Poems and Prose from the Old English

by Burton Raffel (Translator), Alexandra Hennessey Olsen (Editor)

In this restructured and greatly expanded version of Burton Raffel’s out-of-print classic, Poems from the Old English , Raffel and co-editor Alexandra H. Olsen place the oldest English writings in an entirely different perspective. Keeping the classroom teacher’s needs foremost in mind, Raffel and Olsen organize the major old English poems (except Beowulf ) and new prose selections so as to facilitate both reading and studying. A general introduction provides an up-to-date and detailed historical account of the Anglo-Saxon period, and concise introductions open the literature sections of the book and many of the translations.

Raffel’s masterly translations of Old English poetry, praised as fine poems in their own right, reproduce much of the flavor as well as the sense of the originals. With more than 1800 newly translated lines and many revised older translations, the poems in this volume are organized into four genres―elegies, heroic poems, religious poems, and wisdom poetry. Raffel’s new translations include more than twenty poem-riddles, with proposed solutions in a separate section. Prose translations―grouped in historical, testamentary and legal, religious, social and instructional, and medical and magical categories―feature writings by King Alfred, Aelfric, and Wulfstan, among others.

Genres: Poetry, Medieval, Anthologies, History, Classics

254 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Burton Raffel was a translator, a poet and a teacher. He has translated many poems, including the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf.

Reviews

[Briynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best translations of Old English poetry I have ever seen, hands down. The translations are done in thoroughly modern English and are not rigidly transcribed; they resonate so much more clearly this way than all of the other versions I've seen. "The Woman's Lament" and "Wulf and Eadwacer" give me chills - they are so, so good.

[Stella Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting how the vibes of the Anglo-Saxon period and now are exceedingly similar, and therefore an Ethel Cain album about the futility of life and love has the exact same vibes as the elegy The Wanderer

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

The poetry is wonderful. The decision to place the religious poetry alongside The Seafarer and The Wanderer, is clear after reading much of the anthology. While the purpose of most of the pride selections is clear, I think the legal portion was too much.

[Kayla]

loved it