The Transmission of "Beowulf"

Leonard Neidorf

Published by Cornell University Press 2017

The Transmission of "Beowulf"

Language, Culture, and Scribal Behavior

Leonard Neidorf

In the series Myth and Poetics II

https://doi.org/10.7591/9781501708282

Overview
Contents

About this book

Beowulf, like The Iliad and The Odyssey, is a foundational work of Western literature that originated in mysterious circumstances. In The Transmission of "Beowulf," Leonard Neidorf addresses philological questions that are fundamental to the study of the poem. Is Beowulf the product of unitary or composite authorship? How substantially did scribes alter the text during its transmission, and how much time elapsed between composition and preservation?Neidorf answers these questions by distinguishing linguistic and metrical regularities, which originate with the Beowulf poet, from patterns of textual corruption, which descend from copyists involved in the poem's transmission. He argues, on the basis of archaic features that pervade Beowulf and set it apart from other Old English poems, that the text preserved in the sole extant manuscript (ca. 1000) is essentially the work of one poet who composed it circa 700. Of course, during the poem’s written transmission, several hundred scribal errors crept into its text. These errors are interpreted in the central chapters of the book as valuable evidence for language history, cultural change, and scribal practice. Neidorf’s analysis reveals that the scribes earnestly attempted to standardize and modernize the text’s orthography, but their unfamiliarity with obsolete words and ancient heroes resulted in frequent errors. The Beowulf manuscript thus emerges from his study as an indispensible witness to processes of linguistic and cultural change that took place in England between the eighth and eleventh centuries. An appendix addresses J. R. R. Tolkien’s Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, which was published in 2014. Neidorf assesses Tolkien’s general views on the transmission of Beowulf and evaluates his position on various textual issues.

Author information

NeidorfLeonard:

Leonard Neidorf is Professor of English at Nanjing University and a former Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. He is the editor of The Dating of Beowulf: A Reassessment and coeditor of Old English Philology: Studies in Honour of R. D. Fulk.

Reviews

Carole Hough, University of Glasgow:

"This is a truly paradigm-shifting book. Leonard Neidorf swims against the tide of much recent Beowulf scholarship, but his case is supported by such a compelling weight of evidence that it is difficult to see how it could be seriously challenged."

Geoffrey R. Russom, Brown University, author of "Beowulf" and Old Germanic Metre:

"Leonard Neidorf has become an important figure in Old English studies as the leader of a movement to reestablish philology within the field. The Transmission of "Beowulf" is a major advance in the study of poems that survive in unique manuscripts and should be required reading in all Beowulf courses. A new generation of scholars who have learned from it will have much valuable and interesting work to do."

Rolf Bremmer, Leiden University:

"Leonard Neidorf systematically and lucidly analyzes a whole range of textual errors that came about in the history of Beowulf's transmission from one scribe to another."

Scott Gwara:

"A short review like this hardly does justice to the genius of this astonishing book. The Transmission of Beowulf is a coup de théâtre, a scholarly manifesto of the utmost importance in its evidentiary rigor, theoretical utility, and vigorous prose. By any measure, it ranks as one of the most pivotal books ever written on Old English literature and will be recognized as a historic achievement."

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
ILLUSTRATIONS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
SERIES FOREWORD Gregory Nagy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xi
PREFACE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xiii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xvii
ABBREVIATIONS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xix
1. Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. Language History Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	31
3. Cultural Change Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	73
4. Scribal Behavior Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	103
5. Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	133
Appendix J. R. R. Tolkien’s Beowulf Textual Criticism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	163
GLOSSARY OF TERMS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175
BIBLIOGRAPHY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	179
INDEX OF VERSES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	195
INDEX OF SUBJECTS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	199

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 224
Keywords: Medieval & Renaissance Studies; Poetry & Criticism

eBook

Published: May 16, 2017
ISBN: 9781501708282