Saint Erkenwald

by Unknown, Henry L. Savage

A middle English poem, given in its original language, accompanied by a glossary of the more obscure vocabulary.

Genres: Poetry, Medieval

96 pages

First published January 1, 1924

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Unknown" when the author or editor (as applicable) is not known and cannot be discovered. If at all possible, list at least one actual author or editor for a book instead of using "Unknown".

Books whose authorship is purposefully withheld should be attributed instead to Anonymous.

Reviews

[Teal Veyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful medieval poem about baptism. A bunch of dudes unearth a coffin and inside there is a dead body that has been there for who knows how long, yet it's totally preserved. The body hasn't rotted at all and the clothes haven't decayed at all. It basically looks like the guy fell asleep.

So this guy talks directly to the body and asks what the hell is up with him. The body starts talking and explains that he was a super upstanding dude when he was alive. That's why he has a crown on, even though he isn't a king (he was a judge).

Then they ask him where his soul went and he explains that he wasn't baptized. Baptism is the medicine for the poison that Adam put onto all their lips when he bit the apple. Since this man never got that 'medicine', he's stuck in purgatory.

The men are so moved that they beg God to accept the late baptism and run for water.

They baptize the corpse "and all the bells in the city boomed out at once."

When you take into account how important baptism (and Christianity in general) was to medieval Europeans-particularly at this point of European history-this is a really moving poem. They saved this man's soul.

It was really beautifully written and the ending is perfect.

[sk · Rating 3 out of 5]

not too sure what i just read and not too sure it was even english

[Hannah]

The alliteration/consonance of this poem sings to me

[JGB · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a swift poem with a lot to say about salvation & also British heritage. It's surprisingly readable, too.

[Othy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good presentation of the poem with a fantastic introduction. It's too bad, though, that it was published in 1924, and it's rather a sure thing that much more has been written on the poem since then.