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V. Caedmon

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Christian theology and old English poetry
This chapter is in the book Christian theology and old English poetry
ν CAEDMON The names Caedmon and Cynewulf are the only two which have come down to us from among the pre-Conquest English poets. In the case of neither man do we have a great deal of dependable information, but we know more about Caedmon than about Cyne-wulf as a result of Bede's recording of the Caedmon story in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People. The major remaining unsolved problem in the work of these poets concerns its religious nature. There is no question as to the religious sources of the material upon which the poems are based. They make use of scrip-tural material, saints' lives, and Christian legend generally. How-ever, some scholars, in spite of the obvious religious nature of the material, still question the presence of religious themes in the poems, themes which both fit them into a meaningful historical, cultural, and literary background and also unify structurally each poem.1 The use of Bible story as subject matter for poetry had been known on the continent for four centuries before such matter appeared in England. Commodian, in the middle of the third cen-tury, had written Carmen Apologeticum, a doctrinal epic poem describing the creation, God's revelation of Himself, the coming of anti-Christ, and the end of the world.2 The similarity of the 1 See, for instance, Ε. E. Wardale, Chapters on Old English Literature, p. 22. ! Described in F. I. E. Raby, A History of Christian-Latin Poetry, 2nd ed. (Oxford, 1953), pp. 13ff; Moses Hadas, A History of Latin Literature (New York, 1952), p. 442; Teuffels* History of Roman Literature, rev. and enlarged by Ludwig Schwabe, trans, by George W. Warr, 2 vols. (London, 1900), Π, 284.

ν CAEDMON The names Caedmon and Cynewulf are the only two which have come down to us from among the pre-Conquest English poets. In the case of neither man do we have a great deal of dependable information, but we know more about Caedmon than about Cyne-wulf as a result of Bede's recording of the Caedmon story in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People. The major remaining unsolved problem in the work of these poets concerns its religious nature. There is no question as to the religious sources of the material upon which the poems are based. They make use of scrip-tural material, saints' lives, and Christian legend generally. How-ever, some scholars, in spite of the obvious religious nature of the material, still question the presence of religious themes in the poems, themes which both fit them into a meaningful historical, cultural, and literary background and also unify structurally each poem.1 The use of Bible story as subject matter for poetry had been known on the continent for four centuries before such matter appeared in England. Commodian, in the middle of the third cen-tury, had written Carmen Apologeticum, a doctrinal epic poem describing the creation, God's revelation of Himself, the coming of anti-Christ, and the end of the world.2 The similarity of the 1 See, for instance, Ε. E. Wardale, Chapters on Old English Literature, p. 22. ! Described in F. I. E. Raby, A History of Christian-Latin Poetry, 2nd ed. (Oxford, 1953), pp. 13ff; Moses Hadas, A History of Latin Literature (New York, 1952), p. 442; Teuffels* History of Roman Literature, rev. and enlarged by Ludwig Schwabe, trans, by George W. Warr, 2 vols. (London, 1900), Π, 284.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter 1
  2. Table Of Contents 7
  3. I. The Background 9
  4. II.The Elegies: An Introduction 48
  5. III. The Wanderer 63
  6. IV. The Seafarer 86
  7. V. Caedmon 110
  8. VI. Cynewulf 141
  9. Bibliography 181
  10. Index 187
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https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111654720-005

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter 1
  2. Table Of Contents 7
  3. I. The Background 9
  4. II.The Elegies: An Introduction 48
  5. III. The Wanderer 63
  6. IV. The Seafarer 86
  7. V. Caedmon 110
  8. VI. Cynewulf 141
  9. Bibliography 181
  10. Index 187
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