Cynewulf's Elene

by Cynewulf, Pamela Gradon (Editor), Lucius Hudson Holt (Translator)

"Elene" is a poem in Old English, that is sometimes known as "Saint Helena Finds the True Cross." It was translated from a Latin text and is the longest of Cynewulf's four signed poems. It is the fifth of six poems appearing in the Vercelli manuscript, which also contains "The Fates of the Apostles," "Andreas," "Soul and Body I," the "Homiletic Fragment I" and "Dream of the Rood." The poem is the first English account of the finding of the Holy Cross by Saint Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine. The poem was written by Cynewulf some time between 750 and the tenth century. It is written in a West Saxon dialect, but certain Anglianisms and metrical evidence concerning false rhymes suggest it was written in an Anglian rather than Saxon dialect. It is 1,321 lines long.
The aim of this edition has been to sift the mass of criticism, emendation and speculation which has grown up round the text. In order to bring the work into conformity with the requirements of the series in which it is published it has been necessary in view of the length of the text to reduce the apparatus to a minimum; but it is hoped that the bibliography will afford sufficient guidance to the considerable literature on the text.

"[A] careful and scholarly edition of an important early English poem, which scholars and students alike will welcome."

Modern Language Review

Genres: Poetry, Medieval, Classics

124 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 820

About the author

Cynewulf is one of approximately twelve Anglo-Saxon poets who are known by name, and one of only four whose work is known to survive today. He presumably flourished in the 9th century, with possible dates extending into the late 8th and early 10th centuries.

He is famous for his religious compositions, and is regarded as one of the pre-eminent figures of Christian Old English poetry. Posterity knows of his name by means of runic signatures that are interwoven into the four poems which comprise his scholastically recognized corpus. These poems are: The Fates of the Apostles, Juliana, Elene, and Christ II (also referred to as The Ascension).

The four signed poems of Cynewulf are vast in that they collectively comprise several thousand lines of verse.

Reviews

[Zadignose]

A well told story, though not a story that would appeal as a skeletal narrative. Even in the 19th-C. translation it's full of that somber, weighty, and darkly mystical Anglo-Saxon tone, the alliteration, and the kennings that make it akin to the Old-Nordic style as well.

Reading it creates an odd collision of cultures and eras: I'm a 21st-C. English reader, this is a 19th-C. translation of a story written in 9th-C., set in 4th-C. Rome and Jerusalem, and recounting Helena's quest for long-lost, long-buried, 1st-C. Relics.

It is interesting and odd to read a Christian tale written in a warrior's language, appealing to the war-like culture of perhaps only recently converted heathens with pagan leanings; a story in which visions of Christ and his relics convert pagans while also granting them strength for battle and military victory; a story in which, if the reader has a critical eye, it might appear that Helena/Elene takes on the role of violent and unjust oppressor, at least in respect to her use of violence, threats, and torture (of a mild sort: just throw him in a pit to starve for a while) to extort information even while decrying the injustice of the Jews who betrayed their unacknowledged lord upon the cross (the victory-tree!); a story that establishes or solidifies a cult of relics, in which the nails that once pierced Christ's hands become a magical charm to render Constantine invulnerable if he uses them as a bit for his horse in times of war.

Yes, this a MAN'S Christianity, I mean, God bless the meek and all, but meanwhile give us the strength to trample the Goths, Franks, and Hugs/Huns. Or, if we're being merely metaphorical (but we're not), give us the spiritual strength to overcome the fiend through Christ's love, Amen. Anyway, as I read it, I imagine that a sizable number of pagans found the appeal of Christianity in the suggestion that the Christian God was ultimately truer and more potent than the gods they abandoned, plus Christ left behind these magic knick-knacks to cure diseases and blindness and such, to it's pretty much a practical matter.

[Charlie]

2.5 STARS

This took me way too long to read because I'd already read a bunch of texts today and long poems are always a challenge for me to keep track of. Especially when they contain religious themes and stories which this one certainly does. Luckily, I was already familiar with Elene and the story about her. I was NOT a fan of the whole converting Judas storyline... And there certainly was some antisemetic undertones in this. Nevertheless, I always find it fascinating to read Old English texts and seeing how intricate they are and how much textual awareness there is in them. So from a scholarly perspective, I certainly enjoyed this. But, then again, I've definitely read OE texts that convinced me more than this.

[Mai]

Elene is a poem on the epnomous hero of the story to uncover the Cross of Christ. Her son Constantine recieved a vision from God and it is he who commands his mother Elene to find it. Cynewulf through many linguistic conventions turns Elene, an unlikely hero of the time, into a female heroic Saint of Anglo-Saxon England.

Of course the poem comes with its issues. For example Cynewulf's description and treatment of Jewish population is by far not a faverouble one and can seem quite brutal at times. Furthermore, the main character Elene may seem static at first, and it is only later that one could conclude that Elene embodies the heathen past of the British people and is supposed to partialy represent their efforts of bringing proper Christian truth back to mainland Europe.

I belive the poem can be seen, in feminist terms of the Middle Ages, as fairly progressive and it is a good and short read. Also Cynewulf's other poems, like Judith and Juliana are good reads if one enjoys medieval literature.

[A.J.]

Even though this isn't exactly a novel-length poem, I'm adding it to my list for a few reasons. First of all, it is 1,300 lines long. Second of all, when I awake from cryo-sleep in three thousand years, I want to look back and remember that I read this. And thirdly, nobody else has reviewed it, so I suppose I'll perform a social function.

'Elene' is a poem chronicling the voyage of the Roman Emperor Constantine's mother when she travelled to Israel to find the cross of Christ. It had appeared to her son in a vision just before a crucial battle, one from which Constantine emerged victorious. After sending the Hun packing, Constantine decided to figure out who had sent the vision, and so the story begins.

Chances are if you're into Christian legends from the middle ages, you'll be into this. If not, better find something else to read. I'm almost as indifferent as they come. I like Roman history around the time of Gaius Julius Caesar, but most of that later Christianization of the empire stuff doesn't interest me. This particular poem lacks any kind of cool monsters, sword-slashing heroes, or seafaring adventure, and so return to my main point, unless you've got a vested interest in medieval poetry, I'd stick with the Greek stuff.

Oh, and Cynewulf wasn't too fond of the Jews.