Hi there, Lately I’ve been all about manuscript & contexts & questioning emendations, so I thought it might be helpful to provide guidance to which poems are found in which major codex (there are only four) so you can get an idea of how these works were presented to their initial audiences. So now there … Continue reading Gathering & Collating the Poems…
What’s New?
Major work underway on Exeter Book Riddles
Beloved public, My research has always been involved with the theory & practice of translation, and this has led me to reconsidering how established scholarly translations of Old English poetry have both shaped & constrained the way we conceive of this body of work. This has led to an extremely circumscribed view of the poetry. … Continue reading Major work underway on Exeter Book Riddles…
New Translation of the Dream of the Rood up now!
Hello old English poetry enthusiasts. It’s been a minute since I’ve updated anything here. But I would like to humbly offer my latest re-translation & critical deformation of a classic Old English poem (what Old English poem is not tho, right? hehe). It’s my pleasure to present here a re-vision of the “Dream of the … Continue reading New Translation of the Dream of the Rood up now!…
On re-translating “Wulf and Eadwacer”
Oh sweet baby Jebus, “Wulf” is a wild one. A short lyric, found in the Exeter Book, traditionally listed among the 9 or so “Elegies” (a deeply problematic term, as I’ve pointed to before). The best translations vary widely (which they should) but more traditional approaches have fallen short. I get frustrated with disappointing translations … Continue reading On re-translating “Wulf and Eadwacer”…
Retranslating “The Order of the World”
“The Order of the World”: an odd lyric from the Exeter Book, it seems to unite poetic composition, offering to initiate a neophyte into its mysteries, and in doing so, explores the creation principles of the universe. Its vision of creation is more spiritual than religious, missing many things these sorts of accounts often feature … Continue reading Retranslating “The Order of the World”…
Newer Translations rolling out
Since I got started on the “Wanderer” I thought I’d keep going on a few others, so there are new translations of “Wulf and Eadwacer,” “The Wife’s Lament,” and “The Order of the World.” All three are poems with some uncertainty about what exactly they might mean, a confusion brought on I think by stodgy … Continue reading Newer Translations rolling out…