Prof. Richard F. Johnson
Newberry Seminar on The Vercelli Book
The Vercelli Book: Its History and Contexts
The late tenth-century codex known as the Vercelli Book provides a fascinating glimpse of Anglo-Saxon spirituality. This seminar proposes to study Anglo-Saxon literature and culture thorough a focus on and close examination of the Vercelli codex (Vercelli, Biblioteca Capitolare, CXVII). The compilation includes poems concerned with the redemptive efficacy of the Cross, and reflects an interest in non-canonical sacred history and the popular genre of saints' lives. The prose pieces are homilies whose selection suggests a profound concern with death, judgment, and punishment.
The prose and poetry selected for study will be read in modern critical editions but also studied in their original context in the Vercelli facsimile (EEMF 19). Special attention will be given to characteristics of the Vercelli scribe. Students will read a variety of historical and critical studies and share their work by means of short oral reports and reviews of recent criticism. Students will also write and present two short papers (approximately five pages each), one of which will be a transliteration exercise and the other a word study. The seminar paper (approximately 15 pages) will involve original research in any area of historical, linguistic, literary, or artistic study of this unique collection of Old English literature. Each student will provide an evaluative response to one of the other course papers. In addition to the writing assignments, students taking the course for graduate credit will be required to memorize and recite for the instructor a brief passage (15-20 lines) from one of the poetic pieces in the manuscript.
List of Possible Class Texts:
- Krapp, George Philip, ed. The Vercelli Book. ASPR II. New York: Columbia University Press, 1932.
- Scragg, Donald. The Vercelli Homilies. EETS 300 (1993).
- Clark-Hall, J. R. A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary.
- Gradon, P. O. E., ed. Cynewulf's Elene.
- Dickins, Bruce and Alan S. C. Ross, eds. The Dream of the Rood.
- Brooks, Kenneth R., ed. Andreas and the Fates of the Apostles. Oxford University Press (Clarendon Press), 1998 (reprint of 1961 edition).
- Nicholson, Lewis E., ed. The Vercelli Book Homilies: Translations from the Anglo-Saxon. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1991.
Weekly Schedule
Week One: Introductions
Topics:
- History of the major poetical manuscripts, with special attention to relation of Vercelli Book to other manuscripts.
- In-class review and translation of the story of Caedmon's gift of spontaneous oral poetic ability (from Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica, IV, xxiv).
- Theories of translation.
Week Two: Dream of the Rood
Topics:
In-class translation: Dream of the Rood, TBA
Examination of facsimile.
Relation of poem to Ruthwell Cross; Kemble's contribution to understanding of relationship between cross and poem.
Doctrine and cult of the cross.
Comparison of sample translations of Dream of the Rood.
Week Three: Cynewulf and the Cynewulf canon
Topics:
In-class translation: Fates of the Apostles, TBA
Examination of facsimile.
Signed poems and Cynewulfian poems, runic signatures.
History of Maier transcription of Vercelli Book.
Printing history of Fates of the Apostles.
Week Four: Elene
Topics:
In-class translation: Elene, ll. 1-95 and runic passage.
Transcription Exercise due (passage from Elene).
Guest Lecture by Thomas Tipton (College of DuPage) on Legends of the Invention of the Cross and related Church Feasts.
Preliminary reports due for course projects.
Week Five: Elene continued
Topics:
In-class translation: Elene, ll. 1236-1321.
Examination of facsimile.
Critical evaluations of the poem.
Annotated Bibliographic exercise due.
Week Six: Prose of the Vercelli Book
Topics:
In-class translation: Homily XI, ll. 1-86.
Examination of facsimile.
Guest Lecture by Thomas N. Hall (UIC) on homiletic traditions in Old English prose.
Rogationtide homilies in the Vercelli Book.
Outline of homilies due.
Week Seven: Prose of the Vercelli Book continued
Topics:
In-class translation: Homily IV, ll. 170-200 & 295-321.
Examination of facsimile.
Other versions of Homily IV.
Thematic connections to Old English poems Wanderer and Seafarer.
Week Eight: Soul and Body
Topics:
In-class translation: Soul and Body, ll. 1-43 & 63-83.
Examination of facsimile.
Soul and Body theme in medieval literature.
Exeter Book version of Soul and Body poem.
Week Nine: Checkered printing history of parts of the Vercelli Book
Topics:
In-class translation: Andreas TBA & Homiletic Fragment I TBA
Examination of facsimile.
Editions of Vercelli poems by Thorpe, Kemble, and Coneybearye.
Seminar paper due.
Week Ten: Conclusions
Topics:
So what is the Vercelli Book?
Student evaluative responses to colleague's papers due.
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