introDuCtion viihowever, have been able to piece together a general
view of Old english meter. The basic rhyme scheme
was alliteration (repeated initial consonant sounds), a
system that relies upon the quantity of vowels, syllabic
alteration, and prosody (rhythm). in 1885, eduard
Sievers outlined five distinct alliterative patterns within
Old english verse. his research continues to be accept-
ed today, particularly because each of his permutations
can be found in all of the older Germanic languages.
Old english verse lines are divided into half-lines by a
caesura, or pause. each half-line has two stressed syl-
lables. The first stressed syllable of the second half-line
alliterates with one or both of the stressed syllables of
the first half-line; the second stressed syllable of the
second half-line need not alliterate.
english and celtic literature had its beginnings in
the oral tradition. Singers and storytellers held power-
ful positions at court and were considered the memory
keepers of the people: anglo-Saxon scops, irish filis,
Welsh bards, and Scottish makars. Some, such as
Taliesin, a sixth-century Welsh poet, are identified in
their work. Four Old english poets are named specifi-
cally within the works they produced: cædmon, Bede,
alfred, and cynewulf. Some remain a mystery outside
of what has been discovered from their work. For
example, there was obviously a scop named Deor about
whom the poem of the same name was composed, but
nothing is known of him aside from the information
in the poem itself. Of course the vast majority of Old
english and celtic poets remain anonymous.
This rich tradition of oral-formulaic literature left
its mark on written poetry. it is likely, for instance,
that a poet was accompanied by a harp, perhaps being
plucked during the caesuras. Old english poems are
marked by mnemonic devices such as repeated key
phrases and descriptors (e.g., in Beowulf, the phrase
“Beowulf maþelode, bearn ecgþeow,” “Beowulf, son of
ecgtheow, spoke”), as well as digressions—stories that
enhance the central tale but also impart the history of a
people. Because of this oral tradition, many of the sur-
viving poems were likely composed before they were
finally written down. The celtic works derived from a
long history, and many were not written down until the
12th century. a similar oral tradition is found within
the anglo-Saxon world, though a few more examples
remain. Beowulf is the only surviving full-length Old
english epic that survives, but several examples of
heroic poetry—battle poetry—survive, including The
Battle of Maldon, The Battle of Brunanburh, The Fight
at Finnsburh, Widsith, and Waldere. Though epic and
martial poetry present serious subject matter, there are
occasional bouts of lightheartedness. a poetic device
commonly used within Old english poetry is the lito-
tes, or dramatic understatement employed for comic
or ironic effect. These understatements appear with
regularity in Beowulf and battle poems and occasion-
ally in other types of poems, especially elegies and
religious verse.
The elegy was the other major form of pre-christian
poetry written in Old english. an elegy, or poetic
lament for the passing of someone dear, can be extend-
ed to the whole of society as well. Both The Wanderer
and The Seafarer, for instance, relate the tale of the
passing of the anglo-Saxon warrior culture as well as
an individual’s story. “The ruin” is an elegy about see-
ing a destroyed city, possibly Bath. Sometimes these
poems are referred to as “epic songs,” especially when
the lament becomes all-encompassing, shifting the
focus outward toward society.
lyrics present personal and emotional poetry—
laments, complaints, and even love poetry. Several of
them, including “The Wife’s lament,” “The husband’s
message,” and “Wulf and eadwacer,” straddle the line
between elegy and lyric, as they are about loss and
exile but not specifically about death and changing
fortune. There is no set stanzaic form for the lyrics,
which use an alliterative scheme.
riddles, in which the subject is described in
ambiguous terms, reveal the anglo-Saxon fascination
with word play. indeed, true anglo-Saxon heroes were
expected to be almost as good with words as they
were with weapons. in Old english poetry, “boasting”
is used to establish the identity and battle record of
the hero, as well as serving as a promise of deeds yet
to come. There are two main types of boast: the gilph
(about past deeds) and the beot (tall tales; uncertain
outcome). Other poetic elements that demonstrate this
intrigue with manipulating words include the epithet
(renaming) and the kenning (metaphorical rephras-
ing). all of these, however, reveal something entirely