Widsith

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Widsith

Widsith , 7th-century Anglo-Saxon poem found in the Exeter Book . It is an account of the wanderings of a Germanic minstrel and of the legends he relates. The poem gives an excellent description of minstrel life in the Germanic heroic age.

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Widsith

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature | 2003 | | Â© The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature 2003, originally published by Oxford University Press 2003. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Widsith, a poem of 143 lines in Old English, named from its opening word, in the Exeter Book. It is constructed around three ‘thulas’ (i.e. mnemonic name-lists), connected by the ostensible experience of the eponymous minstrel: the first names great rulers; the second lists the tribes among whom the minstrel claims to have travelled; and the third speaks of people that the minstrel sought out. The poem is thought to date substantially from the 7th cent. and thus to be the earliest poem in the language. There are important editions by R. W. Chambers (1912) and K. Malone (1962).

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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Widsith." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 6 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Widsith." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (December 6, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-Widsith.html

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Widsith." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved December 06, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-Widsith.html

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Stuart Kelly: The Book of Lost Books: An Incomplete History of All the Books You'll Never Read.(Book review)
Magazine article from: New Criterion; 6/1/2006

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	Widsith and the Anthropology of the Past.(Critical Essay) Magazine article from: Philological Quarterly; 1/1/1999; ; 700+ words ; ...ancient world, the poem that we know as Widsith defies literary analysis. Those who know...central character, the itinerant singer Widsith himself, the imagined speaker of all...Widsi?? ma??olade, wordhord onleac (Widsith spoke, he unlocked his hoard of words...
	Storytellers' age-old tales ; Ancient tales and poetry will be presented by the Widsith and Deor Storytelling Company at the Chapter House, Exeter Cathedral. Newspaper article from: Express & Echo (Exeter UK); 11/3/2008; 293 words ; ...tales and poetry will be presented by the Widsith and Deor Storytelling Company at the Chapter House, Exeter Cathedral. Widsith the Poet, Egil the Viking and King Gilgamesh...pounds5 or pounds4 for concessions, from widsith@blueyonder.co.uk
	An evening of ancient poetry ; Ancient tales and poetry will be presented by the Widsith and Deor Storytelling Company at the Chapter House, part of Exeter Cathedral. Newspaper article from: Express & Echo (Exeter UK); 11/5/2008; 286 words ; Ancient tales and poetry will be presented by the Widsith and Deor Storytelling Company at the Chapter House, part of Exeter Cathedral...at 7.30pm. Tickets cost pounds5 or pounds4 for concessions, from widsith@blueyonder.co.uk.
	FROM BAD TO VERSE Newspaper article from: The Sunday Telegraph London; 12/4/2005; ; 700+ words ; ...picked the 7th-century Old English poet Widsith but, apart from that opening sentence, I have to say it is not going well. Widsith's work is full of people called things...not sure if I've done well choosing Widsith as my mentor. The fact is that the whole...
	Stuart Kelly: The Book of Lost Books: An Incomplete History of All the Books You'll Never Read.(Book review) Magazine article from: New Criterion; 6/1/2006; ; 700+ words ; ...papers, after having smoked a copy of the Bible." Do you know the Anglo-Saxon scop Widsith the Wide-Traveled, author of the eponymous poem "Widsith"? His poem mentions dozens of names, which Kelly supposes may be "the heroes of lost...
	How much tragedy in Literature Lost? Newspaper article from: International Herald Tribune; 1/27/2006; ; 700+ words ; ...it is lost? Who knows what is lost and what is apocryphal? Are we sure that an Anglo-Saxon scop, or minstrel, called Widsith the Wide-Travelled actually existed and did Shakespeare truly plan a sequel called ''Love's Labour's Won?'' Can...
	Building a Library: The Fall of Rome Newspaper article from: The Independent on Sunday; 11/20/2005; ; 700 words ; ...much else was lost? Where is the Beowulf of the Goths, the Iliad of the Huns? A single line of the Anglo- Saxon poem 'Widsith' dimly recalls some battle long ago between the Goths and 'Atli's people' (the Huns) in 'Wistla Wood' (the Vistula...
	Anglo-Saxon Verse Charms, Maxims and Heroic Legends. (book reviews) Magazine article from: ANQ; 1/1/1996; ; 700+ words ; ...69a); "The Battle of Ravenswood & Death of Ongentheow" (2922-98); "The Finnsburh Fragment"; "Waldere"; "Widsith"; "Deor"; and "Wulf and Eadwacer." In his discussion of gnomic verse, Rodrigues focuses on "the light they may throw...
	Mind your language Magazine article from: The Spectator; 11/22/1997; ; 626 words ; ...is utterly inert. That is why the Exeter Book (containing the unique manuscripts of some Old English poems, such as 'Widsith' - not that we'd miss that), given to Exeter Cathedral by Bishop Leofric some time before 1076, is still there. Dr Newman...
	"Beowulf" and the Demise of Germanic Legend in England. Magazine article from: Scandinavian Studies; 6/22/1997; ; 700+ words ; ...pedigree. Chapter four surveys both the "heroic age" of Germanic gods and heroes and the rise of kingship over kinship in Widsith, the Hildebrandslied, The Fight at Finnsburg, Waldere, and Deor. Chapter five examines the layers of pagan polytheism...