Produced by David Starner, Louise Pryor and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net {Transcriber's Note: This e-text contains a number of unusual characters: œ oe ligature ✠ maltese cross ⁊ tironian ampersand ō o-macron c̃ c-tilde ŷ y-circumflex ȝ yogh If they do not display properly, use the transliterated version instead. {þæt} represents a þ with a stroke through the top.} The Dawn of European Literature. * * * * * ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE. BY JOHN EARLE, M.A. RECTOR OF SWANSWICK, RAWLINSON PROFESSOR OF ANGLO-SAXON IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND EDUCATION APPOINTED BY THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE. LONDON: SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE, NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, CHARING CROSS, W.C.; 43, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, E.C.; 26, ST. GEORGE'S PLACE, HYDE PARK CORNER S.W. BRIGHTON: 133, NORTH STREET. NEW YORK: E. & J.B. YOUNG & CO. 1884. PREFACE. The bulk of this little book has been a year or more in type; and, in the mean time, some important publications have appeared which it was too late for me to profit by. Among such I count the "Corpus Poeticum Boreale" by Dr. Gudbrand Vigfusson and Mr. York Powell; the "Epinal Gloss" and Alfred's "Orosius" by Mr. Sweet, for the Early English Text Society; an American edition of the "Beowulf" by Professors Harrison and Sharp; Ælfric's translation of "Alcuin upon Genesis," by Mr. MacLean. To these I must add an article in the "Anglia" on the first and last of the Riddles in the Exeter Book, by Dr. Moritz Trautmann. Another recent book is the translation of Mr. Bernhard Ten Brink's work on "Early English Literature," which comprises a description of the Anglo-Saxon period. This book is not new to me, except for the English dress that Mr. Kennedy has given to it. The German original has been often in my hand, and although I am not aware of any particular debt, such as it would have been a duty and a pleasure to acknowledge on the spot, yet I have a sentiment that Mr. Ten Brink's sympathising and judicious treatment of our earliest literature has been not only agreeable to read, but also profitable for my work. 15, NORHAM ROAD, OXFORD, _March 15th, 1884._ CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I.--A PRELIMINARY VIEW 1 II.--THE MATERIALS 28 III.--THE HEATHEN PERIOD 59 IV.--THE SCHOOLS OF KENT 79 V.--THE ANGLIAN PERIOD 98 VI.--THE PRIMARY POETRY 119 VII.--THE WEST SAXON LAWS 150 VIII.--THE CHRONICLES 169 IX.--ALFRED'S TRANSLATIONS 186 X.--ÆLFRIC 207 XI.--THE SECONDARY POETRY 225 XII.--THE NORMAN CONQUEST, AND AFTER THAT 243