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Waldere
"Waldere" or "Waldhere" is the conventional title given to two Old English fragments from a lost epic poem, discovered in 1860 by E. C. Werlauff, Librarian, in the Danish Royal Library at Copenhagen, where it is still preserved. The parchment pages had been reused as stiffening in the binding of an Elizabethan prayer book, which had presumably come to Europe following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in England in the 16th century. The portion that was found was a part of a much bigger work. What remains of the poem comes in two parts, written on two separate single leaves, usually called "fragment I" and "fragment II", and generally dated about 1000. The fragments can be situated in the epic of which they formed part because the subject, adventures surrounding the hero Walter of Aquitaine, is known in other texts: a Latin epic poem "Waltharius" by Ekkehard of Abbey of St. Gall, dating from the first half of the 10th century; fragments of a Bavarian poem dating from the first half of the 13th century; and two episodes in the Norwegian "Þiðrikssaga".
In this edition of "Waldere" an attempt is made to sift the mass of literature which has sprung up around the poem and to sort out the material of its ancient continental parallels. The literary history of the text is thus treated on much broader lines than hitherto, and the problem is discussed the more fully as it has not before been presented at length in English. The views here advanced are new in many points, notably in assigning the opening lines of Fragment II to "Waldere", in establishing the original foliation of the manuscript, and in the discussion of the dialect.
In this edition of "Waldere" an attempt is made to sift the mass of literature which has sprung up around the poem and to sort out the material of its ancient continental parallels. The literary history of the text is thus treated on much broader lines than hitherto, and the problem is discussed the more fully as it has not before been presented at length in English. The views here advanced are new in many points, notably in assigning the opening lines of Fragment II to "Waldere", in establishing the original foliation of the manuscript, and in the discussion of the dialect.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1933
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December 23, 2012
To anyone acquainted with the medieval German heroic epics, the name of Frederick Norman will be well known for the excellence and perfectionism that is displayed in his few published works. As well as his work on German texts Norman was also a very capable Old English scholar. So with his extensive knowledge of Germanic heroic legend, I cannot think of a better person to choose to edit an Old English text that is firmly rooted in the heroic tradition.
The book follows the standard pattern of all the Methuen Old English Library texts with the introduction, followed by the text and glossary. In the introduction Norman introduces the reader to the discovery of the fragments in a Copenhagen library and then gives a description of the manuscript. The rest is taken up by a comparison of the different version of the legend that are preserved in texts such as the Waltharius and Thidrekssaga.
The actual story itself tells of Waldere's escape from Attila's court with his promised bride and stolen treasure. On his journey he encounters Gunther and his old friend Hagen and various other Nibelungen/Burgundian warriors, of which Gunther orders his warriors to attack Waldere and take the treasure and his bride. While battle rages between the Nibelungen and Waldere, Hagen refuses to join the fray due to his friendship with Waldere and and his disgust at Gunther's un-heroic attack on Waldere. After Waldere as disposed of all the Nibelung warriors, Hagen decides to join the battle on the side of his lord King Gunther. The story ends with Waldere, Gunther and Hagen all receiving wounds and renewing their friendships while Hildegunn patches up their injuries. Unfortunately the Old English version only preserves two fragments which parallel the later part of the story and the complete story must be gathered from the Latin Waltharius, making this one of the most lamentable losses from the Anglo Saxon period.
Norman's introduction is followed by his edition of the fragments, which is accompanied by an extensive amount of explanatory footnotes and a glossary which is extremely helpful in interpreting the text. While this edition is kind of superseded by the recent Jonathan Himes edition of Waldere, the £2-3 price tag on this version makes it worth picking up a copy to supplement the newer version.
The book follows the standard pattern of all the Methuen Old English Library texts with the introduction, followed by the text and glossary. In the introduction Norman introduces the reader to the discovery of the fragments in a Copenhagen library and then gives a description of the manuscript. The rest is taken up by a comparison of the different version of the legend that are preserved in texts such as the Waltharius and Thidrekssaga.
The actual story itself tells of Waldere's escape from Attila's court with his promised bride and stolen treasure. On his journey he encounters Gunther and his old friend Hagen and various other Nibelungen/Burgundian warriors, of which Gunther orders his warriors to attack Waldere and take the treasure and his bride. While battle rages between the Nibelungen and Waldere, Hagen refuses to join the fray due to his friendship with Waldere and and his disgust at Gunther's un-heroic attack on Waldere. After Waldere as disposed of all the Nibelung warriors, Hagen decides to join the battle on the side of his lord King Gunther. The story ends with Waldere, Gunther and Hagen all receiving wounds and renewing their friendships while Hildegunn patches up their injuries. Unfortunately the Old English version only preserves two fragments which parallel the later part of the story and the complete story must be gathered from the Latin Waltharius, making this one of the most lamentable losses from the Anglo Saxon period.
Norman's introduction is followed by his edition of the fragments, which is accompanied by an extensive amount of explanatory footnotes and a glossary which is extremely helpful in interpreting the text. While this edition is kind of superseded by the recent Jonathan Himes edition of Waldere, the £2-3 price tag on this version makes it worth picking up a copy to supplement the newer version.
Displaying 1 of 1 review