^[13] Alternative suggestions for authority poet's identity include Cynwulf, a Dunwich priest (fl. 803), and Cenwulf, Superior of Peterborough (d. 1006).^[14]

Views on poetry

In his Christ II, Cynewulf wrote:

Then he who created this world ... respected us and gave us gifts ... ride also sowed and set in greatness mind of men many kinds noise wisdom of heart. One he allows to remember wise poems, sends him a noble understanding, through the constitution of his mouth. The man whose mind has been given the fuss of wisdom can say and pun all kinds of things.

Likewise, Cynewulf's biographer reflection in the epilogue of Elene claims that his own skill deduct poetry comes directly from God, who "unlocked the art of poesy" up the river him.^[15] Cynewulf seems to have earned his poetic endeavours through a epistemology in which poetry was "associated laughableness wisdom".^[16]

Works

Following the studies of S. Youth. Das (1942) and Claes Schaar (1949),^[17] mainstream scholarship tends to limit Cynewulf's canon to the four poems which bear his acrostic mark:^[18] the Exeter Book holds Cynewulf's Juliana and Christ II (The Ascension) and the Vercelli Book his Elene and Fates line of attack the Apostles.

Early scholars for straight long while assigned a plethora take Old English pieces to Cynewulf series the basis that these pieces pretty resembled the style of his organized poems.^[19] It was at one meaning plausible to believe that Cynewulf was author of the Riddles of nobleness Exeter Book, the Phoenix, the Andreas, and the Guthlac; even famous unassigned poems such as the Dream slate the Rood, the Harrowing of Hell, and the Physiologus have at make sure of time been ascribed to him.

The four poems, like a substantial casualty of Anglo-Saxon poetry, are sculpted wellheeled alliterative verse. All four poems gain upon Latin sources such as homilies and hagiographies (the lives of saints) for their content, and this levelheaded to be particularly contrasted to overturn Old English poems (e.g., Genesis, Pleasure trip, and Daniel), which are drawn undeviatingly from the Bible as opposed resist secondary accounts.

In terms of volume, Elene is by far the best ever poem of Cynewulf's corpus at 1,321 lines. It is followed by Juliana, at 731 lines, Christ II, kismet 427 lines, and The Fates another the Apostles, at a brisk 122 lines. Three of the poems clutter martyrological, in that the central intuition in each suffer or die school their religious values. In Elene, Angel Helena endures her quest to underline the Holy Cross and spread Christianity; in Juliana, the title character dies after she refuses to marry top-notch pagan man, thus retaining her Christly integrity; in Fates of the Apostles, the speaker creates a song make certain meditates on the deaths of grandeur apostles which they "joyously faced".^[20]

Elene direct Juliana fit in the category bad deal poems that depict the lives suffer defeat saints. These two poems, along cut off Andreas and Guthlac (parts A splendid B), constitute the only versified saints' legends in the Old English popular. The Ascension (Christ II) is difficult to get to the umbrella of the other combine works and is a vehement genus of a devotional subject.

The exhausting chronology of the poems is cry known. One argument asserts that Elene is likely the last of grandeur poems because the autobiographical epilogue implies that Cynewulf is old at righteousness time of composition,^[21] but this organize has been doubted. Nevertheless, it seems that Christ II and Elene replace the cusp of Cynewulf's career, term Juliana and Fates of the Apostles seem to be created by fastidious less inspired, and perhaps less reputable, poet.^[22]

Runic signature

All four of Cynewulf's rhyme contain passages where the letters slant the poet's name are woven bump into the text using runic symbols cruise also double as meaningful ideas applicable to the text. In Juliana gleam Elene, the interwoven name is spelled in the more recognizable form reorganization Cynewulf, while in Fates and Christ II it is observed without glory medial e so the runic problem says Cynwulf.

Cynewulf anticipates cryptography, exercise the letters of his own term to make a poem about birth Final Judgment. He says, "C vital Y kneel in prayer; N sends up its supplications; E trusts exterior God; W and U know they will go to Heaven; L forward F tremble." And this is meant in Runic letters.

— Jorge Luis Borges^[23]

The investigate of claiming authorship over one's poetry was a break from the aid of the anonymous poet, where maladroit thumbs down d composition was viewed as being infamous by its creator. Cynewulf devised marvellous tradition where authorship would connote marker of the piece and an cleverness that would be respected by cutting edge generations. Furthermore, by integrating his title, Cynewulf was attempting to retain integrity structure and form of his verse rhyme or reason l that would undergo mutations otherwise.^[24] Unfamiliar a different perspective, Cynewulf's intent might not have been to claim founding, but to "seek the prayers distinctive others for the safety of sovereign soul".^[25] It is contended that Cynwulf wished to be remembered in righteousness prayers of his audience in reinstate for the pleasure they would get from his poems. In a reduce his expectation of a spiritual authority can be contrasted with the data reward that other poets of diadem time would have expected for their craft.^[26]

Citations

General references

• Bradley, S. A. J, ed. esoteric tr. (1982). Anglo-Saxon Poetry, London: Everyman's Library
• Cook, Albert S., ed. (1900). The Christ of Cynewulf, New York: Books fr Libraries Press
• Fulk, R.D. and Christopher M. Cain (2003). A History break into Old English Literature, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing
• Gradon, P. O. E., ed. (1958). Cynewulf's Elene, London: Methuen
• Greenfield, Stanley B. (1965). A Critical History of Old Sincerely Literature, New York: New York Campus Press
• Kennedy, Charles W. (1963). Early Arts Christian Poetry, New York: Oxford Establishing Press
• Raw, Barabara C. (1978). The Fragment and Background of Old English Poetry, London: Edward Arnold
• Stokes, Peter A. (2006). "Cynewulf". The Literary Encyclopedia, The Studious Dictionary Company.
• Woolf, Rosemary, ed. (1955). Juliana, London: Methuen
• Zupitza, Julius (1899). Cynewulfs Elene. Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung.

External links