Anglo-Saxon Poetry and the Historian

Abstract

Vernacular poetry of the Anglo-Saxon period survives in considerable bulk—nearly thirty thousand lines. It is certainly a mere fraction of what once existed. What chance has preserved is not always just what one would have chosen, and its historical value is by no means proportional to its extent. It has not been neglected as a source for Anglo-Saxon history, and I do not claim that this paper is about to add to our knowledge of the period. Nevertheless, it may be of some interest to historians to consider both the value and the limitations of Old English verse literature as historical material. I am not concerned to-day with its literary merit, and I propose to narrow my subject by confining myself to English history. The importance of Beowulf and Widsith for the student of Scandinavian history is quite another story.

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