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MATERIAL LITERATURE in ANGLO-SAXON POETRY By MATERIAL LITERATURE IN ANGLO-SAXON POETRY by LAYLA A. OLIN SCHUBERT A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department ofEnglish and the Graduate School ofthe University of Oregon in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements for the degree of Doctor ofPhilosophy June 2010 11 University of Oregon Graduate School Confirmation ofApproval and Acceptance of Dissertation prepared by: Layla Schubert Title: "Material Literature in Anglo-Saxon Poetry" This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements for the Doctor ofPhilosophy degree in the Department ofEnglish by: Martha Bayless, Chairperson, English James Earl, Member, English Daniel Wojcik, Member, English Aletta Biersack, Outside Member, Anthropology and Richard Linton, Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies/Dean ofthe Graduate School for the University ofOregon. June 14,2010 Original approval signatures are on file with the Graduate School and the University of Oregon Libraries. III © 2010 Layla A. Olin Schubert IV An Abstract ofthe Dissertation of Layla Olin Schubert for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department ofEnglish to be taken March 2010 Title: MATERIAL LITERATURE IN ANGLO-SAXON POETRY Approved: Martha Bayless The scattered instances depicting material literature in Anglo-Saxon poetry should be regarded as a group. This phenomenon occurs in Beowulf, The Dream ofthe Rood, and The Husband's Message. Comparative examples ofmaterial literature can be found on the Ruthwell Cross and the Franks Casket. This study examines material literature in these three poems, comparing their depictions ofmaterial literature to actual examples. Poems depicting material literature bring the relationship between man and object into dramatic play, using the object's point ofview to bear witness to the truth ofdistant or intensely personal events. Material literature is depicted in a love poem, The Husband's Message, when a prosopopoeic runestick vouches for the sincerity of its master, in the heroic epic Beowu(fwhen an ancient, inscribed sword is the impetus to give an account ofthe biblical flood, and is also implied in the devotional poem The Dream ofthe Rood, as two crosses both pre-and-post dating the poem bear texts similar to portions ofthe poem. v The study concludes by examining the relationship between material anxiety and the character ofWeIand in Beowulf, Deor, Alfred's Consolation ofPhilosophy, and Waldere A & B. Concern with materiality in Anglo-Saxon poetry manifests in myriad ways: prosopopoeic riddles, both heroic and devotional passages directly assailing the value ofthe material, personification of 0 bj ects, and in depictions ofmaterial literature. This concern manifests as a material anxiety. WeIand tames the material and twists and shapes it, re-affirming the supremacy ofmankind in a material world. VI CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Layla A. Olin Schubert PLACE OF BIRTH: Champaign, Illinois DATE OF BIRTH: February 6,1975 GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana Southern Illinois University at Carbondale DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor ofPhilosophy, English Literature, 2010, University of Oregon Master of Science, Library and Informations Science, 2007, University ofIllinois at Champaign-Urbana Bachelor ofArts, English Literature, 1997, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Medieval Literature Material Culture Studies PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Graduate teaching fellow, Department ofEnglish, University ofOregon, Eugene, 2002-2009 Graduate teaching fellow, Reference Department, Knight Library, University of Oregon, 2005-2007 Vll GRANTS, AWARDS AND HONORS: Distinction, Ph.D. Oral Exam: "Kinship, Craftsmanship, Suffering, and Vengeance: Welandes Geweorc in Anglo-Saxon England," 2005 Graduate Teaching Fellowship, University of Oregon, 2002-2009 Nominated for Sarah Harkness Kirby Essay Prize, 2002, 2004 PUBLICATIONS: Olin, Layla. "Song for Aris." Grassroots: Southern Illinois University Undergraduate Literary Journal. 1998. Olin, Layla. Various poems. Grassroots: Southern Illinois University Undergraduate Literary Journal. 1997. viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express sincere appreciation to Professors Martha Bayless and James Earl for their patience and wisdom while assisting in the preparation ofthis manuscript. In addition, special thanks are due to Mr. Michael Stamm, whose familiarity with the procedural processes required by the English Department was helpful throughout this undertaking. Professors Aletta Biersack and Daniel Wojcik have greatly broadened the scope ofthis work by providing cross-disciplinary perspectives. I also thank Professor Karen Ford for her valuable introduction to the professional standards for researching English literature. Finally, I would also like to thank Erik, Madrona, River, and Ellen for their understanding and patience throughout the process of completing this project. IX For Rowan x TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION: MATERIAL LITERATURE IN ANGLO-SAXON POETRY 1 II. GIF HE PIN BENEAH: DESIRE AND THE OBJECT IN THE HUSBAND'S MESSAGE............................................... .................................................................... 24 III. IC PAiT EALL BEHEOLD: THE CROSS AS WITNESS IN THE DREAM OF THE ROOD................................................................................................................. 78 IV. ON DAiM WAiS OR WRITEN: THE SWORD AS STORYTELLER IN BEOWULF..... 127 V. CONTROLLING THE UNTAMED OBJECT: WELANDES GEWEORC IN AJ'JGLO-SAXON ENGLAND. 176 BIBLIOGRAPHY... 199 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: MATERIAL LITERATURE IN ANGLO-SAXON POETRY 1. Objects in Anglo-Saxon Poetry While generally neglected by critics, descriptions of and meditations on objects make up a substantial portion ofthe Anglo-Saxon poetic record. l A small subset ofthese objects is epigraphic. However, epigraphic objects and literary depictions ofthese objects have never been examined as a group, despite the prominent placement ofthese objects within the Anglo-Saxon poetic corpus. However, doing so is an effective way to approach the complexities ofAnglo-Saxon literary objects. Objects described as carrying epigraphic inscriptions need to be evaluated as material literature, with their own sets of literary conventions. These conventions include inscriptions that cross linguistic lines: many epigraphic items carry inscriptions in either Latin or in the Latin alphabet; however, examples contained within written poems are almost always described as being written in runes. The relevant conventions are also influenced by the object's form and function. The material used to fashion the object plays a part in the epigraphic tradition, as does the maker or owner's desire to associate themselves with the finished product. The current study examines inscribed objects in 1 There are, however, detailed studies on specific types ofobjects. See H.R. Ellis Davidson for a detailed examination ofswords in Anglo-Saxon England, and Jolly et al. for studies ofcrosses in Anglo-Saxon England. 2 Anglo-Saxon poetry-those bearing a text within a text-in a corpus where objects, particularly finely made swords, byrnies, cups, and golden rings, are a near­ constant presence. In Anglo-Saxon literature, the depiction of writing on an object-material literature---ereates a multi-valent space in which meaning is negotiated between the object and the text it carries. But this raises a question: how to interpret material objects in Old English poetry, particularly those bearing a text within a text? This study will examine the meanings created by interactions between text and object in Anglo-Saxon poetry. These interactions can best be observed when examining depictions ofmaterial literature, since text and object are inextricably linked in these objects. Depictions of material literature can be found in The Husband's Message, The Dream ofthe Rood, and Beowulf. However, these poems descend from dissimilar traditions. They combine motifs and devices from various literary traditions but are at their cores a love poem, a devotional poem, and a heroic epic. The symbolic meanings these poems attach to objects vary according to the conventions specific to their literary traditions. For example, Beowulfcontains many passages praising both weapons and treasure-as would be expected in a poem composed in the heroic tradition. However, Beowulfdefies expectations by continually questioning the worth ofmaterial objects. After using interdisciplinary methods to examine material literature within the above literary traditions, the study will conclude by examining appearances of WeIand the Smith in 3 Anglo-Saxon literature and how those appearances deepen our understanding ofthe relationship between man and object in Anglo-Saxon England. II. Somethingness Old English poetry never attempts to describe nothingness but instead does the opposite: it is obsessed with somethingness. Despite the diversity ofmodern attempts made to represent it, nothingness is a monolithic concept: it is a simple and terrible absence of somethingness. Somethingness, however, is not so easily pinned down. In Anglo-Saxon literature, it is often quite specific swordness or treeness or whaleness or goldness: objects carry dissimilar symbolic values and speak with very different voices. These voices are found as, for example, a prosopopoeic sword in the Exeter Book riddles or a preaching statue in Andreas. Somethingness is not materiality: the definition
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