I agree with Professor Gummere and
others that this is a better form for the translation of Old English
poetry than plain prose. It was approved by the late Professor Child
nearly _thirty_ years ago, as noted in the Preface to the second edition
of my translation of BEOWULF, January, 1885.
JAMES M. GARNETT.
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND,
February, 1911.
INTRODUCTION.
In presenting to the public the following translations of the Old
English (Anglo-Saxon) poems, ELENE, JUDITH, ATHELSTAN, BYRHTNOTH, and
THE DREAM OF THE ROOD, it is desirable to prefix a brief account of them
for the information of the general reader.
I. The ELENE, or Helena, is a poem on the expedition of the Empress
Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor, to
Palestine in search of the true cross, and its successful issue. The
mediaeval legend of the Finding of the Cross is given in the _Acta
Sanctorum_ under date of May 4, assigned by the Church to the
commemoration of St. Helena's marvellous discovery. The Latin work is
the Life of St. Quiriacus, or Cyriacus, Bishop of Jerusalem, that is,
the Judas of the poem. It has been usually thought that the Old English
poet used this Life as his source; but Gloede, in a recent volume of
_Anglia_ (IX. 271 ff.
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