Pride and Prodigies: Studies in the Monsters of the Beowulf Manuscript 9781442657090

Table of contents :
CONTENTS
Preface to the Revised Edition
Preface
Abbreviations
I The Beowulf-Manuscript
II Psychology and Physicality: the Monsters of Beowulf
III The Kin of Cain
IV The Liber monstrorum
V The Alexander-Legend in Anglo-Saxon England
VI Grettir and Grendel Again
Postscript
Appendices: Texts, Translations, and Sources
Introduction
I.a The Wonders of the East: Latin Text
I.b The Wonders of the East: Old English Text
I.c The Wonders of the East: Translation
II.a The Letter of Alexander to Aristotle: Latin Text
II.b The Letter of Alexander to Aristotle: Old English Text
II.e The Letter of Alexander to Aristotle: Translation
III.a Liber monstrorum: Latin Text
III.b Liber monstrorum: Translation
III.c Liber monstrorum: Sources and Analogues
Bibliography
General Index

Citation preview

Pride and Prodigies Studies in the Monsters of the Beowulf-Manuscript 'Then there came from the moor, under the misty slopes, Grendel approaching: he bore the wrath of God. * Monsters and the monstrous, whether from the remote pagan past or the new world of Christian Latin learning, haunted the Anglo-Saxon imagination in a variety of ways. In this series of detailed studies, Andy Orchard demonstrates the changing range of Anglo-Saxon attitudes towards the monstrous by reconsidering the monsters of Beowulf against the background of early medieval and patristic teratology and with reference to specific Anglo-Saxon texts. The immediate manuscript context of the monsters in Beowulf is analysed, shedding light on the poet's treatment of the theme of the monstrous and its integration into his work, and a series of parallel discussions consider a range of medieval treatments of the same theme in a variety of analogous texts (all provided with translation) in Latin, Old English, Middle Irish, and Old Icelandic. The twin themes of pride and prodigies are suggested by tracing changing attitudes towards the concept of pride and establishing a close link between the proud pagan warriors depicted in Christian tradition and the monsters they fight, and with whom they become increasingly identified. An appendix contains new editions and translations (some for the first time in English) of the Liber Monstrorum, The Letter of Alexander to Aristotle^ and The Wonders of the East. ANDY ORCHARD is the Associate Director of the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto.

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PRIDE AND PRODIGIES Studies in the Monsters of the Beowulf-Manuscript

ANDY ORCHARD

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS Toronto Buffalo London

€> Andy Orchard 1995 Paperback edition published by University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2003 Toronto Buffalo London First published by D.S. Brewer, Cambridge 1985 ISBN 0-8020-8583-0

Printed on acid-free paper National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Orchard, Andy Pride and prodigies : studies in the monsters of the Beowulfmanuscript / Andy Orchard. First ed. published: Cambridge; Rochester, NY : D.S. Brewer, 1995. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8020-8583-0 1. Beowulf. 2. Beowulf - Manuscripts. 3. Monsters in literature. 4. Heroes in literature. 5. Pride in literature. I. Title. PR1587.M65O73 2003

829.3

C2002-905864-3

University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support for its publishing activities of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP).

CONTENTS Preface to the Revised Edition Preface Abbreviations I II III IV V VI Appendices: la Ib Ic Ha lib He Ilia Illb IIIc

The Beowulf-Manuscript Psychology and Physicality: the Monsters of Beowulf The Kin of Cain The Liber monstrorum The Alexander-Legend in Anglo-Saxon England Grettir and Grendel Again Postscript Texts, Translations, and Sources The Wonders of the East: Latin Text The Wonders of the East: Old English Text The Wonders of the East: Translation The Letter of Alexander to Aristotle: Latin Text The Letter of Alexander to Aristotle: Old English Text The Letter of Alexander to Aristotle: Translation Liber monstrorum: Latin Text Liber monstrorum: Translation Liber monstrorum: Sources and Analogues

Bibliography General Index

vii ix xi

1 28 58 86

116 140

169 173 175 183 185 204 224 225

254 255 318 321 343

FOR MY MOTHER AND FATHER

PREFACE TO THE REVISED EDITION Eight years have passed since this book first appeared, and of course much has changed. In presenting this revised edition, I have attempted to correct as many literal errors as I have detected, and I am thankful to those reviewers who helped steer me in the right direction. I am especially grateful to David McDougall of the Dictionary of Old English for his detailed help in this regard, and to Michael Fox and Samantha Zacher for their assistance. Doubtless, errors still remain: the faults still remain mine. There has, of course, been much work done on Beowulf and the other texts mentioned here in the intervening period, and it may be helpful to signal just a few relevant works. The most important new tool available is undoubtedly the Electronic Beowulf * ed. Kevin S. Kiernan et al., 2 CDs (London, 2000), which has made the Beowulf-manuscript accessible to many. Other monographs that have focused on aspects of the texts and monsters mentioned here include Christine Rauer, Beowulf and the Dragon: Parallels and Analogues (Cambridge, 2000), and Magnus Fjalldal, The Long Arm of Coincidence: The Frustrated Connection between 'Beowulf and 'Grettis saga' (Toronto, 1998). An indispensible guide to recent Beowulf scholarship is likewise provided by Robert E. Bjork and John D. Niles, eds, A "Beowulf" Handbook (Lincoln, NE, 1997). I am happy to say that my own view of Beowulf has developed considerably over the years: more recent expressions of my opinions on matters relating to the theme of this book are to be found in The Sources and Meaning of the Liber monstrorum, in / 'monstra3 neWinferno Dantesco: Tradizione e Simbologie, Atti del XXXIII Convegno storico internazionale, Todi, 13-16 ottobre 1996, ed. E. Menesto (Spoleto, 1997), pp. 73-105, and in^l Critical Companion to 'Beowulf (Cambridge, 2003). My father died before the first edition of this book appeared, but my deep debt to him and to my mother, like the dedication, remains. Andy Orchard July 2002 Centre for Medieval Studies, Toronto

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PREFACE The six studies in this book seek to consider the motivation and background to the compilation of the Beowulf-manuscript, and in particular to address the question of the precise role and meaning both of the ancient monsters who stalk through the sources and of the heroes who battle against them. All five of the texts contained in that manuscript, namely Judith, The Passion of Saint Christopher, The Wonders of the East, The Letter of Alexander to Aristotle, and Beounilfitsdf, are examined in turn for the ways in which contrasting worlds and cultures, Latin and Germanic, Christian and secular, classical and biblical, are combined and reconciled in a manner so characteristic of the literature of Anglo-Saxon England. In addition, two other sources, the so-called Liber monstrorum and the Icelandic Grettis saga, both of which have an established and important place in Beotvulf-studies, are considered in detail for the further clues they offer to the twin themes of pride and prodigies which, I suggest, unite the texts. In order to facilitate reference and (I hope) to stimulate further study I have provided plain texts and translations of three of the less accessible sources, namely The Wonders of the East, Alexander's Letter to Aristotle, and the Liber monstrorum', but it goes without saying that Beountlf, the centre of the study, remains the impetus and inspiration for all that follows here. In such a broadly-based discussion, where I have had to consult a wide range of sources in areas which are the proper preserve of other disciplines, I have made enquiries of many friends. Particular thanks are due to Margaret Bridges, Peter Clemoes, Ali Dale, Morgan Dickson, Matthew Driscoll, David Dumville, Michael Lapidge, Sean Miller, Sam Newton, and Erich Poppe. The errors are not theirs. The dedication reflects a deeper and more long-standing debt: a book is poor payment for thirty years of love and life, but this one is meant for my mum and my dad. Andy Orchard July 1994 Emmanuel College, Cambridge

ix

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ABBREVIATIONS ASPR CCSL CLA CSASE CSEL EEMF EETS OS NS SS MGH AA PLAC PG PL

Anglo-Saxon Poetic Records, ed. G. P. Krapp and E. V. K. Dobbie Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina E. A. Lowe, Codices Latini Antiquiores, 11 vols. and suppl. (Oxford, 1934-71 r 2nd ed. of vol. II, 1972) Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile (Copenhagen) Early English Texts Society Original Series New Series Supplementary Series Monumenta Germaniae Historica Auctores Antiquissimi Poetae Latini Aevi Carolini Patrologia Graeca, ed. J. P. Migne, 162 vols. (Paris, 1857-66) Patrologia Latina, ed. J. P. Migne, 221 vols. (Paris, 1844-64)

xi

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PRIDE AND PRODIGIES

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CHAPTER I

The Beowulf^Manusctipt

i

t was Kenneth Sisam who first considered that the Beowulf-manuscript may have been compiled on the basis of an interest in monsters which is exhibited by at least four of the five texts it contains; he mused that a medieval cataloguer, seeking to sum up the contents of the manuscript, might well have described it as a 'book of various monsters, written in English' (Liber de diversis monstris, anglice).1 Since then, numerous commentators have accepted and built on Sisams suggestion, generally in seeking to explain the transmission of Beowulf, and the chance preservation of a poem the great literary merits of which have long been recognised.2 Investigation of the relationship of Beowulf to the other texts in the manuscript highlights not only the extraordinary 'beauty and artistry' of the poem,3 but also the interests of the anonymous compiler in assembling what at first glance might seem an eclectic collection of texts. Beowulf Is uniquely contained in a composite manuscript, now London, British Library, Cotton Vitellius A. xv.4 It appears that Sir Robert Cotton (1571-1631) himself first bound together the Beowulf-manuscript,5 also known as the Nowell Codex,6 with a group of four texts written in the twelfth century.7 The dating of the 1 2

3 4

5 6

7

Sisam, Studies, p. 96. See for example, the perceptive comments of Haarder, 'Beowulf': the Appeal of a Poem, especially pp. 209-34; Sisam, Studies, pp. 66-7; Niles, Beowulf the Poem and its Tradition, pp. 3-30; Newton, The Origins of 'Beowulf, pp. 5—7. Examination of the manuscript transmission of related 'monster-texts' reveals a significant degree of clustering; see now Brynteston, 'Beowulf, Monsters, and Manuscripts', pp. 41-57. The description is that of Lawrence,'Beowulf' and Epic Tradition, pp. viii—ix; cf. Brodeur, The Art of Beowulf, pp. 1-38. Listed as no. 399 in Gneuss, 'A Preliminary List'; facsimiles of the relevant parts of the manuscript have been produced by Malone, The Nowell Coder, Zupitza, Beowulf. Some scholars, notably Kiernan, Beowulf and the Beowulf Manuscript, pp. 133-150, occasionally use the term 'Beowulf-manuscript' to refer to a presumed separate codex comprising Beowulfalone; no such distinction is implied by my usage. After Laurence Nowell (d. c. 1571), who owned the manuscript in 1563, and wrote his name on the top of the first folio of The Passion ofSt Christopher, cf. Newton, The Origins of'Beowulf, p. 1; Boyle, 'The Nowell Codex and the Poem of Beowulf, p. 23; Sisam, Studies, p. 62. See further Kiernan, Beowulf and the Beowulf Manuscript, pp. 66-70; Gerritsen, 'British Library MS Cotton Vitellius A.XV'; Gerritsen, 'Have with you to Lexington!'. 1

PRIDE AND PRODIGIES

Beowulf-manuscript itself has been a matter of hot debate; on palaeographical grounds Neil Ker suggested 's. X/XF,8 but his conjecture has been widely (mis-) interpreted.9 David Dumville, after the most recent and comprehensive discussion, concludes that: 'it is in the highest degree unlikely that the Beowulf-manuscript was written later than the death of ./Ethelred the Unready (1016) or earlier than the mid-point of his reign (which fell in A.D. 997)'.10 The present contents of the Beowulf manuscript can be summed up as follows:11 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

The Passion ofSt Christopher* incomplete at the beginning (fols. 94r-98r) The Wonders of the East> illustrated in colour (fols. 98v— 106v) The Letter of ^Alexander to Aristotle (fols. 107r-131v) Beotvulf(f line 1939; fol. 172v3 scyran).13 Scribe B completed the poem, 'writing in a rather crude, late Square minuscule script',l4 and was also responsible for the extant portion of Judith. As David Dumville has pointed out: 'No other specimen of either scribe's work has ever been discovered; nor have any closely related scribal performances been identified'.15 Since the beginning of Judith is now lost, it has been suggested that the poem did not form part of the original compilation, while the battered condition of the last folio of Beowulf might similarly suggest that it was once the final page of the volume.16 Sisam went further, arguing on the basis of linguistic evidence that not only/WzYA, but Christopher too, were later additions, pointing to the distribution of/^-spellings 8

Ker, Catalogue-, pp. 281-2. Cf. Dumville, Beowulf Come Lately', pp. 50—1; Kiernan, Beowulf and the Beowulf Manuscript, pp. xi and 13—14; Kiernan, 'The Eleventh-Century Origin, p. 10. 10 Dumville, 'Beowulf Come Lately, p. 63. 1] The foliation given here is that of 1884, which is followed in the facsimile edition by Malone. See further Malone, The Nowell Codex, pp. 12-14; Newton, The Origins of'Beowulf, p. 2; Sisam, Studies* p. 65; Boyle, 'The Nowell Codex and the Poem Beowulf ', p. 24. 12 Dumville, 'BeowulfCome Lately, p. 50; Boyle, The Nowell Codex and the Poem Beowulf, pp. 24-5. *3 Boyle, 'The Nowell Codex and the Poem Beowulf, p. 32, notes that part of the following word, moste, may also have been written by scribe A, who therefore ended his stint not simply in the middle of a half-line, but in the middle of a word! Boyle suggests that: 'perhaps the plain truth is that he had taken ill, and died*. 14 Dumville, 'Beowulf Come Lately', p. 50; for the characteristics of Square minuscule script, see Dumville, 'English Square Minuscule Script'. !5 Dumville, 'BeowulfCome Lately, p. 50. 16 Cf. Newton, The Origins of'Beowulf, p. 2; Sisam, Studies, pp. 67-8; Chambers, 'Beowulf: an Introduction, p. 509; Ker, Catalogue, p. 282; Kiernan, Beowulf Manuscript, pp. 149-67; Timmer, ed., Judith, p. 1.

9

2

THE MOWT/IF-MANUSCRIPT

in the manuscript, where 'normal' late West Saxon has eo.17 Along similar lines, Eric Stanley has highlighted certain linguistic features in Judith which are not shared by the other texts in the ^^w/z^manuscript, together with the presence of some compound forms of late date,18 and Rypins, Sisam, and Vleeskruyer all note significant spelling-variants which distinguish Christopher from the other texts.19 Wenisch has produced a detailed linguistic analysis suggesting a Mercian origin for both Judith and Christopher.2® Conversely, Sisam has argued for a connection between The Wonders of the East, The Letter of Alexander to Aristotle, and Beotvulf, on the basis of shared spellings of u forf, which in a number of cases had been miscopied by scribe A as n, and in particular between The Letter of Alexander to Aristotle and Beowulf, which, alone among the texts of the manuscript, exhibit genitive plural endings in -