The Irish Tradition in Old English Literature

Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England #6

by Charles D. Wright

Irish monks and missionaries played a crucial role in the conversion of the pagan Anglo-Saxons and in the formation of Christian culture in England, but the nature and extent of Irish influence on Old English poetry has remained largely undefined.

Charles Wright identifies the characteristic features of Irish Christian literature which influenced Anglo-Saxon vernacular authors. Professor Wright traces the Irish background of the distinctive contents of Vercelli Homily IX and its remarkable exemplum, The Devil's Account of the Next World, and traces the dissemination of related stylistic and thematic material elsewhere in Old English literature, including other anonymous homilies such as Beowulf and the Solomon and Saturn texts. As a full-length study of Irish influence on Old English religious literature, the book will appeal to scholars in Old English literature, Anglo-Saxon studies, and Old and Middle Irish literature.

Genres: Anglo Saxon, Ireland

321 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1993

Reviews

[M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to the promised topic from Ecclesiastical and secular sources, documented, with a good method and critical analysis. Engaging. I just wish I knew more in general, but it's one of these little gems to get a quick overview of medieval Irish literature. I guess it's my turn to read Julius Caesear and St. Bede the Venerable now.