Judith

by Mark Griffith (editor)

Undergraduates frequently find the fine Old English poem JUDITH the most stimulating of the surviving texts from the Anglo-Saxon period. In the past thirty years it has attracted a wide range of literary criticism both in the UK and the US. Feminist critics of English literature have been particularly interested by the ways in which the poet has adapted the traditional masculine heroic ethos of Old English poetry to a story figuring a violently active female protagonist.Yet there is no available edition of Judith which is either comprehensive or up to date, or which at all explains how and why the poem is worthy of our attention. This new edition aims to fill this gap. It includes a full Introduction and commentary by the editor, plus a comprehensive glossary, bibliography and appendices.

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Mark Griffith is professor of classics and of theater, dance, and performance studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

*SPOILERS*
I think that all I need to explain about Judith, for the curious reader's sake, is that the Anglo-Saxons had a facility with compound words (it is a Germanic language after all), which means that this book contains the word headsack, meaning a sack for severed heads. Have fun!