Course Description
Prose and poetry of the Old English period, exclusive of Beowulf, with emphasis on poetry. Works will be read in Old English, with supplementary translations.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will be responsible for a more extensive syllabus, for secondary reading, and for more ambitious, sophisticated writing.
Athena Title
OLD ENGLISH LIT
Undergraduate Prerequisite
ENGL(LING) 4060/6060 and two 2000-level ENGL courses or (one 2000-level ENGL course and one 2000-level CMLT course)
Graduate Prerequisite
Permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered every even-numbered year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
At the end of the course, students, having read a substantial body of literature, will be able to read and understand Old English, to discuss the assigned works (orally and in writing) with a considerable degree of critical sophistication, to reread them with pleasure, to read and enjoy other works from the period, and to converse with fellow students about texts and issues related to the subject matter of the course.
Topical Outline
The choice and sequence of topics will vary from instructor to instructor and semester to semester. The topics will consist of selected works by various authors, to be read outside of class and discussed in class, examined individually and comparatively in the context of the times and the circumstances of their composition. Periodically during the semester, students will perform a number of graded tasks, including some combination of tests and out-of-class papers. A possible series of topics and assignments might resemble this: Old English Prose: Historical: Selections from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and from King Alfred's translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Religious: A selection of sermons by AElfric and Wulfstan; AElfric's Preface to Genesis; selections from King Alfred's translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care. Philosophical: Selections from King Alfred's translation of Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy. Old English Poetry. Heroic: Judith, The Battle of Finnsburh, Widsith, The Battle of Maldon. Elegiac: The Wanderer, The Seafarer, The Wife's Lament, The Husband's Message, The Ruin, Wulf and Eadwacer. Gnomic: Selections from the Riddles, the Charms, The Runic Poem, The Riming Poem. Religious: The Dream of the Rood, Elene, Christ B, The Phoenix.