Course Syllabus

 Images from The Wonders of the East in Cotton Tiberius B v (2nd quarter of the 11th century). L-R: elephant, blemmya, homodubii.

ENGL6699 Old English Language and Literature
Spring 2017                 MWF11 Stokes 131S
Prof. Robert Stanton (stantoro@bc.edu), Stokes 385S
Office Hours: Monday 1-2, Friday 12-1, or by appointment
NB If you are reading a paper or PDF version of this syllabus, be sure to refer to the online version available through Canvas or at
https://bostoncollege.instructure.com/courses/1570501

This course opens a window on an age when English was young, warriors were loyal to their lord (or else), and monsters were real. The Anglo-Saxons ruled England from the fifth century until the Norman Conquest (1066), and the language they spoke and wrote now shimmers between the deeply familiar and the deeply strange. The hard core of English - stone, wood, water and bone, sun and moon, mother and father, God, man and woman, wild and weird — all comes straight from Old English, but thanks to successive invasions, political and intellectual upheavals, cultural revolutions, and an almost limitless capacity for absorption, English has changed a lot in 900 years. Old English had a grammatical system that makes it look more like modern German, Scandinavian, or Dutch than modern English, and the grammar must be learned thoroughly and pretty quickly. Once you have done that, a world of literature opens up: powerfully violent heroic poetry, mournful elegy, intensely spiritual meditations, and fanciful romance.

We will read excerpts from some of the most famous Old English prose works, such as King Alfred's Preface to the Pastoral Care (in which he plans the revitalization of English learning), Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation (including the famous story of Cædmon, the first English poet), the mesmerizing apocalyptic Sermon of the Wolf to the English by the fire-and-brimstone preacher Wulfstan, the earliest version of the Bible in English, and the fantastic travel narrative The Wonders of the East; bits of saints' lives written by the famous abbot Ælfric in rhythmical prose (a kind of semi-poetry); and some of the most famous Old English poems in their entirety or in excerpts: the moody elegies The Wanderer, The Wife's Lament, and Deor, the splendid Christian psychedelia of The Dream of the Rood, the cryptic legendary remnant Wulf and Eadwacer, the delightful Exeter Book Riddles (which range from sublime to filthy), the stirring martial poetry of The Battle of Maldon, and of course the towering epic of heroic literature, Beowulf.

We will be working systematically through our textbook, Murray McGillivray's A Gentle Introduction to Old English. This text is designed to get you reading (and understanding!) Old English as quickly as possible. Each chapter is a separate lesson, which gives you information about some grammatical topic (e.g., cases, nouns, verbs, syntax), along with grammatical exercises and occasional short passages to get you started reading right off the bat. We will cover approximately two chapters per week: you will need to read the chapters, complete the exercises (not handed in but taken up in class), memorize some vocabulary, translate the reading passages in both chapters, be prepared to translate aloud in class (don’t worry – you’ll have plenty of practice on pronunciation), and write a quiz. Be sure to make a note of any questions that occur to you, bring them to class, and don’t be shy about asking them! As quickly as we can, we'll move to the companion volume, McGillivray's Old English Reader, which has all the works mentioned above, and more, along with a very full glossary. I want us to read as much literature as we can, as soon as we can. This means learning a lot of language in a short time, and the first part of the course will be very grammar-intensive. If you fall behind in a class this busy, it will be hard to catch up.

There will also be a midterm test and a final exam (both written in class).

When it comes to writing a paper, you will write about the language itself only if you are keen to do so: most of the paper topics will concern some aspect of Anglo-Saxon history and culture, such as the role of women, how the Danes conquered England, the production of fabulously intricate manuscript illumination, how they dressed, or what they thought about the devil. There will also be the option to write a creative piece. Here are some suggested topics.

Graduate students, in addition to completing all the other course requirements, will either (i) teach a class on one or more texts, with historical and cultural background or (ii) write a longer paper at the end of the class.

Some of the work for the course is intended to be pure (or very nearly pure!) fun, and to help you engage with the way the language was formed and held together. Each class, one student will make a brief (5-minute) presentation involving researching the history of a word or a semantic group, writing a short diary entry in Old English, or translating a short piece of modern English text into Old English.

Regular attendance is required in this course. Each lesson covers a lot of material, and there is not a lot of room for cutting! If you miss more than two classes without explanation (and “explanation” means a medical note or a letter from the dean), your grade will be lowered by a +/- for each class missed. The class participation grade reflects both attendance and level of preparation for translating.

Required Texts:
Murray McGillivray, A Gentle Introduction to Old English. Peterborough ON: Broadview, 2011. ISBN 978-1-55111-841-3
Murray McGillivray, ed., Old English Reader. Peterborough ON: Broadview, 2011. ISBN 978-1-55111-842-0

Academic Integrity
Plagiarism is the act of representing the work of others as your own. Plagiarism has severe consequences, which can include failing the course or being suspended from the university. Do not cite the words or ideas of others in your papers without citing them in proper MLA format; do not hand in a paper you have written for another course; do not hand in a paper written by someone else. You are expected to adhere to the university’s academic integrity policy, which is available here.

Students With Disabilities
If you are a student with a documented disability seeking reasonable accommodations in this course, please contact me to discuss it. If appropriate, you can also contact Kathy Duggan (617) 552-8093, at the Connors Family Learning Center regarding learning disabilities, or Paulette Durrett (617) 552-3470, in the Disability Services Office regarding all other types of disabilities.

Grading Scheme (undergraduate students)

Grading Scheme (graduate students)

Grade Ranges 

Schedule (subject to change; I am VERY open to suggestions for different readings!)

Final Paper Due: Monday May 8, noon in my mailbox (Stokes 404S)