against a much larger Danish army. Or it could be that
the poet believes that Byrthnoth has made a foolish if
honorable decision to engage the Vikings; Byrthnoth’s
sense of military fairness may lead him to believe that
keeping the Danes bottled up against the coast does
not give them a “sporting chance” and was thus an
affront to the English general’s honor. Recently, critics
have argued that if Byrthnoth had not allowed the
Danes to cross, they would have probably sailed up the
coast and attacked a town or monastery that had little
or no defenses at all, leaving a civilian population to be
slaughtered by the Vikings. In this case, Byrthnoth
does the honorable act in engaging the Vikings because
he alone has the opportunity to thwart their raids on
the English coast.
Regardless of what ofermod entails, the poem is clear
that this is a tactical, if not foolish, error on Byrthnoth’s
part. While the battle is close at fi rst, the Danes have
superior numbers and are better trained soldiers, and
soon the battle swings in their favor. Then Byrthnoth
falls. In a glorious and bloody scene, the poet describes
Byrthnoth’s death at the hands of the invaders by
sword and spear-point. As he falls, Byrthnoth thanks
God his creator and commends his soul into heaven
before he expires.
Seeing the death of their leader, a few of the English
forces fl ee, but several of the veterans step forward,
proclaiming their ancestry and honor, as was typical in
Old English poetry, urging the English forces to keep
fi ghting; however, as each man rushes into battle, he is
cut down by the opposing forces. Finally, an old
retainer named Bryhtwold strides forward and speaks:
“The bolder be each heart, / Each spirit sterner, valor
more, now that our strength is less!” His exhortation to
continue fi ghting even in the face of hopeless odds is
the epitome of the heroic code.
Because of the missing lines, the poem lacks a con-
clusion, though it is recorded that the English lost the
battle. The loss at Maldon was the fi rst of numerous
similar defeats, and in 1016, Canute the Great was
crowned as king of England, solidifying the Danish
conquest of England. Despite this, though, The Battle of
Maldon remained a tremendously important piece of
English battle poesy, symbolizing the epitome of the
heroic code and offering a moral victory when an
actual one could not be had.
FURTHER READING
Clark, George. “The Hero of Maldon: Vir Pius et Strenuus.”
Speculum 54, no. 2 (1979): 257–282.
Gordon, E. V., ed. The Battle of Maldon. London: Metheun
Educational Ltd., 1937.
Holland, Kevin Crossley, and Bruce Mitchell. The Battle
of Maldon and Other Old English Poems. New York: St.
Martin’s Press, 1966.
North, Richard. “Getting to Know the General in The Battle
of Maldon.” Medium Aevum 60, no. 1 (1991): 1–15.
Michael CorneliusBEAST FABLE Beast fables are a variety of FABLE
in which animals are used to convey a certain moral
lesson or truth. In beast fables, the main characters are
animals and birds that are personifi ed, taking on the
characteristics of humans, such as speaking to each
other. More than just simple children’s tales, beast
fables seek to impart a moral lesson and are often
didactic in tone, demonstrating to the reader, through
the antics of the animal characters, examples of the
consequences certain behaviors or errors in judgment
can cause. These stories are written in both poetry and
prose.
Perhaps the most widely known—and one of the
earliest—examples of beast fables are Aesop’s Fables.
ROBERT HENRYSON adapted these later in his MORALL
FABILLIS OF ESOPE THE PHRYGIAN. MARIE DE FRANCE also
adapted a collection of 103 fables, translated from
Henry Beauclerc under the title of Ysopet.
Beast fables are usually relatively short tales; long
beast fables are known as beast EPICs. The beast epic
shares all of the qualities of the beast fable but is usu-
ally lengthy and involves more characters shaping a
more complex story (or stories) than the shorter fables.
A famous example of a beast epic is the tradition of
REYNARD LITERATURE. Again, these occur in both poetry
and prose.
GEOFFREY CHAUCER adapted a tale from this tradition
for “The NUN’S PRIEST’S TALE.” Chaucer’s use of the beast
fable differs from more traditional treatments of the
genre. Most of his tale focuses on logic, reasoning, and
dialogue rather than on narrative, action, and adven-
ture. Overall, Chaucer’s tale emphasizes philosophical
and ideological ideas over moral or instructive ones.76 BEAST FABLE