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Beowulf
Sept 23, 2004 14:14:09 GMT -5
Post by Charity on Sept 23, 2004 14:14:09 GMT -5
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Beowulf
Sept 23, 2004 14:18:08 GMT -5
Post by Charity on Sept 23, 2004 14:18:08 GMT -5
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Beowulf
Sept 23, 2004 14:19:37 GMT -5
Post by Charity on Sept 23, 2004 14:19:37 GMT -5
Why is Beowulf important? Beowulf is both the first English literary masterpiece and one of the earliest European epics written in the vernacular, or native language, instead of literary Latin. The story survives in one fragile manuscript copied by two scribes near the end of the 10th or the first quarter of the 11th century. Until quite recently, most scholars thought that this surprisingly complex and poignant poem was written in the 8th century or earlier, but Kevin Kiernan stirred up controversy in 1981 by asserting that the work was composed in the 11th century, and that the manuscript itself may have even been the author's working copy. The manuscript was badly damaged by fire in 1731, and its charred edges crumbled over time, losing words on the outer margins of the leaves. Finally, each leaf was carefully pasted into a frame to stop this process. Of course the frames and the paste holding them in place obliterated a little more of the text! Fortunately, many of the lost words were recovered from a copy made before the manuscript deteriorated. Today, ultraviolet light and other technologies reveal erasures, text under the frames, and characteristics of the manuscript that were previously undetectable. The Beowulf manuscript is now in the British Library, (visit the BL's Changing Language site for a treat!) but has been made accessible to all by The Electronic Beowulf Project. It was once owned by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton, an "antiquary" or collector of Anglo-Saxon Charters and manuscripts, whose library was among three foundation collections brought together by the creation of the British Museum in 1753. Sir Robert bound Beowulf with four other MSS in a combined codex known as Cotton MS.Vitellius A.xv, the 15th item on the first shelf of the "press" of manuscripts under the bust of Emperor Vitellius in his library. Other manuscripts in the Cotton Library were also cataloged by their proximity to busts of Roman Emperors, which stood atop a series of bookcases! Even now, the MSS are referenced by the "emperor pressmark" system. More: www.library.unr.edu/subjects/guides/beowulf.html
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Beowulf
Sept 23, 2004 14:21:55 GMT -5
Post by Charity on Sept 23, 2004 14:21:55 GMT -5
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Beowulf
Sept 23, 2004 14:25:18 GMT -5
Post by Charity on Sept 23, 2004 14:25:18 GMT -5
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Beowulf
Dec 19, 2005 11:49:48 GMT -5
Post by Charity on Dec 19, 2005 11:49:48 GMT -5
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