Synopsis

Bro! You knew it was coming! Grab your replica Sutton Hoo helmet and get ready, it’s Beowulf o’clock.

Annotations

1/ Spoiler alert: it wasn’t published as episode 50. [But that’s ok! –Jesse]

2/ We talked about Cotton in episode 39 note 8. Here is more info on the Cotton collection: https://www.bl.uk/collection-guides/cotton-manuscripts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_library

3/ Dream of the Rood: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_of_the_Rood
https://oldenglishpoetry.camden.rutgers.edu/dream-of-the-rood/

4/ A fun comic about the Beowulf scribes! https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/scribe-a

5/ Blessed are the cheesemakers.

6/ Valhalla—a big shout out here to Thor Love and Thunder!

7/ The Wanderer: https://oldenglishpoetry.camden.rutgers.edu/the-wanderer/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wanderer_(Old_English_poem)

8/ A bee-wolf is a bear! Here is some more info on Beowulf and the manuscript: https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/beowulf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf

9/ The Wife’s Lament: https://oldenglishpoetry.camden.rutgers.edu/the-wifes-lament/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wife%27s_Lament

10/ The Seafarer: https://oldenglishpoetry.camden.rutgers.edu/the-seafarer/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seafarer_(poem)

11/ Exeter Book: https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/exeter-book
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exeter_Book

12/ Our preferred translation of Beowulf is by Maria Dahvana Headley
https://www.amazon.com/Beowulf-Translation-Maria-Dahvana-Headley/dp/0374110034

13/ “Whale-road.” Okay, so in Old English they do these things called kennings, which I guess we would call metaphors? E.g. calling the ocean a “whale road.” I love them.

Another good German compound is backpfeifengesicht (a face in need of punching).

Jesse: If I may give another shout out to Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, they have some great dialogue that uses kennings and other fun Old Norse/Old Germanic linguistic ornaments.

14/ The impenetrable skin of Grendel’s mom is similar to the modern superhero She Hulk—shout out to Jennifer Walters (who is also an awesome lawyer–court is theoretically better than a blood feud)!

15: Exeter Riddles! https://oldenglishpoetry.camden.rutgers.edu/exeter-book-riddles/
Solutions: https://oldenglishpoetry.camden.rutgers.edu/exeter-book-riddles-solutions/ (Most of these are provisional solutions—the book doesn’t give solutions)

About the riddles: https://www.bl.uk/medieval-literature/articles/the-exeter-book-riddles-in-context
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exeter_Book_Riddles

16/ I don’t remember where the assertion that there are over 600 translations of Beowulf came from. It seems true, though.–Em