The Lost Literature of Medieval England

R. M. Wilson

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9780429515705
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Storia
• Subtopic: Storia britannica

Originally published in 1952 The Lost Literature of Medieval England provides an account of lost masterpieces of medieval English literature. The book examines the evidence for their existence and pieces together a fuller understanding of the literary traditions of the period. In more specific detail, the book looks at the concept of Christian epics and religious and didactic literature, as well as the drama and the lyrical poetry of the period.

1
HEROIC LEGEND

How much of the heroic poetry of the Germanic peoples has been lost will never be known. In Old English there remains only one complete epic, Beowulf, two fragments, Finnsburg and Waldere, and the short poems Widsith and Deor; from the continent come the Hildebrandslied and the medieval Nibelungenlied, together with the Scandinavian poems of the Elder Edda which were not written down before the thirteenth century. It is certain that these represent only a fraction of the heroic lays known to the Germanic tribes, the earliest references to such literature dating from the period when the Anglo-Saxons were still on the continent. At the beginning of the Christian era Tacitus had commented on the fact that their heroic lays were the only annals of the Germanic peoples, and referred to the ancient songs in which they celebrated their gods Tuisto and his son Mannus;¹ elsewhere he tells how the deeds of Arminius were still remembered in the songs of his people.² Nothing more is heard of such poetry until the fourth century, when the Emperor Julian compared the songs of the barbarians across the Rhine to the croaking of harsh-voiced birds,³ an opinion clearly shared by the fifth-century bishop of Clermont, Sidonius Apollinaris, who complained that he had ‘to bear up under the weight of Germanic words’, and to praise ‘though with a wry face, whatever the Burgundian, with his hair smeared with rancid butter, chooses to sing’.⁴ Similarly, a century later, Venantius Fortunatus, in the introduction to his poems, speaks of the constant buzzing of the harp as it resounds to barbarian lays.¹ This is practically all that is heard of such literature from non-Germanic observers, and it is to be regretted that their scorn prevented them from writing down some of the songs. For further evidence of the popularity of such poetry among the Anglo-Saxons we are dependent on later writers.

¹ J. G. C. Anderson, Cornelii Taciti De Origine et Situ Germanorum (Oxford 1938), p. 6.

² J. Jackson, The Annals of Tacitus (London 1931–7) ii, 518.

³ W. C. Wright, The Works of the Emperor Julian (London 1913–23) ii, 423.

⁴ W. B. Anderson, Sidonius, Poems and Letters (London 1936) i, 212. See also the unknown poet in the Latin Anthology, ed. A. Riese (Leipzig 1894) i, 221:

Inter ‘eils’ goticum ‘scapia matzia ia drincan’ Non audet quisquam dignos edicere versus.

In Anglo-Saxon England there are occasional general references to the old pagan and heroic stories. The whole tenor of Bede’s description of the beginnings of Christian poetry in England suggests that the songs sung at the feast, which Cædmon left when he saw the harp coming near to him, were of this type, and certainly a contrast appears to be intended between these songs and the Christian poetry that Cædmon is said to have composed.² Elsewhere the same author tells how the monks of Jarrow, on the occasion of a visit to St Cuthbert, began to amuse themselves with stories, to the great distress of the saint who exhorted them to prayer, having learned in a vision, as the monks afterwards discovered, that plague had broken out in the north.³ Here again the indication seems to be that it was the old heroic stories with which the monks were entertaining each other. St Guthlac, in his youth, was inspired by songs of the ancient heroes.⁴ Asser tells of Alfred’s fondness for such poetry – including the well-known story of how he received from his mother a book of Old English verse – and it was above all the learning of this poetry that the king recommended to his children.⁵ It may have included the Christian epics of Cædmon or the pious verse of Aldhelm, but references in Alfred’s own works show that he was familiar with the heroes of the pagan period. Again, it was one of the charges brought by his enemies against St Dunstan that he had learned the vain songs of ancestral heathendom,⁶ and the canons of King Edgar forbade monks to sing such songs, even to themselves.⁷

Yet, despite ecclesiastical opposition, there can be no doubt that many of the old heroes were remembered throughout the Old English period. Written versions of some of the poems may perhaps have been known to Alfred, but most of such poetry probably survived only by oral transmission. Exactly what this oral heroic poetry was like we can never know. It could be known today only from written versions, and when these were made sophistication of the older material was inevitable. All that later references can give are vague hints of the heroes whose names and deeds were longest remembered, and occasionally, if we are fortunate, some garbled version of the deeds themselves.

¹ Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Auctores Antiquissimi IV, i, 2.

² C. L. Wrenn, The Poetry of Cædmon (Oxford 1948), p. 10.

³ B. Colgrave, Two Lives of St Cuthbert (Cambridge 1940), p. 247.

⁴ ASS., April., ii, 39ff.

⁵ Asser, pp. 20, 59, 58.

⁶ Memorials of St Dunstan (RS. 63), p. 11.

⁷ B. Thorpe, Ancient Laws and Institutes of England (London 1840) ii, 256.

The Goths were apparently the earliest of the Germanic peoples to leave their northern homes. Their wanderings, and the later glories of the Gothic kingdoms, provided subjects for many heroic lays. It may even be, although there is no real proof of this, that the development of such poetry among the Germanic tribes was to some extent the work of Gothic minstrels. Certainly Jordanes tells of songs about the early wanderings of the Goths,¹ and in later times a surprising number of the characters of heroic poetry were Gothic in origin, even amongst the northern tribes who had long been separated from them. In England one of the best known of these figures was that Eormenric who had established a great Gothic empire stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea. When this was attacked by the Huns Eormenric, according to Ammianus, committed suicide. But Jordanes has a different story; the Rosomoni having revolted against him, Eormenric caused a woman of that people to be torn asunder by wild horses. In consequence he was attacked by her brothers and wounded in the side so that he became sick and infirm. The Huns took advantage of this to move in battle array against the Ostrogoths, and in the midst of these troubles Eormenric died.

References to Eormenric occur in three of the existing examples of Old English heroic poetry, but they are too brief to give much information about the stories connected with him that were known in this country. The author of Widsith,

in the company of the gracious lady Ealhild, from Angel in the East, sought the home of the Gothic king Eormenric, fierce and faithless (5–9).²

¹ C. C. Mierow, The Gothic History of Jordanes (London 1915), p. 62.

² R. W. Chambers, Widsith (Cambridge 1912), p. 189. The introduction to this edition contains by far the best account of those pagan heroes known in this country. See also C. Brady, The Legends of Ermanaric (California U.P. 1943), and K. Malone, Widsith (Copenhagen 1962).

Later references in the same poem (88–92,109–10) are followed by a list of Gothic heroes in the household of Eormenric: Hethca, Beadeca, the Herelings, ‘Emerca and Fridla, and Eastgota, wise and good, the father of Unwen’. Secca and Becca, Seafola and Theodoric, Heathoric and Sifeca, Hlithe and Incgentheow. Chambers and Kemp Malone would identify Ealhild with Swan-hild, the wife of Eormenric in Scandinavian tradition whom he ordered to be torn apart by wild horses, a deed from which sprang all his later misfortunes. However, even if the identification be accepted, the tone of the references here would indicate that this story of her death was unknown to the English poet. The mention of the Herelings and Sifeca as members of the household may suggest that the story, found in the greatest detail in Middle High German tradition, telling how Eormenric caused the death of his nephews, the Harlungs, through the wicked counsel of Sibka, was known also in England. But the deed seems to have been attributed to Eormenric only at a comparatively late date, and there appears to be no particularly close connexion between the various characters in this passage. In Deor (21-6) Eormenric is represented as a great and terrible king, but there is no indication of any particular stories connected with him. On the other hand, the reference in Beowulf (1197-1201) must have to do with some definite story, though the details of it are unknown:

I have heard of no better treasure of heroes under the heavens since Hama carried away to the bright city the necklace of the Brosings, the gem and the setting; he fled the treacherous hatred of Eormenric; he chose everlasting gain.

From this it would appear that Hama had robbed Eormenric of the Brosinga mene and had then fled from the court, or possibly died. There is obviously some connexion between this jewel and the Old Norse Brisinga men - the necklace of Freyja stolen from her by Loki - but it is impossible to discover the exact relationship. Since Eormenric slew the Harlungs for their treasure, it has been suggested that this may have included the Brosinga mene₉ and hence that these lines provide a further reference to the Harlung legend, but there is nothing to support such a conclusion. Hama himself appears elsewhere in heroic legend as the enemy of Eormenric. The account of him in Didriks saga, which tells how he fled the enmity of Eormenric and later entered a monastery taking with him a great treasure, may perhaps be a Christianization of the unknown story referred to in Beowulf.

This is all that the extant literature can tell us about the stories of Eormenric current in this country. On occasion the occurrence, during the later period, of place-names and personal names which can be connected with the characters of heroic legend, has been brought forward as evidence that the legends were still known at the time when the names were given. If such names are of an uncommon type, it is not improbable that the early possessors of them may have been named for one of the heroic characters. But this need not have been the case with later children, and we can never be certain that the parents actually had the legend in mind when they named the child. The continued use of such names may have helped to keep the original legends alive, but we can hardly assume that in every case the name comes from the hero, and therefore that his story is still known and repeated.

So far as Eormenric is concerned, all that is certain is that he was evidently well known in Anglo-Saxon England as a type of fierce and cruel tyrant. It is possible that some version of the Harlung story, known today from Middle High German sources, was in circulation, and there was certainly current some story dealing with Eormenric, Hama, and the Brōsinga mene, of which the details are lost.

The longest remembered of all the evil deeds of the legendary Eormenric was the story of his treachery to his nephew Theo-doric. The latter was certainly well known among the Anglo-Saxons, though whether as the foe of Eormenric is more doubtful. In Widsith (115) he perhaps appears as one of the champions of Eormenric, and if so there is no hint of enmity between the two. The author of Deor knew of some story connected with a certain Theodoric, but whether this was the Ostrogoth or the Frank is uncertain:

Theodoric possessed for thirty years the city of the Mærings; that was known to many (18–19).

Such allusiveness indicates that the story was familiar, and the mention of Eormenric immediately afterwards may be an indication that, if this is Theodoric the Ostrogoth, then the hostility between the two was equally well known. Consequently it may perhaps refer to Theodoric’s legendary thirty years of exile, but nothing is known of any city of the Mærings in connexion with this. A reference to a different story is to be found in Waldere. A speaker, probably Waldere, is referring to a famous sword:

I know that Theodoric thought of sending it to Widia, and also much treasure with the sword, of adorning much beside it with gold. The kinsman of Nithhad, Widia son of Weland, received the reward for past deeds, because he had delivered him from prison. He hastened forth through the realm of the monsters (ii, 4–10).

This is presumably a reference to the story, found in Middle High German, telling how the hero was rescued from the giants of Duke Nitger by Hildebrand, Widia, and Hama. Other references in Old English indicate a familiarity with Theodoric as a hero of legend. The ninth-century Old English Martyrology tells how Theodoric, as an Arian, was cast in torment down the crater of a volcano, and adds ‘that was Theodoricus the king whom we call Theodric’,¹ obviously identifying the heretic king with the hero of vernacular legend. Elsewhere Alfred’s statement, in his translation of Boethius, that ‘this Theodric was an Amuling’,² must be due to the heroic poems of which he was so fond.

There are, then, possible references to two stories extant in Old English concerning Theodoric – his sojourn i...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Original Title Page
• Original Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Abbreviations
• Preface
• 1. Heroic Legend
• 2. Historical Narrative
• 3. Christian Epic
• 4. Old English Prose
• 5. Saints’ Lives
• 6. Romance
• 7. Short Narrative
• 8. Religious and Didactic Literature
• 9. Lyrical Poetry
• 10. Political and Satirical Poetry
• 11. Drama
• 12. Conclusion
• Index