Welcome to an (slightly) updated Remembered Lore! It was time for a refresh. I have revised the About page and made a couple adjustments to the sidebar. More minor tweaks will be coming. The Wordstapas will get a new page as well in a couple weeks in preparation for the Fall semester---I’ll let you know … Continue reading The Elegies of the Exeter Book
Tag: Anglo-Saxon poetry
Tolkien & The Wanderer
Back in November I shared the “Lament for the Rohirrim,” by J.R.R. Tolkien on Remembrance Day. Tolkien was a gifted poet, but because much of his poetry as we know it is contained in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, it tends to be overshadowed by his substantial prose. However, a decade spent … Continue reading Tolkien & The Wanderer
Some Parallels Pertaining to Ravens (and Other Beasts of Battle)
Ravens appear in several places across western mythology. They are present in folklore, such as the tale of The Seven Ravens, and in Greek myth, where they are associated with Apollo. Ravens are prominent symbols in Norse and Germanic mythology and in Anglo-Saxon poetry, and J.R.R. Tolkien uses them for similar purposes in The Hobbit. … Continue reading Some Parallels Pertaining to Ravens (and Other Beasts of Battle)
“Reusing”: An Anglo-Saxon Guide to Plagiarism
Long ago, before stealing another’s work for your own was blighted with the poisonous multisyllabic Latinate word plagiarism, Anglo-Saxon writers were streamlining their historical documents by pasting paragraphs from previous writers into their own work. Later historians would exchange silent, shocked glances when they learned that their ancestors participated freely in this scandalous art. But … Continue reading “Reusing”: An Anglo-Saxon Guide to Plagiarism
Old English Poetic Elements in Beowulf
Each line of Old English poetry is divided into two half-lines with a caesura in the middle. A caesura is a break or pause in the syntactical rhythm of a line of poetry. In modern publications of Old English poetry, publishers indicate the position of the caesura by leaving a white space between the two half-lines ...
A Light on the Road
My dear friends, Know you what today is? It is September 24th, one year after I published Remembered Lore! I will reveal the significance of this date in a moment, but first let us toss some autumn leaves into the air to celebrate a year of myth re-found, words re-learned, and golden drafts of poetry … Continue reading A Light on the Road
Yet Another Translation of Beowulf
I very recently finished reading John Lesslie Hall’s translation of Beowulf. Several months ago I shared my reflections on Seamus Heaney’s and J.R.R. Tolkien’s translations of Beowulf in Beowulf: Seamus Heaney vs. J.R.R. Tolkien. It feels appropriate to share my thoughts on Hall’s translation as well. Hall’s translation is a verse translation which, to the … Continue reading Yet Another Translation of Beowulf