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Reading the Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Poetry | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Pechorin Newbie United Kingdom Joined 2800 days ago 9 posts - 10 votes Speaks: English* | Message 1 of 10 17 August 2016 at 4:22pm | IP Logged |
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Summary:
At present (17th August 2016) I can read Old English texts (both prose and poetry) with some degree of fluency. I can understand the broad sense, and gain some enjoyment from reading, with the text alone, but for a complete understanding I have to use a dictionary, and guess at the syntax. I want to advance from an intermediate to an advanced level of reading knowledge before Christmas 2016. In order to do this, I am going to read through the corpus of Anglo-Saxon poetry (not such a big task - equal to maybe 1000 printed pages). I won't study grammar or vowel mutations; but I will use Supermemo to increase my vocabulary. Introduction: I believe it was on Saturday 6th August 2016 that I started leafing through my old copy of Sweet's Anglo-Saxon Reader; either that, or the Penguin edition of Beowulf (original text with facing glossary). Actually, it may have been a few days earlier. I could understand a lot. I had tackled the language for research purposes a few years ago. My sporadic, fitful, unfocused, but protracted efforts got me to the point where I could analyse prose saints' lives with some degree of accuracy. However, I was never able to experience the true literary and intellectual pleasures of Old English, assuming that there are any.... I decided to rectify this over the coming months. Objective: To be able to read Anglo-Saxon literature in the original language, fluently, and with only occasional (and basically unnecessary) reference to a dictionary. Deadline: Christmas 2016 Study plan: No grammar, definitely no memorising inflections. Increase vocabulary through reading; put new words into Supermemo on my smartphone, with example sentences. Read through the corpus of Anglo-Saxon poetry, as found here: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/ascp/ Use Kindle or smartphone as reading tool, with internet dictionary: http://www.old-engli.sh/dictionary.php For convenience, I will roughly follow the order in which the poems are listed on the webpage. This is a side project. I am also currently occupied with a much bigger and much more important langage (for professional and personal reasons). So I won't be able to spare more than an hour's reading time on an average day; two at weekends. Supermemo repetitions can be fitted in at work. Note: The first few posts will be retrospective, covering texts read before the creation of this log. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Pechorin Newbie United Kingdom Joined 2800 days ago 9 posts - 10 votes Speaks: English* | Message 2 of 10 17 August 2016 at 4:24pm | IP Logged |
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(retrospective post)
(?6-?7th August, 2016) Beowulf The classic. How could I not read this first? Also I have the Penguin edition with facing glossary, making for an easier start to my journey through OE verse. I'll read it again when I have finished the rest of the corpus. I'm already looking forward to doing so. Beowulf really is a masterpiece. For more information see the introduction to the Penguin edition, which more or less captures my sentiments on the poem, and with more eloquence than I could muster. Beowulf was a hard read, though. Lots of words I didn't know. Lots of unknown cultural context. But I felt that I had already made progress in understanding the poem by the time I finished it. This bodes well for my subsequent endeavours. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Pechorin Newbie United Kingdom Joined 2800 days ago 9 posts - 10 votes Speaks: English* | Message 3 of 10 17 August 2016 at 4:26pm | IP Logged |
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(retrospective post)
(8th-15th August, 2016) Genesis A, B Genesis B is better than Genesis A. Genesis B is approximately lines 200-900, and tells of Satan's fall from heaven; his counsel with the other devils in hell; and his temptation of Adam and Eve. A kind of proto-Paradise Lost. No real thoughts on it at this time, but well worth reading. Read it (together with the beginning of Genesis A) in one sitting on Monday 8th August. Fairly easy to understand; much easier than Beowulf. After that comes the bulk of Genesis A, another 1500 lines or so. Appears to be a straight paraphrase of the book of Genesis. Read in dribs and drabs over the last week, and didn't get much out of it. But I didn't bother to look up many words in the dictionary, so my understanding was somewhat limited. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Pechorin Newbie United Kingdom Joined 2800 days ago 9 posts - 10 votes Speaks: English* | Message 4 of 10 17 August 2016 at 4:31pm | IP Logged |
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(retrospective post)
(15th-16th August, 2016) Andreas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_(poem) 1722 lines about the apostle St Andrew. As I remember it ---- St Andrew goes to rescue St Matthew from the heathen Mermedonians; does so; but is captured himself and tortured for three days before God saves him; God then floods Mermedonia before the Mermedonians beg for forgiveness and are saved; Andrew sails off into the sunset. Apparently this was a translation of a Latin original, but with added Anglo-Saxon elements casting Andrew as an Old English warrior hero. Sounds about right, and makes for a good read. Solid stuff for language learning, too, at a stimulating i+1 level for me. 'geofon' is one of the words I added to Supermemo while reading; 'oretta' is another. Thoughts: Was it easy to write a Christian hero? Following my probably incorrect understanding of the term, a hero (like Beowulf) is heroic because he risks death in order to protect others; and he protects other by his personal prowess. But a Christian hero wins through God's power; and he shouldn't care about death because he'll go to heaven. Actually, death is a positive outcome for him. Result: a lack of narrative tension. The writer of Andreas had a (partial) solution to this dilemma. Following his action to save Matthew, Andreas is mercilessly tortured, to the point where he begs God to let him die; God refuses. So the pagan hero has to face death in order to fulfil his role as protector. The Christian hero has to face LIFE, a life of suffering......... Edited by Pechorin on 17 August 2016 at 4:31pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Pechorin Newbie United Kingdom Joined 2800 days ago 9 posts - 10 votes Speaks: English* | Message 5 of 10 17 August 2016 at 4:32pm | IP Logged |
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(retrospective post)
(10th August, 2016) The Fate of the Apostles A shorter poem by the named poet Cynewulf. The first part was fairly standard martyrology (have I used the term correctly?); the second part was more interesting, with Cynewulf expressing a rather bleak worldview. At least that's how I remember it. But it was a cursory readthrough during my lunch hour, so I may well have misunderstood the poem. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Pechorin Newbie United Kingdom Joined 2800 days ago 9 posts - 10 votes Speaks: English* | Message 6 of 10 17 August 2016 at 4:44pm | IP Logged |
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(first proper, non retrospective, post)
(17th August, 2016) Elene Another one by Cynewulf, longer, coming in around 1300 lines. A little anti-semitic. No strong impressions right now. Read it on my phone during meal breaks at work. Pleasant feeling of focus and disconnection from the outside world as I sat on an deactivated fountain finishing off the poem after dinner.... No awareness of the city around me. Supermemo is worrying me though. I've apparently got 131 items in my home made OE course now, and I've seen all of the cards a first time, but my daily repetitions are around 5 or 6. Meanwhile, I'm forgetting all of the cards I added last week. It's only an SRS, though, not ultimately very important, so I think I'll let it do as it sees fit. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Pechorin Newbie United Kingdom Joined 2800 days ago 9 posts - 10 votes Speaks: English* | Message 7 of 10 19 August 2016 at 4:33am | IP Logged |
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(18th August, 2016) Christ and Satan
700 or so lines; read it in one sitting after work. Jumps around a bit in terms of sequence of events; probably a composite work. Maybe some similarities in style to Genesis B as well; shared author / milieu? Wikipedia lists a monograph / volume of essays on the poems (Sleeth, Charles R. Studies in Christ and Satan. Toronto Press, 1982). A shame that the nearest copy of it is probably 1000 miles away. Christ and Satan was interesting in the events are almot told from Satan's point of view. We see his regret, self-doubt and (if I remember correctly) vacillation. Maybe another 'solution' to the problems of Christian poetry. Empathy is felt most for flawed characters; Jesus / God canot be flawed; so who can you use as your hero? cf. Paradise Lost. The language of the poems seems to be getting easier now. As I read, I notice lots of words which I wouldn't have understood two weeks ago, but are now secure parts of my vocabulary. A good sign. Also, my brain has been giving me a lot of mental chatter in Anglo-Saxon, especially when I'm trying to go to sleep. Another good sign. Edited by Pechorin on 19 August 2016 at 4:36am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Pechorin Newbie United Kingdom Joined 2800 days ago 9 posts - 10 votes Speaks: English* | Message 8 of 10 21 August 2016 at 4:13pm | IP Logged |
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(19th August, 2016) The Dream of the Rood
Took this in after work, sitting on a bench in a half-built neighbourhood with a not very good beer (cranes were still going at 9:00 p.m.). One of the most highly regarded Anglo-Saxon poems, but I didn't like it. A matter of taste, I suppose, or I was tired. Maybe sexism as well: for some reason I've always associated The Dream of the Rood with female medievalists (the kind who talk about 'liminality'). (20th-21st August, 2016) Exodus 7/10. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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