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Pride and Prodigies: Studies in the Monsters of the Beowulf Manuscript
Monsters and the monstrous, whether from the remote pagan past or the new world of Christian Latin learning, haunted the Anglo-Saxon imagination in a variety of ways. In this series of detailed studies, Andy Orchard demonstrates the changing range of Anglo-Saxon attitudes towards the monstrous by reconsidering the monsters of Beowulf against the background of early medieval and patristic teratology and with reference to specific Anglo-Saxon texts.
The immediate manuscript context of the monsters in Beowulf is analysed, shedding light on the poet's treatment of the theme of the monstrous and its integration into his work, and a series of parallel discussions consider a range of medieval treatments of the same theme in a variety of analogous texts (all provided with translation), in Latin, Old English, Middle Irish, and Old Icelandic.
The twin themes of pride and prodigies are suggested by tracing changing attitudes towards the concept of pride and establishing a close link between the proud pagan warriors depicted in Christian tradition and the monsters they fight, and with whom they become increasingly identified.
An appendix contains new editions and translations (some for the first time in English) of the Liber Monstrorum, The Letter of Alexander to Aristotle, and The Wonders of the East.
Originally published in 1995 by Boydell & Brewer.
The immediate manuscript context of the monsters in Beowulf is analysed, shedding light on the poet's treatment of the theme of the monstrous and its integration into his work, and a series of parallel discussions consider a range of medieval treatments of the same theme in a variety of analogous texts (all provided with translation), in Latin, Old English, Middle Irish, and Old Icelandic.
The twin themes of pride and prodigies are suggested by tracing changing attitudes towards the concept of pride and establishing a close link between the proud pagan warriors depicted in Christian tradition and the monsters they fight, and with whom they become increasingly identified.
An appendix contains new editions and translations (some for the first time in English) of the Liber Monstrorum, The Letter of Alexander to Aristotle, and The Wonders of the East.
Originally published in 1995 by Boydell & Brewer.
360 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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About the author
Andy Orchard
29 books7 followersAndrew Philip McDowell "Andy" Orchard, FRSC, FBA is a British academic in Old English, Norse and Celtic literature. He is Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at the University of Oxford and a fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 12, 2008
Andy Orchard was my professor for Beowulf up at the University of Toronto. He provided me with my favorite comment upon my life of all time: after coming in to class and claiming that he delighted in making fun of me for my meager translating abilities, he responded, "Well, it's only my birthday once a year, but it's 'Kick Michael's Ass Day' every day." That's a mantra I live by.
That said, Orchard is a certified genius, a big-brained, raucous guide through the world of literature who can pull citations from a hundred works out of his brain at a moment's notice. This book digs in to the poem and explores the roles and uses of both the monsters and the other outstanding characters of the text, tracing some of the origins and echoes of the beasties through the long and convoluted realms of legend and tales from various cultures. (Orchard is the one who clued us in to the fact that some of the words most commonly used to describe Grendel's dangerous character are used of only one other subject in the poem: Beowulf himself.) He can sometimes be rather didactic in his conclusions (We argued at some length over a point about the use of "verbs of vision," upon which I wrote a very inept term paper in a vain attempt to impress him by challenging his authority. I do not recommend this to others, though he was kind in his ass-kickery.), but it's rathe difficult to refute his claims and they add a great deal to text.
The reason this gets only four stars is because Orchard kicked my ass every day.
That said, Orchard is a certified genius, a big-brained, raucous guide through the world of literature who can pull citations from a hundred works out of his brain at a moment's notice. This book digs in to the poem and explores the roles and uses of both the monsters and the other outstanding characters of the text, tracing some of the origins and echoes of the beasties through the long and convoluted realms of legend and tales from various cultures. (Orchard is the one who clued us in to the fact that some of the words most commonly used to describe Grendel's dangerous character are used of only one other subject in the poem: Beowulf himself.) He can sometimes be rather didactic in his conclusions (We argued at some length over a point about the use of "verbs of vision," upon which I wrote a very inept term paper in a vain attempt to impress him by challenging his authority. I do not recommend this to others, though he was kind in his ass-kickery.), but it's rathe difficult to refute his claims and they add a great deal to text.
The reason this gets only four stars is because Orchard kicked my ass every day.
July 7, 2013
This study of the Beowulf Manuscript approaches the manuscript within the context of Christian Latin texts, Old English, Irish and Old Norse literature. Exploring parallels in texts that contain similar accounts of monsters that bear resemblances to Grendel and his mother, while delving into medieval attitudes towards monsters and their views on Christian and heroic pride.
The very useful appendixes contain the texts and modern English translations of two key key texts from the Beowulf manuscript, Wonders of the East and Alexander's letter to Aristotle and then the Liber Monstrorum which contains a reference to Hygalec's raid on the Frisians, his monstrous size and the location of his grave.
November 26, 2021
This is not really meant to be read for fun and in one go like a story, but oh well. Having done a module that was basically taken from this book, I understood a lot of the points already, and had read Beowulf, the Liber Monstrorum and Grettisaga so I was definitely at the best I could be to understand it. I really enjoyed the first two chapters and the last one on Grettir, but the ones in the middle fell flat as info dumps for references to certain things in different texts. Like there was interesting stuff but it felt more like a textbook in the middle than it had at the start. A small complaint I have would be that although Orchard provides translations of the long quotes, sometimes he would just put some Old English or German without translating in and I just don't speak either of those languages and it was a bit annoying. Overall though I liked revisiting a topic I found really interesting when studying it!
January 14, 2021
A really interesting essay approach to Beowulf giving a new insight into this medieval masterpiece! What does pride have to do with the monsters of Beowulf? Is there a development between the different fights Beowulf has with each of these 3 monsters? [spoiler alert] Are the grendelkin and the dragon physical manifestations of Beowulf’s psychology and abstract emotions? [end of spoiler]. This was really interesting and although I’m not really sure whether I can completely agree with Orchard’s particular emphasis on Beowulf’s psychology — as the literature of that time was more focused on the exterior rather than the interior — I would 100% recommend this wonderful response to the poem!
October 27, 2011
In this study of the texts of the Old English Beowulf-manuscript, Orchard argues that "two themes... connect the texts, ...all of which uniformly exhibit a twin interest in the outlandish and in the activities of overweening pagan warriors from a distant heroic past: pride and prodigies" (27). Thus the book takes not only Beowulf itself as the starting point but also the manuscript to which all of these works belong. While the majority of the book does certainly and primarily address Beowulf, it is also a more encompassing study. In all of this, Orchard's work is both insightful and engaging on a number of levels--a notable contribution to scholarship.
Chapter 1 begins with an overview of the manuscript and the texts surrounding Beowulf in its scribal home. In this, Orchard provides overviews of the paleography, the texts themselves, and the basis of his arguments throughout the rest of the book. With this established, he then commits the next two chapters to Beowulf itself, followed by one chapter each on the connected work known as the Liber Monstrorum and the Alexander legend in Anglo-Saxon England. Finally, he pulls all of these subjects together in the last chapter, returning to monsters and Beowulf to conclude his arguments.
One of the most valuable aspects of this examination is Orchard's interaction with previous scholarship, in which he presents previous (often contending) readings of the Old English works as well as his own intervention into these discussions. A major aspect of this is Orchard's work in patristic, exegetical, Irish, and Insular sources, on which he draws heavily in his discussions. While he does not claim direct influences, the mass of encyclopedic information that Orchard accumulates does sufficiently demonstrate a complex of connections between the various traditions. The result is an argument that does ultimately convince readers that the Beowulf poet and the manuscript compiler were indeed aiming to reflect their own learned, sophisticated approaches to the works. Furthermore, the more specific argument that "pride and prodigies" runs throughout the manuscript as a major thematic issue is convincingly demonstrated.
Just as much as the study itself, a major contribution to the field is the collection of edited texts that form the appendices. In these, Orchard provides fresh editions of the following works: The Wonders of the East (Latin, OE, and translation); The Letter of Alexander to Aristotle (Latin, OE, and translation); and the parallel Liber Monstrorum (Latin and translation)--including a compendious list of sources and analogues for the last, with references to the former two texts. These editions and translations surely supersede the previous texts by Rypins, now almost a century old.
Chapter 1 begins with an overview of the manuscript and the texts surrounding Beowulf in its scribal home. In this, Orchard provides overviews of the paleography, the texts themselves, and the basis of his arguments throughout the rest of the book. With this established, he then commits the next two chapters to Beowulf itself, followed by one chapter each on the connected work known as the Liber Monstrorum and the Alexander legend in Anglo-Saxon England. Finally, he pulls all of these subjects together in the last chapter, returning to monsters and Beowulf to conclude his arguments.
One of the most valuable aspects of this examination is Orchard's interaction with previous scholarship, in which he presents previous (often contending) readings of the Old English works as well as his own intervention into these discussions. A major aspect of this is Orchard's work in patristic, exegetical, Irish, and Insular sources, on which he draws heavily in his discussions. While he does not claim direct influences, the mass of encyclopedic information that Orchard accumulates does sufficiently demonstrate a complex of connections between the various traditions. The result is an argument that does ultimately convince readers that the Beowulf poet and the manuscript compiler were indeed aiming to reflect their own learned, sophisticated approaches to the works. Furthermore, the more specific argument that "pride and prodigies" runs throughout the manuscript as a major thematic issue is convincingly demonstrated.
Just as much as the study itself, a major contribution to the field is the collection of edited texts that form the appendices. In these, Orchard provides fresh editions of the following works: The Wonders of the East (Latin, OE, and translation); The Letter of Alexander to Aristotle (Latin, OE, and translation); and the parallel Liber Monstrorum (Latin and translation)--including a compendious list of sources and analogues for the last, with references to the former two texts. These editions and translations surely supersede the previous texts by Rypins, now almost a century old.
September 9, 2012
Orchard's text has, since its publication, become something of essential volume for students of Anglo-Saxon literature wishing to address the monstrous figures in 'Beowulf' and, more broadly speaking, the Vitellius manuscript (which also includes a version of the 'Wonders of the East' and an Old English rendition of the Apocryphal Book of Judith). Besides offering translations of a number of important, 'monstrous' texts, Orchard's commentary on the Vitellius manuscript - which forms the first half, so to speak, of his book - is more than insightful. The creatures of the 'Wonders of the East', Grendel and his mother, and even the transgressive (and thus monstrous) bodies of Holofernes and Judith, the Hebrew widow cum Germanic hero(ine), all receive critical attention from Orchard. It's an excellent volume.
July 26, 2007
Even though Beowulf itself is 1,000 years old, the monsters that play such a crucial part in the tale can be traced back thousands of years in various cultures, including Nordic, Greek and Roman. Though Andy Orchard is a leading Beowulf scholar, this book reads very easily and is quite enjoyable on its own merit -- not as just a companion text to the poem.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews