Unlikeness is us : fourteen from the Exeter book / Christopher Patton.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Patton, Christopher, editor, translator.

Standardized Title:

Exeter book. Selections. English

Language:

English

English, Old (ca. 450-1100)

Subjects (All):

English poetry--Old English, ca. 450-1100--Translations into English.

English poetry--Old English.

English poetry.

Genre:

Translations.

Poetry.

Physical Description:

205 pages ; 21 cm

Place of Publication:

Kentville, Nova Scotia : Gaspereau Press, Printers & Publishers, 2018.

Summary:

"Unlikeness Is Us presents fourteen new translations of Old English poems preserved in the tenth-century Exeter Book, including well-known works like "The Seafarer" and "The Wanderer," as well as others rarely seen in translation. Prioritizing their integrity as poetry, Patton's translations work the Anglo-Saxon alliterative line into a patterned, four-beat contemporary English form, retaining the relentless forward drive of the originals and adhering to sometimes idiosyncratic scribal punctuation. Through his critical introduction, notes and commentary, Patton presents the reader with the complex history of these texts' transcription, translation and interpretation, departing from long-dominant Augustinian premises in favour of an approach that embraces the materiality of text and "a world animate, alarming, marvellous, and weird.""-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction. Orientation points ; Vagrant inquiry

The poems. The swan ; The wold ; The deer ; The ruin ; Wisdom, first take ; Clutter of starlings ; His message ; Her case ; The cuckoo ; Wisdom, second take ; The seafarer ; The earthwalker ; Wisdom, last take ; A bookworm

Commentary & notes

Rhizomatic bibliography.

Notes:

Translation of: Exeter book.

Poems.

Includes bibliographical references.

American Book Awards, Winner, 2019

ISBN:

9781554471751

1554471753

OCLC:

1080217960