The Cambridge Old English reader / Richard Marsden, School of English Studies, University of Nottingham.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Marsden, Richard, author.

Contributor:

John Louis Haney Fund.

Language:

English

English, Old (ca. 450-1100)

Subjects (All):

English language--Old English, ca. 450-1100--Readers.

English language.

Anglo-Saxons--Literary collections.

Anglo-Saxons.

Anglo-Saxons--Sources.

English language--Old English.

Genre:

English literature -- Old English, ca. 450-1100.

Sources

Literary collections.

Literature.

Readers (Publications)

Sources.

Physical Description:

xxvii, 585 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

Second edition.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, United Kingdom : Cambridge University Press, 2015.

Language Note:

Text in English and Old English.

Summary:

"This reader remains the only major new reader of Old English prose and verse in the past forty years. The second edition has been extensively revised, with the new section, Beginning Old English, for newcomers to Old English, along with a new extract from Beowulf. The 57 individual texts include favourites such as The Battle of Maldon and Sermon of the Wolf, and others not readily available, like an extract from Apollonius of Tyre. There are Modern English glosses for every prose-passage and poem and extensive notes. A succinct reference grammar is appended, along with a guide to pronunciation and grammatical terminology. The glossary lists and analyses all Old English words that occur in the book. Headnotes to each of the six text sections, and to every individual text, establish their literary and historical contexts, illustrating the rich cultural variety of Anglo-Saxon England. This second edition is an accessible and scholarly introduction to Old English"-- Provided by publisher.

"The period of English history which we now call 'Anglo-Saxon' lasted from the mid-fifth century until until the end of the eleventh, when the Normans arrived. Most surviving Anglo-Saxon manuscripts date from the latter part of this period and the many of them are in Latin, but England was unique in early medieval Europe in having a thriving vernacular literature also. This was written in what we now call 'Old English' (OE), to distinguish it from the 'Middle English' stage of the evolving language, which culminated in the works of Chaucer and Malory. The fifty-seven reading texts which make up the major part of this book have been chosen to illustrate the range and variety of OE literature"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Preface to the second edition ; Preface to the first edition; List of abbreviations; Introduction

Beginning Old English

1. Getting started

2. Practice sentences

3. Practice texts

4. Keys to test sentences and texts

5. Beginning poetry

The Texts:

Part I. Teaching and Learning:

1. In the Schoolroom (from 'lfric's Colloquy)

2. A Personal Miscellany (from 'lfwine's Prayerbook)

3. Medicinal Remedies (from Bald's Leechbook)

4. Learning Latin (from 'lfric's Excerptiones de arte grammatica anglice)

5. A New Beginning (Alfred's 'preface' to his translation of Gregory's Cura pastoralis)

6. The Wagonwheel of Fate (from Alfred's translation of Boethius's De consolatione Philosophiae)

Part II. Keeping a Record:

7. Laws of the Anglo-Saxon Kings

8. England under Attack (from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: annals for 981-93, 995-8 and 1002-3)

9. Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People

10. The Battle of Brunanburh

11. The Will of 'lfgifu

12. The Fonthill Letter

Part III. Spreading the Word:

13. After the Flood (from the Old English Hexateuch: Gen 8.6-18 and 9.8-13)

14. The Crucifixion (from the Old English Gospels: Mt 27.11-54)

15. King Alfred's Psalms

16. A Translator's Problems ('lfric's preface to his translation of Genesis)

17. Satan's Challenge (Genesis B, lines 338-441)

18. The Drowning of Pharaoh's Army (Exodus, lines 447-564)

19. Judith

Part IV. Example and Exhortation:

20. Bede's Death Song

21. Two Holy Women

22. A Homily for Easter Sunday (from 'lfric's Sermones catholicae)

23. The Dream of the Rood

24. On False Gods (Wulfstan's De falsis deis)

25. The Sermon of the Wolf (Wulfstan's Sermo Lupi)

26. The Seafarer

Part V. Telling Tales:

27. Falling in Love (from Apollonius of Tyre)

28. The Trees of the Sun and the Moon (from The Letter of Alexander)

29. Cynewulf and Cyneheard (from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: annal for 755)

30. The Battle of Maldon

31. Beowulf

32. The Fight at Finnsburh

Part VI. Reflection and Lament:

33. Truth is Trickiest (Maxims II)

34. The Durham Proverbs

35. Five Anglo-Saxon riddles

36. Deor

37. The Ruin

38. The Wanderer

39. Wulf and Eadwacer

40. The Wife's Lament

Manuscripts and textual emendations

The writing and pronunciation of Old English

Reference grammar of Old English

Glossary

Guide to terms

Index.

Notes:

Includes reference grammar, glossary, bibliographical references, and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the John Louis Haney Fund.

ISBN:

9781107055308

110705530X

9781107641310

1107641314

OCLC:

898717408

Publisher Number:

99995420663