MODULE III

CHRISTIAN POETRY AND PROSE

In this module you are going to learn:

 The effects of Christianity on Anglo-Saxon literature

 Anglo-Latin phase: Aldhelm, Bede and Alcuin
 Works of Caedmon and Cynewulf and other religious poems
 Anglo-Saxon prose: Alfred, Aelfric, Wulfstan

Effects of Christianity on Anglo-Saxon Literature

You have already read about the advent of Christianity in the island and how it spread among the
people in the first module. Now we shall discuss why learning becomes an important component in
the Christianisation process of the island and how it influenced literature.

Christianity is pre-eminently a literary religion, which means it is based on the reading and
understanding of the sacred text. The text is a complex one; it required philosophical understanding
and scholarly interpretations. Such documents could not be just remembered and sung, they must be
written down, documented, and interpreted and made simpler for the common people to understand
the religious ideas. The church thus became the seat of learning as there was no separate institution
for spreading mass education. The clerics were usually well-versed in Latin as that was considered to
be the language of the learned though translation of important classical books were deemed to be
important to spread the word of god to a greater number of people. We also have a body of poetical
renderings of the biblical literature in vernacular, which are attributed to the layman poets like
Caedmon and an unknown poet like Cynewulf. Apart from these we also have some homiletic poems
in some manuscripts which also prove the fact that Christianity had influenced not only the clerics
who definitely had some agenda in mind, but the common people of the country whose world view
changed due to this religious conversion. The knowledge of Bible did not only offer a new faith but a
different understanding of the human condition. Previously, kings would trace their origin to Sceaf
but now they would relate themselves to Adam and Eve and place themselves in this divine scheme of
things. Thus the understanding of past was considerably altered. The heroes like Beowulf were
replaced by Christ the hero.

The knowledge of Bible was chiefly symbolic. The text is not just supposed to be read as a set of
stories of different men and women, and the events are not mere results of their moral virtues and
vices, rather, the text has to be understood holistically as the justification of the ‘ways of God to men’.
It has a philosophical significance which one would miss if one reads the text too literally. Hence, the
need was felt to write the resultant literature in the forms of allegory which attains a sort of perfection
in the Middle Ages. Allegory, as a literary style could operate at many levels, it could contain an
individual believer’s faith and also the deeper theological counsel.

Unit I, Module III, p 1

However, you must bear in mind the fact that these Old English poets had Anglo-Saxon forefathers
and thus they imagined the Christian God in the image of their kings, and his angels as thanes. Their
religious universe was just an extension of their heroic world. Thus, the imagery presents a curious
mixture of Christian values in Anglo-Saxon moulds.
For example, in Exodus, Moses is presented as a
Germanic war-leader, the Israelites, a loyal and INSULAR HAND
courageous army exhibiting all the heroic virtues. Such
effects of Germanization of course become less and
less pronounced as the society gradually shifted to the
feudal economic system.

The Anglo-Saxons used the runic alphabet which had

twenty-four letters to write. These letters were
epigraphic in nature and therefore could only be cut or
hammered out on hard surfaces. This sort of writing
was not very useful for writing long literary
compositions; besides such writing was quite
expensive and the poets were more interested in
performing than writing them down. But with the
advent of Christianity a huge change took place. The
missionaries brought parchment, pen and ink, along
with the Roman alphabet which were primarily used to
record English texts as well. Later however, they
developed their own insular hand. In Old English times The script that was used to write the
Latin and Old English texts is known
church monopolised the production of manuscripts for
as the insular hand. The script is
the layman would not know how to write. The characterized by thick initial strokes
educated men would know both Latin and Old English, and heavy shading developed from
and at first they would compose mostly in Latin. Later, half-uncial (having the features of
however, the literature was written mostly in the both the uncial and the cursive style
of writing) under the influence of the
vernacular. uncial used by the Irish scribes about
th th
the 5 and 6 centuries and used in
Anglo-Latin literature: Aldhelm, Bede and Alcuin England until the Norman conquest
and in Ireland with modifications to
Aldhem (c. 640-709) the present day.
th
He was the bishop of Sherborne. He wrote both in Around 8 century Alcuin used this
English and Latin, but since the English compositions style to allow the division of writing
were not deemed to be important they were not into sentences and paragraphs by
beginning sentences with capital
preserved. Thus his extant works, both in prose and letters and ending them with periods.
verse, are in Latin; it comprises of a collection letters, a
series of riddles, and a learned treatise in praise of (Source: Miriam Webster and
Encyclopaedia Britannica Web)
Virginity. His style was artificial, full of archaic words
and circumlocution.

Bede (673-735)

Bede, also known as ‘The Venerable’ for his learning, spent his life in the Northumbrian monasteries
of Wearmouth and Jarrow. He produced as many as forty books on theological, historical and
scientific subjects. Though most of his works are in Latin, he is supposed to have translated the

Unit I, Module III, p 2

Gospel of St John, which is lost and his five-line long death song in Old English. Bede wrote
homilies, commentaries on the Latin Church fathers, Latin hymns, and two biographies of St
Cuthbert, an English bishop who died in 687.

His most famous works are: De Natura Rerum (Concerning the Nature of Things), and Historia
Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation). Ecclesiastical History
was completed in 731 and was translated by King Alfred at the end of the following century. This
document has extreme historical significance for it is an important and almost the only source to
knowing Anglo-Saxon history (the other important books are Germania by Tacitus which records the
history of the Germanic People and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle which was written in 8th century
under the patronage of King Alfred). Divided in five books, the Ecclesiastical History records the
early history of England, the struggle between the Celtic and Roman churches, and the gradual
conversion of the people. Some narratives are oft-quoted, for instance, the conversion of King Edwin
of Northumbria through the preaching of the missionary Paulinus, Bishop of York, and the miraculous
event surrounding the cowherd turned poet Caedmon. Bede’s ‘Death Song’ is the only extant
composition in English. It reads as follows:

Before the needful journey no one becomes

Wiser in thought than he needs to be
To think over, ere his going hence,
What of good and evil about his spirit
After his day of death, may be decided.
(Source: Kemp Malone)

Alcuin (735-804)
He was associated with the ecclesiastical school at York and later, in 782, became the cultural advisor
of Charlemagne. Along with several theological and philosophical tracts, Alcuin wrote a biography of
Willibrord, a missionary from Netherlands, and over three hundred letters that contain valuable
historical materials. His poem On the Mutability of All Human Affairs is a Latin Elegy on the
destruction by the Danish raiders of the famous Lindisfarne Abbey, famous seat of culture and
learning in northern England.

Caedmon and Cynewulf and Other Religious Poems

Unit I, Module III, p 3

Caedmon (died c.670)

Caedmon’s story has been well-documented by Bede at the end of his book Historia Ecclesiastica
Gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English People). Accordingly, it is told that he was an
unlearned man blessed by divine grace. He worked as a farmhand at the abbey at Whitby. At feasts
when everybody was encouraged to compose songs that would be accompanied by the harp, Caedmon
would feel extremely embarrassed. On one such occasion he left the table and went back to the stable
where he was employed for the night to look after the beasts. In his dream, ‘a certain man’ urged him
to sing about ‘the Creation of all things’. At this point Bede paraphrases Ceadmon’s hymn in Latin,
acknowledging humbly the fact that ‘This the general sense, but not the actual words that Caedmon
sang in his dream; for verses, however masterly, cannot be translated word for word from one
language into another without losing much of their beauty and dignity’.

Caedmon finally became a monk so that he could learn the scriptures and translate them to vernacular
poetry. Bede writes:

He sang first of the creation of the world and the beginning of the mankind, and all the
story of Genesis, that is the first book of Moses, and again of the Exodus of the people of Israel
from the land of Egypt and of the entrance into the promised land, and many of other tales of
holy writ... and of Christ’s incarnation, and of his passion, and of his ascent into Heaven; and of
the coming of the Holy Ghost, and the teachings of the apostles; and of the day of future
judgement and of the terror of punishment full of torment, and of the sweetness of the heavenly
kingdom he wrote many a lay; and also he wrought many other concerning divine benefits and
judgments.

It is doubtful whether Caedmon could actually accomplish such a massive scale of composition, for
no such canon survives. But the topics mentioned by Bede have definitely got poetic attention. In
1655 the Dutch scholar Junius published in Amsterdam ‘The Monk Caedmon’s Paraphrase of Genesis

Unit I, Module III, p 4

etc.’, based on an Old English manuscript containing Genesis, Exodus, Daniel and Christ and Satan.
Since they show some stylistic similarity with Caedmon’s style they are accepted as parts of the
Caedmonian cycle. There are certain features of this style which we shall shortly discuss but prior to
that let us take a look at the Hymn that was first composed by him.

Caedmon’s Hymn

In the margins of several of the 160 complete Latin manuscripts of Bede’s Ecclesiastical History, the
Old English versions of Caedmon’s Hymn is noted down in chiefly two Anglo-Saxon dialects:
Northumbrian (earlier version) and West Saxon (later version). Here are the two versions of the poem
along with the translation done by Michael Alexander:

Northumbrian version West Saxon version

nu scylun hergan hefaenricaes uard
metudæs maecti end his modgidanc
uerc uuldurfadur swe he uundra gihwaes
eci dryctin or astelidæ
he aerist scop aelda barnum
heben til hrofe haleg scepen.
tha middungeard moncynnæs uard
eci dryctin æfter tiadæ
firum foldu frea allmectig
Nu sculon herigean heofonrices weard,
meotodes meahte and his modgeþanc
weorc wuldorfæder, swa he wundra gehwæs
ece drihten, or onstealde.
He ærest sceop eorðan bearnum
heofon to hrofe, halig scyppend;
þa middangeard moncynnes weard
ece drihten, æfter teode
firum foldan, frea ælmihtig

You may also listen to the Northumbrian and West Saxon version by following the links.

Translation:
Praise now to the keeper of the kingdom of heaven,
The power of the Creator, the profound mind
Of the glorious Father, who fashioned the beginning
Of every wonder, the eternal Lord.
For the children of men he made first
Heaven as a roof, the holy Creator.
Then the Lord of mankind, the everlasting Shepherd,
Ordained in the midst as a dwelling place
—The almighty Lord—the earth for men.

You have already read about the features of Old English poetry at the beginning of the Module II:
Elegies. Hence it would not be very difficult for you to understand the characteristic features of heroic
poetry in the above composition: for instance, the employment of poetical features caesura, variations,
alliteration and so on. He describes God as one would have described the overlord or king: the term
rices weard (keeper of the kingdom) becomes heofenrices weard (keeper of the kingdom of heaven).
Again, though short, thematically, the poem follows the Christian theological compositions of the
days. The poet refers to the concept of the Trinity through his variations: the might of the Lord/the
father (metudæs maecti), his thought (modgidanc), and his glorious work (uerc uuldurfadur). The

Unit I, Module III, p 5

poem also blends the eternal and physical
aspects of creation. Thus the genius of
Caedmon lies in transferring the entire range of
vocabulary from one sphere to the other.

The other poems of the Junius Manuscript that

are attributed to the Caedmonian cycle include:
Genesis, Exodus, Daniel and Christ and Satan.
The manuscript is divided into two books: the
In this illustration from the Caedmon
first contains verses related to the Old manuscript, an angel is shown guarding the
Testament; the second to Christ and Satan. gates of paradise, after Adam and Eve have
been expelled. Source: Web
Book I was done by one scribe towards the end
th th
of 10 century and early 11 , while Book II
was done by three scribes, after many years.
The manuscript has many lost pages, thus the poems are left incomplete. The Manuscript was
illuminated and in the first book, many pages are left blank which shows that the artists did not finish
the work. The first book is divided into 55 fits: 1-42 fits deals with Genesis, 42-50 with Exodus and
rest for Daniel. Modern philologists prefer to treat them. as three individual poems.

An example of a page of an illuminated manuscript: folios 9 verso and 10 recto of the Stockholm Codex Aureus,
Evangelical portrait of St Matthew. Source: Web

Genesis

The poem, consisting of 2936 lines, opens with a few lines in praise of God, and moves on to discuss
the happy lots of the angels in heaven. Next we are told of the discontent and rebellion of Satan and
his angels, God’s wrath, the creation of hell to house the rebels, their expulsion from heaven, and
God’s plan to make the world as a means to fill it with ‘better people’ (presumably the souls of the
blessed, the elect seed of Adam who are not yet created). Due to the loss of manuscript there have
been gaps in several parts of the text. Lines 235-851 do not belong to this poem and it is considered to
be an interpolation taken from a later poem on the same subject. This section, known as Genesis B,
which is composed in West Saxon dialect, deals with the temptation and fall of Adam and Eve and
shows greater poetic strength. The rest of the poem is known as Genesis A (lines 1-234 and 852-
2936). Genesis B is an interpolation. You will be interested to know that Milton had read the poem
and the theme of Paradise Lost is inspired by it.

Unit I, Module III, p 6

Exodus

The second poem in the book is the 591-lines long Exodus. The extant text (the battle scene being
lost) can be divided into the following parts: an introductory period on the Mosaic law (1-7); a brief
description of the life of Moses (8-29); a sketch of events in Egypt that led up to the departure of the
Hebrews (30-55); the march of the Hebrews to the Red Sea (56-134); the Egyptian pursuit (135-246);
the passage of the Red Sea and the destruction of the Egyptian army (247-515); conclusion (516-591).

The poet’s theme is not Exodus as a whole but the passage of the Red Sea by the Israelites under the
heroic leadership of Moses. There are brilliant instances of poetic achievement where Moses
encourages the Israelites to ‘make up their minds to perform deeds of valour’ (218 b). The poet gives
much space to the speech-making by his hero and the speeches are reported both in direct and indirect
discourse. In general, the poet follows the heroic tradition in which Moses is seen as an equivalent of
the Germanic king and his followers the worthy thanes. (Malone 64)

Daniel

The third and final poem of this manuscript is called Daniel which according to modern scholars
contains 764 lines. The scribe divides the text into six fits:

i. The first fit can be divided into two parts: an introduction to the Hebrew history down to
the war with Nebuchadnezzar and the story of the war due to which the Jew are held
captives by the Babylonian army and the three Hebrew children Hananiah, Mishael and
Azariah are given training for Nebuchadnezzar’s service. The second part is based on the
first chapter of Daniel where the biblical passages are paraphrased though much of the
work is left incomplete.
ii. This fit again falls into two parts: it begins with a condensed paraphrase of Daniel 2, in
which we learn about Nebuchadnezzar’s first dream and Daniel’s success in interpreting
it. This is followed by the story of the three children who refuse to worship the golden
image.
iii. This fit falls into three parts: first tells how the king throws the three children into fire and
they are saved by an angel; second the apocryphal prayer of Azariah; finally the repetition
of the first story of this section where the angel is shown to have come as an answer to
Azariah’s prayer.
iv. This fit begins with the apocryphal song of three youths in praise of God and is followed
by the paraphrase of the same story of the angel’s rescue.
v. This fit versifies Nebuchadnezzar’s second dream about the tree and Daniel’s
interpretation of it.
vi. The last fit versifies Daniel 5. The end is obscure as the last leaf of the manuscript is
missing.

Due to the difference of style the second and third part of the third fit is seen as an interpretation and
marked as Daniel B. This poem is identified as Azariah which can be found in the Exeter Book.
However, the entire poem is not taken, for the beginning is left out; it seems that the poet has taken
only that section which he liked the best.

Christ and Satan

The second book the Junius manuscript contains a 733 lines long poem, written around the ninth
century in East Anglian dialect. The poem is later titled as Christ and Satan. The text of the poem is

Unit I, Module III, p 7

divided into 12 fits, most of which are devoted to long laments of Satan after the loss of Heaven (parts
if the first, whole of second, third and fifth fit). The poem begins with the story of Creation, then
moves on to the fall of the angels, Satan’s lament, and ends with Christ’s harrowing of hell and
Ascension. The last fit talks about the doomsday and reminds the audience of the joys of those
redeemed. It concludes with Christ’s temptation by Satan, and Satan’s return to hell after his failure to
tempt Christ. The poem lacks chronological order for the last fit speaks about the event which took
place long before the Ascension. What we must understand is that unlike the other poems that we
have discussed, this one is not a mere paraphrase of the Bible. The author combines the lyrical,
dramatic and epic traditions to versify his knowledge of Christian theology. He has exercised freedom
of imagination for his aim was to speak about the punishments and rewards. Thus Christ’s temptation
comes at the end for it would instruct the readers to follow the example of Christ and believe in the
joys of heaven. Well-fit to this scheme is the character Satan: he is not a proud and angry leader but a
general broken by defeat—his defeat is to be read as a warning to us all.

Many modern scholars (one of them is Malone) believe that this poem is not composed by Caedmon.
The clerk who composed it knew both the styles of Caedmonian and Cynewulfian schools and
combined the best of the two styles in the poem.

There is another 349 lines-long poetic fragment, which is considered to be part of the Caedmonian
cycle, known as Judith that narrates the exploits of the Hebrew heroine who slew Holofernes, leader
of the Assyrian army encamped against her people. The figure of a female hero is rare and unique in
Old English poetry. However, this poem is found in MS Cotton Vitellius A xv, the codex that contains
Beowulf and many ascribe it to Cynewulf.

Cynewulf (c.750)

We have a list, a sermon, and two legends, i.e., saints’ lives as signed by a poet whose runic signature
tells that his name was Cynewulf. He was probably a Northumbrian, composing his poems around the
last quarter of eighth or early ninth century. Nothing else is known about his personal life.

Unit I, Module III, p 8

 The Fates of the Apostles is a poem of 122 lines, recorded in the Vercelli Book. It contains a proper
list of the names of places and countries where the twelve apostles taught and died, and a poem in
which he speaks of the importance of prayers.

The Ascension, also known as Christ B, is of 427

lines and is recorded in the Exeter Book. Divided into
five fits the poem speaks about the Christ’s farewell
to his followers and his Ascension to heaven in the
first two fits and then move on to homiletic verses in
the next three fits talking about God’s greatest gift to
mankind, i.e., hope of salvation, six leaps of Christ
(conception, nativity, crucifixion, burial, descent into
hell, ascent to heaven), Solomon and Job’s song and
the fear of the doomsday. In this poem Cynewulf
versifies the conclusion of Gregory the Great’s
sermon on the ascension. The strength of the poem
lies in the freedom of imagination in depicting
matters of traditional wisdom.

Juliana, 739 line-long poem found in Exeter book is

also ascribed to Cynewulf. Owing to the loss of pages
of the manuscript two passages are supposed to be
missing: one that must have been between line
numbers 288 and 289 (folio no 70) and between 558
and 559 (folio no 74). The poem is divided into seven
fits and speaks of Juliana’s martyrdom. Juliana,
daughter of the pagan Africanus is betrothed to
Heliseus, an official under the Roman emperor,
Maximian, who persecuted Christians. Juliana refused
the match, and thus her father turned her over to
Heliseus for judgement. She was tortured but no harm
could be done to her. Even Devil failed to tempt her.
Finally, she was beheaded. The poet seemed to have
followed a Latin prose on St Juliana’s life but also
drew heavily from the heroic tradition of English
poetry.

North face of the Ruthwell Cross that

contains Dream of the Rood in Runic
script

Source: Web

Unit I, Module III, p 9

The final poem attributed to Cynewulf consists of 1321 lines and is called Elene. The poem is to be
found in Vercelli Book, divided into 15 fits. It depicts the legend of St Helen, mother of Constantine,
and her recovery of the Cross. The poem is not about her death as other legends are but about the
discovery. The poet uses the heroic tradition more freely in describing the voyage and battle. The last
fit seems to be autobiographical, where the poet, now old but divinely inspired speaks of the necessity
of prayers for the imminent Doomsday.

There are other poems like Andreas, Guthlac A and Guthlac B, The Phoenix, which are composed in
the Cynewulf’s style. They are a part of the Cynewulfian cycle. Dream of the Rood is also considered
to be a part of this cycle by many scholars. We shall read this poem in a greater detail.

Dream of the Rood

Dream of the Rood, or a Vision of the Cross, survives in Vercelli Book, folios 104 verso to 106 recto.
Parts of the poem are to be found in the shafts of the 8th century Northumbrian Ruthwell cross in runic
inscriptions. They correspond to lines 39-42, 44-5, 48-49, 56-59, 62-62 of the Vercelli book text.

The poem is riddilic (compare Exeter book riddle

30), penitential, eschatological and evangelical. It
has three central characters: the poet, the Cross,
Christ. The poet speaks in the first person to relate a
dream-vision (which would later become a recurrent
trope in medieval poetry), in which he slowly
unfolds the syllicre treow (a more wonderful tree),
the saviour’s tree. The narrative voice is taken over
by the cross itself who relates the story of its life,
how it was cut down and made into a cross and how
he bore the saviour, and became a close witness of
his Passion. This cross is Christ’s retainer, serving
its master just as a thane would serve his master and
also his bana or slayer, a role that is against the
conventions of the heroic society. This duality
constitutes the central paradox of the cross. Through
the vision of the cross the audience is made to
participate in the Crucifixion and therefore they get
a chance to repent for their ill-doings for which
Christ had paid with his blood. In order to stay clear
of the contemporary controversy regarding the
mortality and divinity of Christ, the poem focuses its
attention on the cross itself, the cross speaks of its
pain and suffering by witnessing the Crucifixion.
Like the Germanic lord, Christ lays his life for his
people, he voluntarily ascend the Cross and rests,
‘weary after the battle’. The Cross is then
discovered by Helena, Constantine’s mother and
West face of the Ruthwell Cross
becomes a symbol of faith and devotion.
Source: Web
The entire poem is interspersed with images of the
heroic society: the lord, the warriors and thane, and

Unit I, Module III, p 10

the battle. This poem is a splendid example of how the Anglo-Saxons reinterpreted Christianity in
accordance with the knowledge and custom of their heroic society.

Link to the text in Old English and to its translated version.

Now that you have read about the Caedmonian and Cynewulfian schools of poetry, can you make a
comparative study of the two? Think of the kind of themes they were taking up, their styles, and
how they treated the biblical knowledge.

Anglo-Saxon Prose: Alfred, Aelfric and Wulfstan

The literary prose in Old English is mostly made up of translations and paraphrases of Latin writings.
The English did not cultivate prose as a separate art from till they were acquainted with the Latin
literature. The models they followed were chiefly taken from the traditional genres like history,
philosophy and oratory. Epistles were also considered important. Prose was chiefly used for
educational and clerical purposes, for the common man verse remained the most acceptable art from.
We shall now take a brief look at the important prose-writers of the time.

Alfred (849-899)

In spite of the troublesome beginning of his reign and great efforts to establish peace in his nation,
Alfred was a patron of learning. His court housed notable scholars including Asser, who later became
Bishop of Sherbone. Asser wrote the biography of his King. He and other notable scholars helped the
king to make numerous translations from Latin into West Saxon. These translations include: Pope
Gregory’s Pastoral Care, a guide for the clergy; Orosius’ Universal History; Boethius’ Concerning
the Consolation of Philosophy, a dialogue of the early fifth century; and Bede’s Ecclesiastical History
of the English Nation. Although the prose would seem a bit stiff to the modern taste, it shows the zeal
of the king to revive and maintain learning among his people. He does not have any original
composition to his credit, but originality was not such an important issue in those days. However,
King Alfred also encouraged the composition of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle which recorded the
historical events from the earliest times to 1189, that is long after the death of Alfred.

Alfred’s compositions may lack the craftsmanship and training but it was his enthusiasm for learning
that changed the course of literary history in early England. He shows two major concerns through his
composition which are best reflected in the prefaces that he wrote to these volumes: first, importance
of translation of the Latin classics so that everyone could read it; second he wanted to revive the
culture of learning in both the clergy and the layman alike. His Preface to Gregory’s Pastoral Care
can serve as a good example. (Link to the Preface)

Aelfric (c.955- c.1020)

Aelfric composed two series of Homilies from late 980s to 995. He believed that his era was one of
affliction and turmoil and would lead to the end of the world. His desire was to create a body of
didactic prose in the vernacular. He translated the Heptateuch, i.e., the first seven books of the Bible
into Old English in several stages. He made the translation for the common man and thus left out large
portions of scriptural texts. His greatest achievement was the Catholic Homilies or Homiliae
Catholicae. This collection has 40 homilies and hagiographies in each series, it was meant to be used

Unit I, Module III, p 11

by the preachers for conducting church services. To this collection of homilies he added the Lives of
Saints or Passiones Sanctorum. He drew on the abundant stock of sermons and other religious
writings available in Latin; he made particular use of Gregory, Bede and Augustine. He treated his
material with greater freedom so as to mould it according to the needs of his contemporary audience.
Some of his passages are written in the rhythmic alliterative prose

Over thirty manuscripts of Catholic Homilies survive. In the Old English preface to the first series,
Aelfric demonstrates his discontent over the non-orthodox religious writings and speaks of the arrival
of the antichrist. He argues that these homiletic prose pieces would show the right path to the common
man by teaching them about the Christian virtues. (Link to the preface)

Wulfstan (died c. 1023):

Bishop of London and Worcester, and Archbishop of York, Wulfstan was a renowned homilist of his
time. His most famous sermon is called Sermo Lupi ad Anglos, or Address to the English, the title of
which is in Latin but the text is written in Old English. The text is a bitter indictment in which the
author attributes the blame of Danish invasion to the moral degradation of the English people.

This powerfully written sermon, thundered from the pulpit by him or his colleagues, perhaps was
instrumental in bringing the English together against the Danes. Kemp Malone says: ‘The sermons of
Aelfric was meant to instruct; those of Wulfstan, to move; both homilists in the process produced
works of art unmatched in their respective kinds’. (Link to the sermon)

To sum up:

 The Christian literature of the Old English period draws heavily on the Latin texts.
 Since the inspiration was Latin religious texts, the first generation of writers composed
both in Latin and English, and their English works are, in many cases, lost.
 The need for translation was realised by many scholars, Alfred is one of them. The aim
was to educate the mass in matters religious.
 The religious verses was meant to inspire and educate; the poets composed in a style that
would impress the audience of a society rooted in heroic tradition, both in terms of poetic
conventions and social ideologies.
 The prose writers’ aim was educational. The religious and the national causes merged quite
well and they were used to unite the British against the Danish invasion. Perhaps, this was
also a reason why the Danes destroyed so many churches.

Unit I, Module III, p 12