In this section, Prof. Arthur Bahr describes how he selected the texts for the class.
The class really has three types of readings: short “mini-texts” that Peter Baker includes in his Introduction to Old English, our primary textbook; longer prose texts; and, finally, poems. I’ll take these three types of texts in order.
One reason I love Baker’s textbook is that it includes short excerpts of real Old English—mini-texts—from the very opening chapters, when students still know very little. I invite them to notice things based on what they do know: “That -as looks like an accusative ending!” or “This þā could mean many things.” Sometimes they’re right and sometimes they aren’t, and I always correct mistakes; but the large point is to start developing the patterns of mind necessary to read Old English with skill and pleasure. They also offer brilliant illustrative examples of the grammatical principles we are mostly concerned with in this early stage of the semester.
After about a month of intensive grammar, we transition to longer texts that students have to translate before class using a glossary. First is Aelfric’s “Preface to Genesis,” which explains his reluctance to translate the Bible: foolish people may understand only the literal meaning of the text and not the deeper, spiritual sense. This tension is a great introduction to medieval culture, and since we have by that point translated bits of Aelfric’s (reluctantly produced) translation as a mini-text, it’s fun for students on that level, too. Then we read an Old English version of Bede’s account of the first poem in English, “Caedmon’s Hymn,” which praises the majesty of God’s creation. That connects well with the previous Aelfric selection on Genesis (i.e., Creation), while also introducing students to the challenges and beauties of Old English poetry.
From there, the texts may vary a bit from semester to semester, but we we read a few Old English riddles (some of which inspired those of Bilbo and Gollum in The Hobbit), as well as “The Wife’s Lament” and “The Husband’s Message,” two hauntingly evocative poems about love, loss, and potential reunion. The latter uses runes to inscribe a riddle, so that connects nicely with the earlier riddles. Then we move to The Dream of the Rood, my absolute favorite Old English poem, before finishing with greatest hits of Beowulf.
